The Boom in Celebrity Restaurants: Are They Damaging Local Businesses?

Cara-Louise Scott

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In recent years, various celebrities have opened restaurants around the world, particularly in London and Los Angeles. But what draws us to these restaurants? Why has there been such an increase in unexpected celebrities opening restaurants?

Famous Faces Behind Restaurants

It started with culinary masterminds, such as Gordan Ramsay or Jamie Oliver, opening Michelin-star restaurants to showcase their exceptional taste in cuisine. This was an obvious extension of their established TV chef careers. 

More recently, celebrities with no previous cooking experience want a taste of the hospitality world. There was a notable trend toward launching these businesses due to the pandemic, when YouTuber MrBeast created his virtual restaurant. Being unable to visit restaurants and pubs likely renewed people’s love for them. 

“Restaurants are certainly an avenue for personal expression and a direct connection to their fans and community.”

But these restaurants aren’t a new phenomenon.

Historically, celebrities have either invested in or co-owned businesses. Back in 2011, actor Sir Ian McKellen became a co-owner of The Grapes pub in Limehouse. Later, Idris Elba co-bought a bar near Regent’s Canal. Starting your own food business isn’t even a novel pursuit for celebrities. In 2019, pop singer Ed Sheeran opened a restaurant in Notting Hill, managed by his business partner Stuart Camp.

For the rich and famous, opening restaurants can be a good way to build their brand, invest their money, and express themselves outside of their established fields. They can be an avenue for personal expression and having a direct connection to their fans. 

Building Community Or Making Money?

Jon Bon Jovi, with his wife Dorothea Hurley, opened JBJ Soul Kitchen restaurants, in Red Bank, US, to help their local community. The restaurant offers diners a pay-what-you-can scheme with no prices on the menu.

On the website, Jovi states: “We serve a mix of people, many who are underemployed, unemployed, seniors on fixed incomes, some struggle with mental health issues. We also serve those who want to contribute to their community. They are going out to eat anyway, they know that their donation is being used by someone in the restaurant that night.”

“His restaurant builds his brand, but is also a personal passion project to give people hearty food from his home cuisine.”

The pay-it-forward model means customers who can afford to pay more can cover the cost of others who are struggling to feed themselves. Bon Jovi is proof that not all celebrities may open restaurants to further their brand and for financial gain. In fact, some do it to give back.

World record sprinter Usain Bolt opened a Jamaican chain called Tracks and Records in the Spitalfields area. They pledge to ‘deliver a unique Jamaican dining experience, breaking the barriers of a casual eatery and sports bar & lounge.’ Unlike many other celebrities, who open restaurants but are not the ‘face’ of the brand and stay behind the scenes, Bolt is part of the logo and website branding. His restaurant builds his brand, but is also a personal passion project to give people hearty food from his home cuisine.

Celebrity Restaurants Cater To Fans

You may have heard of the popular YouTubers, The Sidemen. If their success, merch, and PRIME weren’t enough, they opened a fried chicken restaurant called Sides in 2021. The chain currently has four branches in London and others around the UK. Sides has good reviews, showing that non-chef celebrities can produce quality food.

While the food isn’t the cheapest, it is more affordable than dining at Nobu (co-founded by Robert de Niro) or Lucky Cat (one of Ramsay’s famous restaurants). It also caters to a wider audience and perhaps more towards their younger followers. The prices are comparable to other chicken restaurants, like Nando’s. 

While it could be argued that marketing fast food to their young audience is unethical, it isn’t any different from what multinational chains like McDonald’s or KFC do.

Does Gordon Ramsay Create Hell In The Kitchen?

The difference between celebrity restaurants depends on their cooking and hospitality background. While Ramsey’s restaurants are ‘celebrity restaurants’, he has a background in cooking. People are likely to put their trust into eating out at one of his places because they know the food will be extraordinary. He certainly knows what he is doing. Unsurprisingly, Ramsay had a turnover of £78.9 million in the year 2022, up from £26.2m in 2021.

“A lot of customers will go to celebrity restaurants simply because of who owns them.”

However, the reality is that many local businesses didn’t make it through the COVID-19 lockdown and had to close down. On the other hand, celebrity-owned and big chain corporations hold a higher status in the restaurant world. Sadly, a lot of customers will go to celebrity restaurants simply because of who owns them.

But the food will always remain the most essential part of the experience. If the food is terrible, will they go again? Probably not. While these restaurants get a lot of media spotlight, if bad reviews circle, people won’t visit. 

The Importance Of Eating Local

But Gemma Krysko, co-director of Manchester-based PR agency We Are Indigo, says there is a much better strategy than flouting the celebrity connections. She says people like the authenticity of a restaurant being owned by a family or someone working really hard for their success. People still want to go independent and there is a huge growth in more affordable, local places than celebrity-owned restaurants.

It is great that more celebrities are opening restaurants and partaking in an activity outside their highlighted careers. Many people enjoy the experience and cuisine of visiting these places, as well as supporting people they admire. However, it’s important to remain conscious of eating local and supporting small businesses outside of huge corporations and familiar famous faces.

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Featured image courtesy of Sebastian Coman Photography on Unsplash. No changes made to this image. Image license can be found here.