Famous Food

It's not just the Lakers who will take a hit with Kobe Bryant out the rest of the season -- local L.A. restaurants are also concerned ... telling TMZ Sports business is significantly slower when the Mamba isn't on the court.

FYI -- Staples Center is located right next to L.A. Live ... a major entertainment center packed with restaurants often trafficked by people before and after events at the arena.

But with Kobe going down with a torn rotator cuff, several restaurant staffers tell us everyone is going to suffer.

We spoke with Mike Zislis -- owner of Rock ‘N Fish at L.A. Live -- who tells us, "We feel like we’re gonna lose at least 10 percent of our sales per home game."

"Last year when Kobe was out we calculated we lost $250k in revenue," Zislis says, noting that Kobe only played in 2 home games during the '13-'14 season.

"Lakers fans generally spend more than Kings or Clippers fans so when they suck and Kobe isn’t there to draw fans, it hurts."

We also spoke with staffers at Katsuya at L.A. Live who echoed Mike's statements. One staffer told us, "When Kobe is out, the restaurant is empty and business is slow. It sucks for the staff because less people equals less tips."

Of course, there's one simple solution to the problem -- the Lakers could go on a winning streak and bring the fans back to the arena.

The food in North Korea is garbage ... Pras has been to the Hermit kingdom and is dishin' on their crappy dishes.

We caught up with the Fugees co-founder outside Madeo in West Hollywood and let's just say he's not a fan of the cuisine.

Apparently there's no Korean BBQ actually in N.K. ... Pras flew there in August to check out a wrestling match but said the food was so horrible, he only ate beans.

Food aside, Kim Jong Un shouldn't expect a private Fugees bash anytime soon ... Pras ain't down with that whole communism vibe. Sorry Kim.

Charlotte McKinney's Super Bowl commercial for Carl's Jr. is awesome for sure ... although just about everyone is calling BS on her testimonial, because how can THAT chick eat a big fat burger?

McKinney was out Thursday at Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills (the exact opposite of Carl's Jr) where it seemed the buxom blonde had a little sake with dinner. Or a lot.

Anyway when it came time to ask if she's a fan of Carl's ... she stayed on message like a pro.

Kate Upton, you've got a real challenger to your throne.

Bravo star Greg Plitt's favorite energy drink will not give you superpowers ... so says the company that makes WheyUP -- the product Plitt was plugging when he was hit by a train.

The pre-workout drink contains protein and caffeine, but Shadow Beverages and Snacks wants to stress what should be obvious -- it would never give anyone the ability to outrun a train.

Even though a bunch of empty WheyUp bottles were found near the tracks ... a company rep tells us Plitt wasn't drinking all of them -- he was crushing most of them with a hammer for the promo shoot.

Plitt was a co-owner of WheyUp, and the rep says he had full creative control when it came to his video shoots.

It's time for "Giant Man Story Time" with NFL star D.J. Fluker ... who is about to tell TMZ Sports the true story of a guy who ate 65 Chick-fil-A nuggets only to lose a contest to a man WHO ATE 80.

Fluker -- 6'5 and 339-lbs for you scoring at home -- was out in L.A. when our camera guy asked him about the most fast food he's ever eaten in one sitting.

That's when "Giant Man Story Time" began -- with Fluker telling us he once bravely entered a chicken nugget eatin' contest and downed 65 mini-birds, but it wasn't enough to win.

Bonus -- He also tells us who the biggest eater in the NFL is.

There was plenty of tail on Will Smith's latest movie set ... and it was delicious!

We got pics of a lunch Will catered Tuesday for the cast and crew of "Concussion," which is being filmed in Oxnard. The eats were spectacular ... huge lobster tails, filet mignon, prime rib, chicken, sausage, pastas, and on and on.

We're told the crew went crazy, and they love Will. To a person they say he's the nicest guy they've ever worked with. Some of them say they worked with Will 15 years ago and he hasn't changed a bit.

We don't know if Will or the studio paid, but he's the one who threw the shindig, and the cast and crew couldn't be happier ... and dare we say fatter.

Sugar Bear was drinking heavily the night Mama June broke up with him ... but he wasn't dipping into the hard stuff -- the reality star was just hitting the Dew.

Sources connected to Suge tell us he spent the night at a relative's house on Wednesday after MJ kicked him to the curb. Then he drowned his sorrows in Mountain Dew and chili.

We're told S.B. vented to his family about his frustrations with June ... including his belief that she is still talking to Mark McDaniel. He also argued with his ex on the phone for hours following the meal.

An earful of June and a bellyful of chili -- not enough antacid in the world.

The next day Sugar Bear rented a new double wide with his bro.

"Alias" stars Jennifer Garner and Victor Garber reunited with the show's creator J.J. Abrams Friday night, and the tight lipped director gave us a hint about the future.

The 3 stars hit up Giorgio Baldi and seemed pretty chummy while they waited for their cars ... so much so that when our photog asked J.J. if they'd make more episodes -- Abrams ACTUALLY responded with a challenge of sorts to Jennifer.

Robert De Niro has beef with Caesars Palace ... actually he has Kobe beef, because his swanky Nobu restaurant has been stiffed by the house.

De Niro is the co-founder of the high-end restaurant chain and his company, Nobu Hospitality, is listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy case the hotel just filed. According to legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Caesars owes Nobu nearly $460K.

And the actor's not alone. According to the docs, Caesars owes Gordon Ramsay $307K. Ramsay also has a restaurant -- Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill -- in the hotel complex.

Like smoking weed but hate packing on the extra Funyun-induced pounds? Then Bethenny Frankel is about to become your salvation.

Yes, the woman who built Skinnygirl products into a multi-million dollar empire is now branching out into weed. Our sources confirm Frankel is working on selling a kind of pot that does NOT give you the munchies.

Frankel seemed to be doing market research last month in the Rockies when she was seen walking out of the famous Green Dragon Dispensary in Aspen. It's kinda like the Barney's New York of pot sales.

BF later tweeted, "OMG it's the craziest thing to see marijuana legal in Aspen. People walking into pot stores like it's the @Gap #prohibitiondone"

As first reported by Us Weekly, Frankel plans to peddle her buds in states where recreational marijuana is legal ... like Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

There was an elephant in the room at a meeting of gay L.A. Republicans ... and the elephant was Justin Bieber

The L.A. chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans had a meeting Monday night at State Social House, one of Bieber's favorite restaurants.

Here's the thing. Justin showed up with 4 friends and wanted his usual perch ... in a placed called The Attic. Problem was ... The gay Republicans were still meetin'.

Justin and his crew were undaunted and just walked into The Attic, sat in the back and ordered chicken wings as the group discussed gay rights in the Republican ranks.

One of the LCR members called in to the Jillian Barberie and John Phillips' show on 790 KABC, and said he thought Justin was just a pretty lesbian ... or a "butcher version of Miley Cyrus.'

6:26 AM PT -- Turns out the women that were hanging with Draymond were Steph Curry's wife and mother.

You can see Steph's mom, Sonya, shooting a thumbs down sign at the fans during the exchange.

No word on where Steph was when it all went down.

NBA player Draymond Green THREW FOOD at a bunch of Seahawks fans at CenturyLink Field yesterday during an altercation involving his group of Panthers fans ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Green's group was seated in a private box -- and sources tell us there was a LOT of smacktalking between his group and the Seahawks fans sitting below him.

But toward the end of the game, when Seattle started piling it on ... things got especially heated -- and that's when the Golden State Warriors bigman grabbed some food and fired it at the Hawks fans.

Someone else in the group also tossed some food down below.

We're told no one got kicked out of the game -- it was already so close to the final whistle that everyone just dispersed. But the Seattle fans definitely had some words for Green as they left.

We reached out to Green and his reps for comment -- so far, no word back.

"Deadliest Catch" star Elliott Neese isn't happy with his latest catch -- the salty captain just caught a stiff fine for hauling in undersized crabs.

We found out Neese was busted back in November at Dutch Harbor after Alaskan officials sampled his ship's cargo -- highly valuable red king crab -- and pulled 13 undersized "bugs." That's a rookie mistake and huge no-no, especially when you catch professionally on TV.

Elliott pled guilty and the fine was slashed from $6,000 to $3K.

If you're a pizza delivery guy who fights L.A. traffic to get your pies to customers while they're still hot, you may want to give the Scientology order to another driver, because apparently they don't tip.

Our pizza sources tell us last Friday the folks at the Hollywood Scientology building ordered 180 pizzas -- 100 pepperoni, 60 cheese and 20 veggies -- from Papa John's. The bill totaled $2,094.89.

Two delivery guys made 4 separate trips to L. Ron Hubbard's palace, and when all was said and done, they got nothing. The credit card was for precisely $2,094.89 ... not a penny in tip.

Scientology strongly encourages members to give a percentage of their income to the org, yet the pizza guys got 0%.

In the end, the Papa John's manager gave his guys $10 each for their troubles.

And that's a pie in the face.

After finding out about our story, a rep for Scientology told us "Senior officials were shocked and embarrassed and sent $300 to the restaurant."

Sweet freedom tastes just like a sad egg sandwich -- at least that's what "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice wants to remember it was like.

Teresa was snapped at 2 AM Monday, somberly chowing down her last meal as a free woman -- a hot egg sandwich at Elmer's Diner in Danbury, where she'll be spending the next 15 months.

We're told she spent most of her time at the table with her lawyer ... on her phone, saying goodbye to friends.

Pretty sure she perked up when she saw that prison commissary list.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" inmate Teresa Giudice will be living in the relative lap of luxury while locked up for the next 15 months ... bathing with Dove soap and sipping cappuccinos.

TMZ got its hands on the commissary list from Danbury prison ... it ain't Whole Foods but it's a whole lot better than you'd think. Her food choices include:

-- Hummus and macaroons
-- Albacore tuna
-- Cilantro cubes
-- Louisiana hot sauce
-- Deli meat
-- Oreos
-- Dove bars
-- Wild berry frozen yogurt

And there's plenty she can buy to pass the time, including MP3 players w/ Skullcandy earbuds. She can also buy make-up and cover up those zits with acne cream.

And forget sandpaper to clean yourself ... she can buy Charmin, baby! And for those lingering smells, she can purchase fragrance oils.

The best part ... we're told Teresa can spend more than an entire family -- $320/week -- and get this ... her family can put as much money in her account as they want.

So when she's not stocking up on vitamins and beauty supplies she'll be binge eating Fruity Dyno Bites.

She's going to be VERY popular.