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Seeing Stars: Restaurants Owned by the Stars..
at
Beverly Hills
9560 Wilshire Blvd.,
Beverly Hills. CA. / (310) 275-7828
On New
Years Day 2000, Planet Hollywood announced that they were closing this
Beverly Hills branch of their famous restaurant chain, leaving them without
a restaurant in the Hollywood / Los Angeles area (although they still
operate Planet Hollywoods in San Diego, San Francisco and other locations).
They
blamed the closure on Beverly Hills' city restrictions, which limited sales
of alcohol at night, banned tour buses and live music, and prohibited the
chain's usually colorful exterior & logo.
At
the time, Planet Hollywood said that it "has a commitment to having
a restaurant in the Los Angeles area,'' and that they will be "announcing
a new site within the coming months."
Personally,
I was rooting for them to relocate to Hollywood Boulevard. That stretch
of real estate is just catching fire now, and could use the additional
shot-in-the-arm. And what location could be more appropriate for a Planet
Hollywood than the actual Hollywood Boulevard?
And
in early 2000, Army Archerd reported in Variety: "Robert
Earl, whose Planet Hollywood came out of bankruptcy in record time last
Friday, winged to Hollywood this week for a fast round of confabs as he
starts to renew the Planets with the same enthusiasm as he did at their
start. Among his plans are: the opening of a Planet on Hollywood Boulevard
near the new Academy theater. It will replace the recently-shuttered, staid
site on Wilshire Boulevard in BevHills."
However,
almost a year later, and continued financial problems for the company,
there seems to have been no progress towards opening a new restaurant in
L.A.
Also,
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he was severing his ties with Planet
Hollywood now that his five-year contract has expired. Bruce Willis and
Sly Stallone stay on board, and 'N Sync has recently become involved, now
that PL has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and seems
intent on signing up a new host of younger stars to reinvigorate the chain.
I will
leave this current page up for now, so you can read about the exhibits
that were available at the Beverly Hills branch, and which might wind up
at any new L.A. locale. I'll also post any news here that might be announced
about the choice of a new location.
But
remember that the article below was written before the restaurant closed.
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Three
years after the opening of the first local Planet Hollywood in 1991
(in Orange
County), and following the opening of dozens of new Planet Hollywoods
around the globe, Sly Stallone,
Bruce Willis,
Demi Moore
and Arnold Schwarzenegger
finally got around to coming home to Hollywood. But when they did it, they
did it right.
Planet
Hollywood opened in Beverly Hills
on Sunday, Sept. 17, 1995, with the most spectacular grand opening gala
in the history of restaurants. They roped off nearby Rodeo
Drive for a giant celebrity block party, and rolled out the red carpet
for a dazzling parade of stars.
Danny DeVito
and Chuck Berry
performed live in concert - as did Bruce.
.JPG) And
Sly was
only slightly exaggerating when he told reporters 'there are more stars
here than at the Oscars." Guests included Bruce,
Demi, and
Arnold (of
course), plusPatrick Swayze,
Whoopi Goldberg,
Tim Allen,
Brooke Shields,
Danny
Glover, Cindy Crawford,
Rod Stewart,
Steven Seagal,
Dean Cain,
Oprah Winfrey,
Kelsey Grammer,
Paul Reiser,
George Clooney,
Claude Van Damme,
Pierce Brosnan,
Wesley Snipes,
Roseanne,
Chris O'Donnell,
Danny DeVito,
Tony Danza,
Paula Abdul,
Charlie Sheen,
Geena Davis,
Warren Beatty,
John Laroquette,
Faye Dunaway,
David Hasselhoff,
Jennifer Aniston,
Luke Perry,
Penny Marshall,
Pauly Shore,
Robert Downey Jr.,
Alice Cooper,
Little Richard,
Aaron Spelling,
Tori Spelling,
John Stamos,
Jim Belushi,
and many more.
.JPG) And
the stars occasionally pop up here even when there isn't some special
event underway. I
ran into Della Reese
("Touched By An Angel")
having lunch here not long ago (she was nice enough to sign an autograph
for the young women at the table next to me). Another fan reported seeing
Antonio Banderas,
Melanie Griffith
and Meat Loaf
there for a wrap party for "Crazy in Arizona." Jack
Nicholson was
here recently for a private party. And actor Nick
Nolte shocked quite a few locals by showing
up for breakfast on Easter weekend wearing his pajamas and a robe.
In
June of 1998, Leonardo DiCaprio
took several ailing young girls from the Make-a-Wish Foundation
to Planet Hollywood Beverly Hills for a special lunch.
This is the 28th
restaurant in the Planet Hollywood chain. It's located at the southwest
corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Camden Drive, two blocks west of Rodeo Drive.
Because of complaints from its stuffy Beverly Hills neighbors, this branch
had to settle for a more subdued look - a traditional sign, and lots of
dark green awnings. No giant, rotating globes here. You may actually have
to look for this theme restaurant.
But they made up
for it inside, where their collection
of movie & TV memorabilia is unsurpassed.
A virtual mini-museum, it showcases a spectacular collection that the Smithsonian
would be proud of including:
The
classic blue & white gingham dress worn by Dorothy (Judy
Garland), as she danced down the Yellow
Brick Road in "The Wizard of Oz."
The
famous green gown which Scarlet O'Hara made out of her drapes, worn by
Vivian Leigh
in "Gone With The Wind."
The
camera Jimmy Stewart used
to spy on his murderous neighbor in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window."
(including a long telephoto lens).
- The model train
used in the unforgettable train wreck/escape scene in Harrison Ford's
"The Fugitive."
- Tom Hanks'
famous "box of chocolates" from "Forrest Gump,"
as well as the military uniform Tom wore in that hit movie,
- The Butterfield
stagecoach which John Wayne
held up in the classic "Stagecoach," (you'll find it hanging
from ceiling).
- The bloody ax wielded
by an insane Jack Nicholson
in "The Shining."
The
bright yellow hat thatJim Carrey
wore in "The Mask" (worn here by a green-faced Mask
dummy).
- Charlie Chaplin's
jacket from "The Great Dictator."
- "Flying."
overhead is a mannequin of Christopher Reeve,
wearing the original red & blue costume from "Superman."
- The dress Robin
Williams wore in the country club scene
from "Mrs. Doubtfire" (on a wax dummy of Robin).
- The dress that Demi
Moore wore in "The Scarlet Letter,"
complete with the large letter "A."
- The rolling sled
that Keanu Reeves
rode under the runaway bus in "Speed."
- "Thing,"
the disembodied hand, from "The Addams Family" (holding
a golf ball).
.JPG)
- Gizmo the
Gremlin, next to his evil cousin, both
from "Gremlins."
- The saddle worn
by the horse which Arnold Schwarzenegger
rode into a glass elevator in the 1995 action thriller, "True Lies."
- The toy mechanical
monkey from James Dean's
classic, "Rebel Without A Cause."
- Darth Vader's
costume from "Star Wars" ; also, a larger-than-life-size
Wookie standing
inside a glass case.
- The head nurse uniform
Louise Fletcher wore in "One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
- Sly's
championship belt from "Rocky V."
- A black dress worn
by Rita Hayworth
in "Gilda."
And from the world
of television,
Planet Hollywood offers:
Barbara
Eden's pink harem girl costume from
"I Dream of Jeannie."
- Don Adams'
infamous shoe-phone from "Get Smart."
- William Shatner's
gold uniform shirt that he wore as Captain Kirk on the original "Star Trek,"
as well as the uniform worn by the Klingon, Worf (Michael
Dorn).
- The coffee mug Johnny
Carson always drank from on "The
Tonight Show," along with those eraser-at-both-ends pencils he
used to drum with on his desk.
- A familiar painting
from the set of the sitcom "Friends" (it originally hung
behind their couch), and
- A mini-tape recorder
from "Mission Impossible" (the type that always self-destructed
right after Peter Graves
listened to the opening message).
And that's not to
mention the submarine over the bar, the giant mural of stars' portraits,
(including Sly, Arnold, Bruce & Demi), or the melted-Terminator
statue of Arnold...
The menu is similar
to the standard Planet Hollywood menu, but this is Beverly Hills,
so it includes a section labeled "For the Industry,"
offering low-fat, low calories dishes such as seared tuna and vegetable
pizza.
Drinks have clever
names such as "Planet of the Apes"
(rum, banana and blackberry liqueur), "Tootsie"
(Creme de Cacao and orange juice), "The
Exorcist" (vodka, rum, Triple Sec,
Midori, Sprite), and "The Terminator"
(vodka, rum, gin, Grand Marnier, Tia Maria, Kahlua, cranberry juice and
beer).
Entrees range from
: $10 to $18; appetizers are in the $3 to $10 range.
Visit the gift shop
and you can pick up keepsakes such as Planet Hollywood boxer shorts ($14),
Planet Hollywood sunglasses ($36.), or a Planet Hollywood leather jacket
($325).
[See the separate
page about the other Planet
Hollywood at South Coast Plaza.]
Getting
there:
The restaurant is located on the bottom two floors of an office building
on Wilshire Blvd, just a block west of Rodeo Drive. / From Rodeo,
go south to Wilshire, turn right (west), and go one block to Camden. The
restaurant will be on your left (south) side, at the southwest corner of
Wilshire & Camden. (Warning: Camden Drive is a one-way (north-only)
street, so you cannot turn left on Camden.)
[For
more information on this subject, you can access the official Planet Hollywood
website at: http://www.planethollywood.com.]
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