Famous Food

Alex Rodriguez will never play baseball again ... is what some people think -- just because he scarfed down 20 wings at a Hooters, just as he's supposed to be getting in game shape.

Before you dismiss the theory, please note -- A-Rod also had CURLY FRIES!! Boom.

MasterChef finalist Josh Marks wasn't in his right mind during a bizarre, violent encounter with University of Chicago cops this week -- so says Josh's lawyer, who tells TMZ, doctors are currently evaluating him to determine whether he's suffering from a mental illness.

Josh's attorney Lisa Marie Butler tells us, “We are working closely with medical professionals to determine if Josh's behavior could be related to mental health symptoms."

She adds, "The Josh that you are hearing about in police reports this morning is not the spirited Gentle Giant that we know.”

As we reported, 26-year-old 7-foot-2 Marks was arrested by University of Chicago police Monday after allegedly punching a cop and trying to grab his gun. 3 officers tried to subdue Marks with batons and pepper spray, but he broke free and took off running.

It eventually took 5 officers to chase him down and handcuff him. Once in custody, cops claim Marks blamed Gordon Ramsay for his outburst, claiming the celeb chef had possessed him and turned him into God. We're told there was no evidence of drug use.

Multiple sources close to Marks believe he suffers from bipolar disorder. Fellow "MasterChef" contestant Tali Clavijo tells us, "Josh was two different people ... He seemed to always be a party guy, but he had this other side trying to be good." He added, "He had split personalities."

With his career in jeopardy and cheating allegations swirling ... Alex Rodriguez found comfort at a Hooters in Florida this weekend ... TMZ has learned.

We've confirmed ... A-Rod and a lady friend walked in to the chicken joint in Sarasota, Florida this weekend and went to town on chicken wings.

Hooters sources ... yeah, we got those ... tell us A-Rod and his woman woofed down a total of 20 wings (medium sauce) along with an order of curly fries ... and washed it down with a soda and an unsweetened tea.

We're told A-rod left a pretty great tip and was super nice to everyone in the restaurant.

Unclear if either Alex or the chickens tested positive for growth hormones.

A top contender on "MasterChef" had a bizarre, violent encounter with cops in Chicago ... telling them Gordon Ramsay is an "asshole" who possessed his body and then transformed him into God ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... a University of Chicago cop spotted Josh Marks nearby the campus on Monday He was trying to use a University emergency phone and had obvious cuts on his face. We're told the cop asked Marks if anything was wrong, and Marks then lunged at him, striking him with a closed fist and then tried to grab his gun.

Our sources say the cop and two other officers tried to subdue the 26-year-old, 7'2" tall culinary runner-up ... to no avail. They batoned and pepper sprayed him but it had no effect. Marks broke free and started running. Five cops subdued him in a resident's backyard.

Marks was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries. We're told once in custody an officer asked him why he went off the rails, and he blamed it all on Gordon Ramsay. Shockingly, we're told there was no evidence of drug use.

We're told doctors discovered bullet fragments in Marks' face from an unrelated incident.

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson is one step closer to getting rid of her throat-clutching ad mogul husband Charles Saatchi -- after a British judge rubberstamped their divorce petition.

According to court docs, obtained by British media, Lawson blamed the split on Saatchi's "unreasonable behavior."

Of course, it was just 7 weeks ago that Saatchi was photographed grabbing his wife by the throat outside of a London restaurant.

During the hearing, the judge granted the couple a "decree nisi" -- conditional approval -- and the divorce will most likely be finalized in 6 weeks, standard operating procedure in the U.K.

Court docs reportedly show an "order for financial relief" has been approved ... which means it's likely the two struck a private settlement deal.

Lawson and Saatchi have been married for 10 years. They have no children together.

Paula Deen has a very powerful ally ... 'cause undefeated boxing champ Laila Ali tells TMZ she's still got Deen's back, even after the n-word controversy.

Right before Deen's kingdom came crumbling down, Laila joined Deen on the Food Network show "Paula's Best Dishes" back in April to cook up some Cloverleaf Rolls, Brussels sprouts, stewed beef and cheese grits.

Since her appearance, Deen has basically been branded a racist due to the fact she admitted using the N-word in private.

So, when Laila and her husband, former NFL star Curtis Conway, rolled into Malibu yesterday, we had to ask how she felt about the disgraced chef.

L.A. Dodgers sensation Yasiel Puig went back to Cuba last night -- or as close as he's gonna get to it in Hollywood ... and a TMZ camera guy was there to roll out the bad Spanglish welcome mat.

Puig hit up El Floridita restaurant in Hollywood last night for some of L.A.'s most authentic Cuban food and music -- and on the way out our guy hit him up about ... "los playoffs."

Gotta give our guy credit ... Puig's English ain't so good yet, so we gave it the old high school Spanish try. Shout out to Google Translate too.

You might hate his music ... you might even hate his goatee ... but you gotta appreciate the way Chad Kroeger gushed about his wife this weekend when we asked about his new marriage to Avril Lavigne.

The Nickelback frontman was leaving Boa Steakhouse in Hollywood last night after a dinner date with his wife -- when we asked about life as a newlywed (Chad and Avril tied the knot on July 1).

"It's an amazing feeling," Chad told us ... adding that he plans to stay in the honeymoon phase with Avril "until the day I die."

All in all, it's a pretty good clip ... and Chad couldn't have been nicer.

Joey Chestnut is currently digesting the remains of 89-and-a-half chickens ... after once again DOMINATING at the Hooters World Wing-Eating Championship!

Chestnut chewed up and spit out the competition as he devoured 179 WINGS in just 10 minutes ... taking the title for the second year in a row.

The 29-year-old had some fierce competition during the event in Clearwater, Florida -- legendary eaters like Eric "Badlands" Booker and Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas.

Of course, Chestnut is also the reigning Nathan's hot dog eating champ -- and has also earned titles in the world of matzo balls, mac and cheese, shrimp wontons and corn beef sandwiches.

Flavor Flav's Chicken & Ribs has fried its last drumstick -- TMZ has learned, the fast food joint just got evicted once and for all from its last remaining location, following an epic battle with its landlord.

We broke the story ... Flav's Chicken in Sterling Heights, MI, was previously evicted back in June after the landlord claimed Flav's business partners had been stiffing him on rent -- but the business partners bought themselves some extra time by filing a Motion to Stay the eviction ... and re-opened.

The Motion to Stay was granted on the condition Flav's business partners and the landlord came to an agreement regarding past rent -- but that never happened ... so on Thursday, the Motion to Stay was officially denied.

U-Haul trucks showed up Wednesday to carry everything away -- and police were on hand in case anything got nasty. Luckily, it didn't.

The Michigan location was the last remaining Flav's Fried Chicken in the country -- the other locations in Vegas and Iowa have also closed down.

Paula Deen is calling BS on a former chef who claims Deen made an African-American employee dress up like Aunt Jemima ... claiming the chef is crying racism in a pathetic money grab.

The woman behind the allegations is Dora Charles -- who ran Deen's kitchens for 22 years and helped open Paula's famous Lady & Sons restaurant in Georgia.

Charles spoke with the New York Times -- and claimed Deen wouldn't just use racial slurs in the kitchens, but wanted to dress up her employees as humiliating stereotypes.

Among the allegations, Charles says Deen tried to make her ring a dinner bell for restaurant customers ... something Charles felt was racially charged.

"That's a symbol to me of what we used to do back in the day," Charles said.

Charles also claims Deen tried to make another black female employee, Ineata Jones, dress up in an "old style Aunt Jemima outfit" while flipping hoecakes at a dining station.

But Deen says ... she's not only confident Charles is making the whole thing up -- but claims on July 6, Jones signed a legal document saying she had never felt discriminated against and never heard Deen spout racial slurs during her employment.

Charles has not filed a lawsuit, but claims she wants to get her story out so everyone will know the real Paula Deen.

Deen's camp fired back in a statement saying, "Dora's complaint is not about race but about money. It is about an employee that despite over 20 years of generosity feels that she still deserves yet even more financial support from Paula Deen."

Of course, Deen has previously admitted that she used the N-word ... but insists she never directed the slur at any of her employees.

It was a meeting of the pop megastars at Katsuya in Hollywood last night ... when Will.i.am and Psy hooked up for some raw fish -- one month after hitting the recording studio together.

The two arrived to the restaurant in separate cars -- Psy had a driver ... and Will had his $700k custom-made metallic blue monstrosity.

Just last month, Psy teased a possible collaboration when he posted a photo of the two in a recording studio with the caption -- "Some cool sh**z goin on in London at 2am!! Me& @iamwill !! Guess what!?"

Mmmmmmm Ritz -- TMZ has learned, Amanda Bynes ran up a super stoner bill at the Ritz-Carlton in NYC this week ... ordering more than $2,000 worth of room service before getting the boot on Thursday.

As we reported, Bynes was ejected from the hotel for smoking weed inside her hotel room, as well as for being intolerably rude to hotel staff. Bynes denied the allegations, but her hotel bill, obtained by TMZ, appears to back up the hotel's story.

According to the bill, Amanda racked up nearly $9,000 in charges, staying in a $700-a-night room -- and $2,389 of that bill came from room service orders.

The bill shows Amanda placed nearly FORTY (40) separate room service orders -- and we're not talking a side of fries here and some nachos there ... each order averaged roughly $60-70 a POP.

A poor-man's Ryan Seacrest got a little octopus at Nobu restaurant ... courtesy of Ryan's ex, Julianne Hough.

Our sushi sources tell us ... the 2 were all over each other like white on rice ... even licking each other as they munched on raw fish.

On the Seacrest front ... we're told he's moved on.

After all, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

They asked the public for HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for George Zimmerman's defense ... but now that the case is over, GZ's lawyers are living the high life-- eating at one of NYC's most expensive restaurants.

TMZ cameras rolled as Mark O'Mara, Don West and the rest of the team left the famous Nello restaurant in NYC earlier today ... where the lobster bisque will run you a cool $43.

Sources tell TMZ the gang was seen drinking champagne inside the restaurant ... and when it comes to the bubbly at Nello -- even the cheap stuff is expensive.

On the way out, the lawyers told us they still believe the jury in the Trayvon Martin case made the right decision -- "[Zimmerman] was not guilty from day one."

Two years after UFC badass Brock Lesnar was forced to retire due to serious stomach issues, the Beast Incarnate proved his guts are still TOUGH AS HELL ... by woofing down enough food to feed a small Italian village.

As you may recall, Brock was diagnosed with a severe case of diverticulitis back in 2009 -- a digestive tract disease that usually forms in the large intestine -- and after multiple surgeries, he was forced to retire in 2011.

But things are lookin' up ... 'cause TMZ has learned Lesnar and his wife Sable hit up Fresco restaurant in Montclair, NJ on Monday ... and Brock put his belly to the test.

Check out what he ate:

-- Ahi tuna with asparagus (shared)
-- Margherita pizza (shared)
-- Chicken Parm ... with TRIPLE-EXTRA chicken
-- Full bowl of parpadelle bolognese

... and, to top things off, dude crushed a slice of cheesecake by himself.

We're told the entire meal cost just north of $500 ... PLUS, we're told the WWE star left a "very generous" tip to everyone who stayed past closing time to take care of him.

Awesome.