I don’t know what it is about celebrity-owned restaurants, but they almost always gain a crowd. Perhaps it’s because a lot of people just assume that the celebrity is in the back cooking up the order, and not, y’know, states (or countries) away doing something completely different. At this point, a lot of celebrities own a restaurant, if not multiple restaurants, and it’s yet another milestone to put on their resume.
But just because a celebrity is in charge of something doesn’t mean it’s any good. In fact, it’s possible that the celebrity just chose a few menu items and walked away from the whole endeavor. That means that at the end of the day, it’s a standard restaurant, just one that’s promoted a little more heavily by your favorite actor or actress.
The best people to ask are people who used to work for these restaurants in question. They likely had to learn the menu, and the ins and outs of the operation. In fact, most of them probably knew more about how the restaurant actually ran than the celebrity in question. But the customers can also paint a good story. They can often witness the dysfunction while simply waiting for their side salads to arrive.
Here are 17 of the worst celebrity restaurants out there.
1. NYLA by Britney Spears
Oh yes. Your girl Britney owned a restaurant at one time. Located in New York, it was inspired by Louisiana cooking — hence, NYLA. Get it?
Unfortunately, it didn’t even last a year. The restaurant opened and closed in 2002, and in that time, Vanity Fair reports that they went through debt issues and health code violations.
But in the weirdest of moves, they changed their entire menu at the very end to focus on Italian food. Okay.
Spears officially left her restaurant before it closed, based on “management’s failure to keep her fully apprised.”
2. Au Fudge by Jessica Biel
Okay, so it has an adorable name.
I’ll give it that. But the 7th Heaven alum had some massive issues with managing her staff, who were reportedly underpaid. Located in West Hollywood, staff members were promised $12 an hour plus tips, but supposedly, the owners held onto a lot of those tips for themselves. The whole concept was… interesting.
Basically, it was a restaurant specifically designed for parents to go with their children, making it a high-end Chuck E. Cheese. This review on Jezebel is hilarious and gives you a good idea of what the establishment was really like.
Apparently, it was kind of weird if you went to Au Fudge without children, which seems pretty limiting to us.
According to Jessica Biel, her restaurant Au Fudge is 'definitely not making money. . . YET'! WATCH: https://t.co/lLg95ERd3y pic.twitter.com/aouzpNLN5P
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) January 12, 2017
Employees also weren’t given breaks or lunches, which is ridiculous (and most likely illegal). Four staff members actually had to start a lawsuit in order to get the money they deserved. The restaurant was closed down after about two years, probably because nobody can work under those strict conditions.
3. Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante by Ashton Kutcher
When you think of Ashton Kutcher, you might not think of Italian food. And that could be why all of the Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante locations have seemingly closed.
Reviews of the eatery are lukewarm. On Yelp, for the no-longer-in-business Los Angeles location, foodies said that the food was nothing out of the ordinary.
“I suppose it was just the fact that there’s too many similar places like it in this part of LA + nothing particularly remarkable about this one (aside from it’s owner being Ashton Kutcher) that led to its eventual closing,” Janelle Q. said.
4. Fat Cow by Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay has traveled the world to help critique, and sometimes save, failing restaurants. But he had his own clunker that often makes “worst-of” lists — oddly enough, for the same reason as Biel’s venture.
Employees said they were victims of tip-skimming and also denied necessary breaks while working at Fat Cow, which was located in Los Angeles until it closed in 2014.
RT. Glad you enjoyed it Eve x @MissEvelinaLind: @GordonRamsay my girls and I had a great lunch at The Fat Cow, love x
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) May 18, 2013
It wasn’t just employees who weren’t impressed. Critic Besha Rodell was underwhelmed with the offerings at the restaurant, saying it got by with “banking on celebrity.”
5. Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar by Guy Fieri
You probably figured this one would be on the list. Even though it’s currently closed (reportedly due to high rents) the Times Square restaurant was mocked all around the globe.
Readers, this one I can talk about personally.
I went to it a few years back, and even though the food tasted like an overpriced TGI Friday’s, we still recreate the Guytalian Nachos every year on New Year’s Eve.
Karen Belz
But otherwise, yes. For a celebrity chef, he could have done better.
6. Beso by Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria is a talented woman, but culinary entrepreneurship may not be her thing. The pricey Latin American eatery has an average of about three stars on Yelp, and suffered from a lawsuit after a staff member beat up a customer. Yeah… you read that correctly. A staff member physically assaulted a customer.
Eva Longoria's 'Beso' Restaurant Sued for After-Party Assault https://t.co/2nAivGqjbh
— TMZ (@TMZ) December 22, 2016
Karl K. visited the restaurant in 2016 and said it was severely lacking.
“We ordered an extensive spread — two appetizers, a beer, a caipirinha, and three entrees,” they wrote on Yelp. “Almost every item left us wanting — either for sweeter cachaça, more tender short ribs, a better-seasoned jidori chicken, or a less ‘gristly’ ribeye.” Yikes.
7. Pastamania by Hulk Hogan
This is literally one of the weirdest ideas ever, is it not?
Back in 1995, Hulk Hogan brought his new restaurant, Pastamania, to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Even though fellow wrestlers Macho Man Randy Savage and Jimmy Hart helped him on launch day, the restaurant only lasted for a few months.
One of the reasons it may have failed? Kids actually thought Hogan would be there.
But, it could have also been because the food just wasn’t good. When you’re at the Mall of America, you have plenty of options — and pasta may not be the most exciting.
At least he tried.
8. Red Rooster by Marcus Samuelsson
Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson got some bad press.
And it’s all thanks to his Harlem eatery Red Rooster, which serves up soul food. Eddie Huang, a chef and author, had some negative things to say about it.
“It fails utterly in its goal of paying homage to the neighborhood, coming off instead like an embarrassing exercise in condescension,” he said to Observer.
Huang took a friend there, who was also not impressed with his meal.
“In Harlem, we take pride in having little spots that wow people. They over-deliver. This place is like a factory. People from other neighborhoods come and they think this is what Harlem is about, but it’s not. Who in Harlem pays $28 for chicken?!” his buddy Shiest Bubz said.
Harlem chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster eatery is being sued for alleged racial discrimination https://t.co/3iZ8wq18qa pic.twitter.com/NDSGehzbm5
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 24, 2018
But, that’s not it. Samuelsson was also being sued for alleged racial discrimination with his bartending staff.
9. Cut by Wolfgang Puck
You’d assume a restaurant created by Wolfgang Puck would be quite delicious.
And, it is — the food is constantly raved over. It currently has a 4.5 on Google. But it makes the list for a different reason, and that’s the way the establishment treats its staff.
According to a review on Indeed, there’s a hostile work environment behind the scenes. “Fun place to work and helps you build helpful skills,” the review said. “However, the management team creates an extremely hostile work environment for just about no reason. It is a hard company to work for if you have any self-respect.”
A former pastry cook also said the job wasn’t for them.
“I had goals and ambitions and slowly I let the job take that away from me,” they wrote.” I vowed that nothing is more important than my degrees and the job (supervisor) made it seem like I was doing too much and deterred me from finishing school.
10. Benchmarc by Marc Murphy
Celebrity chef Marc Murphy also had some issues with his catering company.
Murphy’s Benchmarc offered food on-location at his restaurants, or at locations of his customer’s choice. Last year, he was served with a class action lawsuit due to withholding tips from his employees.
Murphy, known best for Chopped, reportedly underpaid his employees. This seems like kind of a common occurrence, doesn’t it?
11. Southern Air Restaurant by Chuck Berry
Back in the 1980’s, Chuck Berry owned Southern Air Restaurant. But for the singer, it didn’t seem to be about the food.
Both a cook and several women who worked there said that Berry began peeping at them by hiding cameras in the restrooms.
According to the lawsuit that was filed in 1989 and reported by Best Classic Bands, the footage was “created for the improper purpose of entertainment and gratification” of Berry’s “sexual fetishes and sexual predilections.” The worst restaurants are the ones where even the clientele doesn’t feel safe.
12. Jamie’s Italian by Jamie Oliver
The staff at Jamie’s Italian aren’t too fond of the celebrity in which the restaurant is named after. Not only did Jamie Oliver’s restaurant reportedly rack up a lot of debt, the restaurant was also unable to pay their employees.
Once thriving, the restaurant used to have 37 locations. But in 2018, 12 of those had to close due to financial issues. Aside from that, food critics aren’t even all that happy with the menu.
Marina O’Loughlin wrote for The Times that the menu at Jamie’s Italian “is making me want to swear and kick something. Possibly Jamie Oliver.”
13. Juan Pelota by Lance Armstrong
Juan Pelota is more of a coffee shop than a restaurant.
But they still serve a bunch of pastries and snacks. Which is tough, in the days of Starbucks. That might be why Lance Armstrong’s place has left a lot of customers disappointed.
Located in Austin, a lot of customers on Yelp report the food and beverages to be a bit bland and overpriced.
“Disappointed in the bland latte I received. I wanted a simple Hazelnut Latte, but what I got tasted like a cup of steamed milk,” Demi T. wrote. Another customer named Gena R. wrote that “I am not sure why this coffee shop is so popular. I have been to this place a couple of times and the quality of coffee was not the best. I am a fan of good coffee beans, and I did not appreciate the taste of burned beans in my cappuccino .”
14. Dabbous by Ollie Dabbous
So, your first restaurant may not be your best.
And Chef Ollie Dabbous realized that after a few years. Even though Dabbous opened to rave reviews, it quickly fell out of favor.
“I think I’m a better chef now than when I opened Dabbous,” he said to Go London in 2018. “Less is going to come as a surprise, and after all, you only get discovered once. I’m thicker-skinned and I’ve got a few more grey hairs.”
As far as customers go, most of them felt like the experience wasn’t worth the reservation time.
“I don’t know why the wait list for this restaurant is 6-12 months!?!” Sheryl L. said on Yelp. “A girlfriend and I were able to get a reservation the same week, and were not blown away (like we expected). We went on a Thursday night at 7 p.m. and the restaurant was half empty!”
15. SHe by Morton’s by Eva Longoria
Ladies, have you ever been in a situation where you order a steak, but it’s just too big?
Yeah, me either. But Eva Longoria supposedly has. Otherwise she wouldn’t have opened this female-based steak house. Even though the food wasn’t terrible, the restaurant’s cleanliness was. It was shut down by health inspectors in 2014 after gaining 32 demerits.
Plus, as time went on, customer satisfaction dropped. The location used to hire entertainers, but decided to go in a new direction.
“Wow, what happened,??? ” Yelper Rich P. wrote, after noticing the change. “…Now SHe is just another steakhouse on the strip no different than the dozen-plus other steakhouses within a mile or two radius of SHe.”
Also, maybe don’t open a restaurant based around assuming women prefer smaller portion sizes.
It’s no wonder a restaurant that served “lady steaks” didn’t fare well. Eva Longoria ended up owning two restaurants, both of which didn’t succeed (see above).
16. Cafe Dupri by Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri opened his Atlanta eatery in 2005, but faced a lot of issues. For one, the prices seemed a bit intense. “I refuse to pay $40 for Surf & Turf at Cafe Dupri,” a Yelper pointed out. “I mean seriously Jermaine? ”
But the big prices might have been due to the fact that the business wasn’t financially stable.
Reportedly in 2008, employees were unable to cash their paychecks. And, some of them weren’t even told that the restaurant was closing. They found out due to a sign on the door that said “closed indefinitely.” That’s not a great way to do business.
