Planet Hollywood- sharing a table with celebrities

The first time I visited a Planet Hollywood restaurant was in France when I was with my little girl in Disneyland. Whoever has been there, knows that before the entrance there is an area with several fast food restaurants, the area where Planet Hollywood is. Then, I went in out of curiosity and did not stay for long. Now, I went in and ate at the one in London. And I want to tell you how it was…

As a short history, the first Planet Hollywood restaurant opened in New York, towards the end of the year 1991 and it had an instant success. A genius strategy of the managers, Robert Earl and Keith Barish, consisted of attracting shareholders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore, Bruce Wills and Sylvester Stallone. Practically, it is based on people’s wish to be close to celebrities, even through a series of objects.

From what I understood, things have changed lately, the brand is spread around the world and had many locations. From this success, in 1999 it went bankrupt. That is what happens when you are an overachiever. Were the actors still shareholders? Possible…I would not know what to say exactly. I think not, though. Now, Planet Hollywood, as far as I know, has restaurants in NY, LA, Las Vegas, and Orlando, besides the ones in Disneyland Paris and London. Will it reach Romania or would it be successful in our country?

Maybe you’re thinking that it is an expensive restaurant, as I used to think as well, but that is not true! I could say that anyone can afford to go there and eat one of their famous burgers or a soup, have a salad, or to drink something. I admit the first time I was there in France, we only went in to look around, but this time we went there to eat and it was okay. We got there in December, when we had our project about London.

Planet Hollywood in London

The restaurant is close to Leicester Square and the Piccadilly Circus underground station. It is open daily from 11:30 am to 12 am, Sunday being open only until 11 pm. The same schedule applies for the souvenir store inside. The bar is open from 11:30 am to 1 am.

The base of the food? Burgers, pizza, pasta, salads, and original Planet Hollywood deserts.

We ordered the Plain Jane burger (12.5 pounds) with a portion of French fries and a salad. We tried a portion of chicken crunch (8.5 pounds), a portion of Trio potatoes with three types of French fries (3.95 pound). We finished with a fabulous Super Nova Shake with a lot of chocolate with an amazing movie-style design. One beer costs 3-4 pounds.

If you have been to Hard Rock Cafe before and you have admired the clothing collections of famous singers, it would be interesting to go and see the ones of famous actors from the most well-known movies in one of the Planet Hollywood restaurants. For movie lovers, it is a pleasing experience to see the costumes from childhood movies.

You got the point. A museum with objects from famous movies. But besides these, there is also other stuff. The handprints of celebrities are spread across the restaurant and lit up with neon lights in the most American style.

Apart from that, famous objects are also displayed. Who doesn’t know the famous communicator from Star Trek? The predecessor of any smartphone. The original used in the movie (or at least one of them) is carefully exhibited next to a table.

Overall, the experience is not bad at all. A pleasing night, spent among “actors”, with food and decent prices in a cosmopolitan city, like London is.

If you want to go, you will have to book a table before going because it is usually full and you are risking not finding a table. I saw many reserved tables for Christmas parties and I think there are reservations for anniversaries throughout the year.

If you have ever visited a Planet Hollywood restaurant, we would like to know your opinion. How was it? How did you feel? What did you eat and what else did you see around there?