Read this: How Planet Hollywood withered away by selling food nobody wanted to eat more than once
Guy Fieri and themed resorts represent the chain's last hope for survival
Back in the ‘90s, there was no thrill more potent than swinging the doors of a Planet Hollywood wide open, knowing that you were in for an overpriced burger eaten below movie artifacts like prop jackets or a big, almost-nude Sylvester Stallone mannequin. The excitement the chain generated at the time was so high that the whole enterprise seemed unstoppable. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Demi Moore, and Bruce Willis had all put money into the business. There were rumors that they might pop into one of its many locations at any time. Then, as Esquire explains in a profile of Planet Hollywood’s birth and prolonged march toward death, people just stopped coming to the restaurants.
Before it details the chain’s fall from grace, the article explains exactly how big Planet Hollywood used to be. Amidst the many, many names of the biggest ‘90s celebrities to visit the restaurant, Esquire describes location openings that came with lavish parties and bizarre sights like Steven Seagal greeting the crowds by riding up on an elephant or Whoopi Goldberg being “carried in like Cleopatra.” We learn that Nelson Mandela once ate at the Manhattan location with Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte—that Stevie Wonder would sometimes sing “happy birthday” along with servers when he was visiting the chain.
