Many celebrities enter the restaurant industry with big hopes of also being a star in the culinary world. While they’re the perfect promo, not everyone finds success in the industry, not even the experienced restaurateurs. Today, we’re bringing you 10 celebrity-owned restaurants that flopped big time. This shows that not everyone is meant to star in the culinary world.
10. Fashion Café – Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, and Christy Turlington
The Fashion Café, which was headed by supermodels Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, and Christy Turlington, was owned by brothers Tommaso and Francesco Buti. Food wasn’t the point of the Fashion Café, as they targeted fashionistas with their souvenirs and gift shops. With this, everything crashed in 1998 when unpaid bills and taxes caused closures. Even the actual owners were charged with fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy; many were related to the restaurant.
9. Madre’s – Jennifer Lopez
Nobody actually knew why Jennifer Lopez’s Madre’s closed down. In 2002, Latin restaurant Madre’s opened in Pasadena, California, serving Puerto Rican recipes inspired by Lopez’s grandmother. It didn’t get good reviews from critics, with a reviewer from the Los Angeles Times calling their food “close to inedible.” But surprisingly, Madre’s stayed open for six years.
8. Pastamania – Hulk Hogan
The late WWE legend, Hulk Hogan, opened his Pastamania restaurant in the Mall of America, located in Minnesota. Sadly, even with Hogan’s big endorsement, diners weren’t hooked by the quick-served pasta. But the marketing wasn’t enough to sustain the business, and after a year, Pastamania closed its doors.
7. Destino – Justin Timberlake
Co-owned by singer Justin Timberlake, Destino is an Italian restaurant that opened in 2006 in Manhattan, New York. Timberlake pulled out of the business in just a year, but it stayed open for a few more years until 2013. The restaurant’s closure is caused by “flooding problems,” which aren’t caused by water. It was reported that Destino had a problem with illegal pipes, which covered the restaurant with unwanted waste.
6. The Clubhouse – Kevin Costner and Robert Wagner
Actors Kevin Costner and Robert Wagner co-owned The Clubhouse with a few professional golfers. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant that opened in 1999 is themed after golf with interiors of a country club, but without the membership. The restaurant expanded to Atlanta and Chicago in Orange County, California, but both closed for unknown reasons.
5. Flav’s Fried Chicken – Flavor Flav
Rapper and reality star Flavor Flav opened Flav’s Fried Chicken in 2011. It was based on his own homemade fried chicken recipe. Flavor Flav had dreams of expanding his restaurant nationwide. He opened a lot of restaurants, like Flava-Flav’s Fried Chicken, House of Flavor, Flavor Flav’s Chicken & Ribs, and Flavor Flav’s & Vinny’s Pizza. Some of these are because he chose to pull out of his businesses.
4. sHE by Morton’s – Eva Longoria
You may have loved Eva Longoria in her role as Gabrielle Solis from Desperate Housewives, but the restaurant business doesn’t seem to love her. In 2012, she opened sHE by Morton’s in Las Vegas, a female-oriented steakhouse. However, health regulations prompted the Health Department to shut them down in 2014. While sHE reopened with a grade A, diners didn’t want to dine in the restaurant anymore, so they closed permanently in the same year.
3. Au Fudge – Jessica Biel
In 2016, Jessica Biel opened Au Fudge in Hollywood, a family-oriented restaurant. But in 2017, Biel shared with Jimmy Kimmel that her restaurant isn’t making any money. Reportedly, lawsuits were filed over missed meals, restroom breaks, and wage theft within the staff and management. Eventually, Au Fudge closed their doors in 2018.
2. Dive! – Steven Spielberg
Film director and producer Steven Spielberg opened Dive! Located in Los Angeles’ Century City Shopping Center. It’s a nautical-themed restaurant with a giant yellow submarine that opened in 1994. Spielberg even brought the Dive! restaurant in Las Vegas with dreams of opening 60 more. However, Dive! failed to impress diners with the Los Angeles location closing in 1999 and the Las Vegas one in the early 2000s.
1. Nyla – Britney Spears
The early 2000s were Britney Spears’ prime years in her career, so she took a shot in the restaurant industry with Nyla in 2002. The restaurant located in New York served Cajun food and later switched to Italian dishes. However, in the same year, problems such as debts and health code violations started appearing, so Spears detached herself before the restaurant closed for good.