Famous Food

LeBron James was back at Nobu in Malibu on Thursday night for a fancy dinner with Anthony Davis and their agent Rich Paul.

Normally, not that big of a deal for 2 teammates to dine with their agent -- but it seems like they're making a statement in the wake of some criticism about their professional relationship.

Earlier Thursday, an anonymous NBA agent went after LeBron and Rich Paul to The Athletic -- essentially saying that Paul is just a puppet for LeBron.

The agent essentially claims LeBron is running the show at the Klutch Sports Group and Paul is just doing his bidding -- which, if true, would be illegal in California since a player is not also allowed to represent talent.

Here's a quote from the article ...

"The worst thing that LeBron is doing is forcing this power with Rich Paul and what that is, in terms of, he’s a player, but he has prowess in the media space. His company Spring Hill, that’s awesome. Doing the movies and all of the projects. That’s so commendable. I love that. But now that they’ve jumped into the agent game, which the reality is, it’s illegal for a player, particularly if you’re in the state of California, to be licensed to represent talent."

The agent suggests several young players have been "seduced" by LeBron to sign with Klutch because they idolized him growing up ... only to end up signing bad deals.

But, neither Bron nor Anthony Davis or Paul seemed to be bothered by the criticism Thursday night -- rolling up to Nobu in fancy cars and enjoying a night at one of the hottest restaurants in town.

TikTok star Bryce Hall can't seem to go out to eat anywhere in L.A. without getting into a fight ... this time, he and his crew were involved in an ugly brawl at a Mexican restaurant, but Bryce says it wasn't his fault.

The violence broke out Monday at Cinco Mexican restaurant near LAX, and video shows Bryce and his boys in a huge scuffle with staffers on the outdoor patio.

Sources with direct knowledge of the incident tell TMZ ... Bryce and his buddies were hanging out on the patio before playing golf at a nearby course, and things took a turn for the worse when a server told Bryce and co. to stop vaping.

It's illegal to vape at restaurants in L.A. but we're told Bryce and his boys refused to quit and Bryce allegedly blew smoke in a staffer's face when asked to stop.

Sources say Bryce and his friends were asked to leave and given the check. When their server went inside to run Bryce's credit card, all hell broke loose.

One source says it was Bryce and his buddies who jumped an employee, with Bryce throwing the first punch and continuing to brawl until other staffers broke it up.

Now, Bryce tells us he was vaping, but says he was cordial when the manager asked him to leave. He claims the trouble started when he had to ask to get his credit card back more than 10 times ... and the manager allegedly told him, "No, get the f*** off the property."

Bryce alleges the manager grabbed him and tried to drag him away, sparking the bigger all-out brawl. He claims he only put the guy in a headlock while defending one of his friends. In the end, Bryce says the manager kicked him in the nuts.

One employee claims to have suffered a potentially broken hand and bruised face in the scuffle ... and named Bryce as his attacker in a police report. We're told he wants to press charges.

Bryce and his friends had already left by the time cops arrived. Bryce claims he has witnesses and video to back up his version of events.

As we reported ... Bryce was also throwing haymakers outside Mel's Diner on Sunset last month.

An unreleased Notorious B.I.G. freestyle about his favorite cola is being turned into a slick commercial for Pepsi ... just in time to big him up for getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Biggie's bars were previously only heard during a HOT97 radio appearance he made in 1997 ... shortly before he was gunned down in Los Angeles. He was on with DJ Enuff when he busted the rap about Pepsi.

Not shockingly, Pepsi seized on the chance to promote with Biggie Small's own words and worked with his collaborators, Enuff and Cey Adams, to create an animated short music vid.

Some of the lyrics include, "Big slam, quick slam, tin can, whatever. Whether too cold or too hot, you got to keep Pepsi in the freezer. I keep a 3 liter for my crew. My girl like them diet joints too."

The spot shouts out Biggie's latest industry honor -- on November 7 he will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame -- so, great timing.

Quavo appears to wanna be the next Travis Scott or J Balvin ... as far as hamburgers go.

The Migos rapper just posted some pics of himself at a McDonald's -- where he's ordering his go-to favorite meal. By the looks of it, this seems to be a direct plea to the Golden Arches for a potential partnership -- similar to what they've been doing with artists lately.

Quavo's own "meal deal" would include ... a plain double cheeseburger, their new spicy McNuggets, a medium fry and some barbecue sauce. The line McDonald's employees can yell out to prospective Quavo-inspired customers ... "What U Want???" Has a nice ring to it!

He even posted an up-close shot of what the food bundle looks like from his POV -- it ain't exactly as professional and touched-up as J Balvin's sponsorship shoot, or the inaugural Travis meal that kicked this whole trend off for that matter, but hey ... it's a starting concept.

Now, if Quavo is trying to will a McDonald's deal into existence, there's a big problem from what we can see. Dude forgot to tag @McDonalds!!! C'mon, bruh ... that's marketing 101.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are returning to the daily grind, slowly but surely ... venturing out together and running some errands, two weeks after their family tragedy.

The couple went on a grocery run Thursday at a Bristol Farms in L.A., the latest indication they are getting back to some semblance of a normal life.

As you know, Chrissy and John's son, Jack, passed away moments after his premature birth, due to complications with the pregnancy ... including severe bleeding from the placenta.

John poured his heart out Wednesday night during the Billboard Music Awards with a moving performance of his song "Never Break" ... which he dedicated to Chrissy.

Great to see the couple's feeling well enough to head out for groceries. They were both wearing face masks, as required in stores.

The L.A. Lakers victory celebration has moved to Malibu -- with LeBron James and his teammates turning up at Nobu!

Seems it was a couple's dinner -- because everyone from Bron to Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Dwight Howard and more showed up to the restaurant Wednesday night with their significant others. The fashion game was strong!!!

Just because they're out of the bubble, doesn't mean they're blowing off COVID safety measures -- everyone masked up on the way into the sushi joint.

Rajón Rondo, Markieff Morris, Jared Dudley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and others also showed up ... though we haven't seen pics of Anthony Davis yet!

Earlier this week, Davis appeared on the 'Jimmy Kimmel' show and joked about how he wouldn't go back to Disney World for years after spending months in the bubble. He also mentioned how most of his teammates just relaxed in their own beds once they arrived home. Maybe he's just not ready to party yet!

Speaking of parties ... as we previously reported, the Lakers and L.A. City and County officials are working together to figure out a safe way to have a massive victory parade in L.A. -- but it won't happen until the pandemic is over, which could take a while.

In the meantime, hopefully the players enjoyed their expensive victory dinner at the hottest restaurant in town ... they earned it!!

Perhaps the most famous meat corporation in the land has serious beef with a New York City eatery, and what you smell cooking ain't a sizzling grill ... it's an all out legal war!!!

Here's the deal ... Certified Angus Beef is going after Beetle House NYC for allegedly using the CAB label, without permission, to promote items on their menus.

The corporation fired off a legal threat, obtained by TMZ, claiming Beetle House is using the CAB's good name to hawk the Edward Burger Hand burger. Clever. Ya get it?

Anyway, the restaurant's online menu says the burger comes with a "cab 1/2 patty" ... and that's the burning issue. Certified Angus Beef says Beetle House didn't buy its product, and even if it had, Beetle wasn't allowed to use the trademarked name.

The company says it wants Beetle House to remove any references to its products from their menus.

Beetle House owner Zach Neil says he initially thought the legal threat was a joke. He claims his restaurant bought real CAB products, but will stop doing so in the future.

Zach calls the CAB's beef "part of what’s wrong with America right now. People are dying, restaurants are failing, these guys are threatening the very people that buy their products. It’s really sad.”

A rep for CAB tells TMZ ... "We take the Certified part of our name to heart and have a system in place to track our beef so those known to be purchasing our beef are truly promoting it. Our system does not show NYC Beetle House is purchasing product, though we fully recognize we may be missing that important information.

Not everyone in the Trump fam is thinking Election Day -- Tiffany Trump is focused on turning UP right now, partying in Miami to kick off her birthday celebration.

Donald Trump's youngest daughter did it big Sunday night, hitting up a couple hot spots with her boyfriend, Michael Boulos, and a group of friends ahead of her 27th bday.

The Dom Perignon was flowing throughout the fun-filled night, which began with a ton of sushi at Komodo.

Tiffany and her party people, including Papi Steak partner David Einhorn, kept the good times rolling at Kiki on The River, where Aris Nanos greeted the group with bottle service, sparklers and, of course, an American flag.

Imagine ... a Trump event in Florida sans politics??? Just food, booze and fireworks.

Imagine growing up listening to Fleetwood Mac and then one day, BAM ... a letter from Mick Fleetwood himself. Welcome to the "Dreams" skateboarder's amazing new life.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... the rock band's co-founder and drummer reached out to Nathan Apodaca's team to get his mailing info after watching him cruise on his skateboard, vibing to the Mac classic and chugging cranberry juice.

We're told Nathan got the letter Tuesday morning, and was beyond excited. The letter, handwritten and signed by Mick, lays out how inspiring Nathan's been since his TikTok video went viral.

The "Dreams" challenge, of course, also inspired Mick, who gladly took part himself. Mick had commented on Nathan's TikTok, suggesting they meet, when it's safe to do so. No shocker, Nathan's totally down for that!

We're told he grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac because his mother and aunts always played their music. That's why Nathan's hoping they not only meet, but do some kinda collaboration in the future. We're told they've already connected privately on social media.

As we reported, Nathan's been getting a lot of love -- he's selling tons of merch, Ocean Spray hooked him up with a new truck and now he's tight with Mick freakin' Fleetwood.

It's gotta be feeling like more than a dream now for Nathan Apodaca -- the viral Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" skateboarder -- because the reality is ... he's riding a major hot streak.

After his video blew up last week ... the cranberry-juice-sipping, good-vibes viral star received a brand new and fully stocked truck from Ocean Spray, an homage from Mick Fleetwood, tons of donations, and now ... his merchandise biz is booming.

A rep for Nathan tells TMZ ... his personally designed line of Doggface clothing has already hauled in more than $30,000 in profit over 5 days since its launch with UpMerch.com.

The Doggface gear includes hoodies and t-shirts with the instantly classic shot of him chugging his juice ... along with a beanie. BTW -- Doggface is Nathan's longtime nickname, but more importantly ... his TikTok handle.

We're told Nathan teamed with UpMerch because he was trying to put out all his swag himself but fell way behind ... and the company had the resources to handle the majorly increased demand.

Nathan's doing work for UpMerch too -- our sources say the site's recorded a 96 percent increase in new customers since the Doggface products dropped.

Nathan Apodaca -- AKA the Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" skateboarder -- has a couple of huge reasons to smile today, as well as an explanation for why he chugs huge bottles of cranberry juice.

Nathan was on "TMZ Live" Wednesday talking about how his life's changed dramatically since uploading that now-viral skateboarding clip to TikTok. He calls it a blessing, because it led to him getting that brand new truck, delivered Tuesday by Ocean Spray.

As we told you ... Nathan said the donations that poured in shortly after would be used possibly for a new ride, but then he got Ocean Spray's gift. By the way, he told us how his first drive went in the truck went -- it's gonna make ya smile.

Nathan says his family had been talking about saving money for his daughter's upcoming 16th bday party and getting a new place. Now, they're plans are changing ... for the better.

As for why Nathan sips on that large 64 oz. jug of his fave beverage while skateboarding -- it's pretty simple. It's all about time, size and value. Doggface (his TikTok handle) broke it down for us, and reacted to rumors Travis Scott even wants to collaborate with him now.

Michael Jordan's done it. Same with Walter Payton and Mary Lou Retton.

And now, LeBron James is finally getting the honor of being on the Wheaties box!!

It's kinda crazy LeBron hasn't been on the box before considering he's been an NBA superstar since 2003, but better late than never!

General Mills announced the Lakers superstar will take over as the box cover athlete, relieving Serena Williams of her cereal duties.

The company says it picked LeBron to celebrate his "efforts both on and off the court" -- most notably, his accomplishments with the I Promise program for underprivileged kids in Akron, Ohio.

In fact, LeBron will share the Wheaties box with images of kids, families and faculty from the I Promise program and the I Promise public school.

FYI, Wheaties has been putting top athletes on the cereal box for 85 years -- the very first athlete to grace the cover was Lou Gehrig back in 1934!

Talk about positive vibes -- the guy who went viral skateboarding to a Fleetwood Mac classic just got upgraded wheels ... meaning a brand new truck, courtesy of his fave beverage.

A rep for Ocean Spray rolled up to Nathan Apodaca's RV Tuesday in Idaho ... and the dude who just loves sipping cranberry juice while vibing to "Dreams" was hella surprised by the generosity.

Check out the video ... Nathan hopped out of his RV to meet the juice guy, who told him the truck and all the juice in its flatbed were all his! The Ocean Spray rep thanked Nathan -- as we all do -- for keeping the positive feels going.

A pretty awesome ending after Nathan's original video sparked the so-called "Dreams" challenge on TikTok, which racked up millions of views.

Soon after, Nathan, who was saving money to upgrade his ride, got tons of donations from strangers all over the country ... more than $10k he said might use for a new RV.

The "Dreams" challenge ultimately reached the rock band's co-founder and drummer, Mick Fleetwood, who on Sunday shared his own TikTok and said Nathan "had it right. Dreams and Cranberry just hits different."

How does Joey Chestnut celebrate National Taco Day??

By crushing a MASSIVE, 12-pound walking taco in 38 minutes!!!

(IMPORTANT STORY NOTE --  a "walking taco" is essentially a bunch of taco ingredients stuffed inside of a chip bag. Good stuff)

The food G.O.A.T. would have been competing in the annual Pacific Park World Taco Eating Championship on Sunday if it weren't for COVID-19 ... but NOTHING can stop this dude from eating insane amounts of tacos on the food holiday.

So, Jaws took matters into his own hands and made a humongous walking taco in the comfort of his own kitchen ... and the list of ingredients is wild.

-- 2 pounds of chips
-- 3 pounds of ground beef
-- 2+ pounds of cheese
-- 1+ pound of salsa
-- 6+ avocados
-- onions and sour cream
-- Joey's signature green hatch and jalapeno sauce

Now, no meal is too big for Chestnut ... and the guy was even ENJOYING eating the giant concoction while only needing 38 minutes and some change to finish it.

FYI -- Joey guzzled 82 street-style carnitas tacos in 8 minutes to win last year's eating competition in Santa Monica ... but at least he was able to take his time this year.

As for how the dude celebrated the feat??

"... a beer, belly rub and nap."

Imagine being at a restaurant ... and in walks Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Richard Dent and Don King.

That's exactly what happened to a couple back in 1988, who commemorated the moment by getting all the legends to sign their menu ... and now it's up for auction!!!

Hindman Auctions tells TMZ Sports ... the power squad showed up at Lino’s Ristorante in Chicago to celebrate Dent's 28th birthday.

As it turns out, the night was pretty well documented in Tyson's ex-trainer Rory Holloway's memoir, who claims Tyson was LIVID with MJ at dinner over suspicions the Bulls legend had a fling with his then-separated wife Robin Givens.

The book claims Tyson was on the verge of fighting MJ ... but apparently cooler heads prevailed when it came to the restaurant manager asking the superstars to sign the menu for the couple in attendance.

Now, the couple is looking to part ways with the unique piece of history -- it's hitting the auction block via Hindman Auctions on Oct. 20 ... and we're told this thing could sell for thousands, if not 5 figures!!!

Nathan Apodaca, the guy who went viral after posting video of him drinking juice and vibing to Fleetwood Mac on his skateboard, is feeling blessed ... he says the donations pouring in are gonna help him upgrade his busted car and RV.

We tracked down Nathan in Idaho Falls, the site of his now-famous video, and he told us generous folks have sent him $10,000 ... and he really needs it.

Nathan says he's living in an RV with no running water, so he's parked in front of his brother's house, where he uses the shower and toilet. He says the donations via Venmo, Cash App and Paypal will help him get what he needs -- his own space to cook, clean, shower and 💩.

Nathan's also looking to upgrade his car, which funny enough, is the reason he went viral in the first place. Ya gotta hear him tell us what led up to his viral moment, it's quite the chain of events before his shift at a potato factory.

It's easy to see why people are rallying around Nathan ... and he says he's gonna surprise his mother with $5,000. If that wasn't generous enough, he says he already gave his lady-friend a new washer/dryer and bought some clothes for his daughter.