There is an old industry joke that the quickest way to make a small fortune in restaurants is to start with a large one. Actors, you would think, would know better. Theirs is already a precarious trade.

Yet the stage door and the kitchen door keep opening on to the same corridor, and in Britain the tradition runs deep. Sir Michael Caine set the template in 1976, when he went into partnership with restaurateur Peter Langan and chef Richard Shepherd to open Langan’s Brasserie in Mayfair. For a generation it was where film people, ad men and City money went to be seen.

What has changed since is the seriousness. The best actor-owned restaurants in the UK today are not vanity projects. They are run by respected chefs and seasoned operators, with the actor as investor, host and ambassador. For business travellers, that matters: a famous name opens the conversation with a client, but only good food and service will close it.

Here are six actor-owned venues that deliver, from the West End to north Wales.

At a glance

  • Robert De Niro: Nobu London Old Park Lane, Mayfair
  • Sir Ian McKellen: The Grapes, Limehouse
  • Idris Elba: Porte Noire, King’s Cross
  • Theo James: Lupa, Highbury, and Ornella, London Fields
  • Lucien Laviscount: The Wealthy Beggar, Kensal Rise
  • Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney: The Turf, Wrexham

Robert De Niro’s restaurant: Nobu London Old Park Lane

No actor has done more to change how the world eats out than Robert De Niro. He became a regular at Nobu Matsuhisa’s small Los Angeles restaurant in the late 1980s and spent years persuading the chef to open with him in New York. Nobu finally opened in Tribeca in September 1994, backed by De Niro, producer Meir Teper and restaurateur Drew Nieporent.

London was the first city outside the United States to get a Nobu, in 1997. The original dining room is still trading on the first floor of the COMO Metropolitan London, looking across Hyde Park from Old Park Lane. This is the restaurant that taught London to eat black cod in miso, yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño and rock shrimp tempura, and all three are still on the menu.

The group has since become a global hospitality business with more than 50 restaurants and dozens of hotels, including Nobu Hotel London Portman Square in Marylebone, which has its own Nobu restaurant, terrace and a ballroom for corporate events.

Why book it: Old Park Lane is discreet, walkable from Mayfair’s hotels and head offices, and needs no explanation to an overseas guest. It is not cheap, and the 1990s buzz has mellowed, but as a safe pair of hands for a client lunch it is hard to beat.

Sir Ian McKellen’s pub: The Grapes, Limehouse

If Nobu is the power lunch, The Grapes is the pint afterwards. Sir Ian McKellen has lived on Narrow Street in Limehouse for decades, and since 2012 he has run his local in partnership with theatre director Sean Mathias and Evgeny Lebedev, the former Evening Standard proprietor.

The history here puts most “historic” inns to shame. There has been a tavern on the site since 1583, and the Grade II listed building dates from the 1720s. Charles Dickens knew Limehouse for 40 years and wrote The Grapes into Our Mutual Friend as “a tavern of dropsical appearance”. McKellen has written a short history of the pub himself, and a wizard’s staff from his Lord of the Rings days is on display for eagle-eyed fans.

Inside it is narrow, wood-panelled and pleasingly creaky. The food is honest pub cooking, with small plates and famous fish and chips, served in the bar or on a heated riverside deck. Out on the foreshore stands Antony Gormley’s figure Another Time, which McKellen bought and installed in 2013.

Why book it: It is a ten-minute walk from the towers of Canary Wharf and feels a world away. Note the house rules: no table reservations and no under-18s. Arrive early on a weekday evening, and if the owner is in, as he sometimes is, let him drink in peace.

Idris Elba’s restaurant: Porte Noire, King’s Cross

Idris Elba has never settled for one career. The Hackney-born actor made his name as Stringer Bell in The Wire and as DCI John Luther, starred in Apple TV+’s Hijack and still DJs. In 2020 he launched the Porte Noire Champagne label, and in late 2021 he gave it a home in King’s Cross.

Porte Noire, co-owned with David Farber, founder of Connaught Wine Cellars, sits at the foot of Gasholder 10 on Lewis Cubitt Walk, looking over the Regent’s Canal. The cellar holds around 800 wines, and the venue claims one of London’s largest fine wine tasting rooms. House Champagnes include a vintage Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, a rosé and the non-vintage Petite Porte, and there is wine on tap for exploring by the glass.

Executive chef Gonzalo Luzarraga, whose CV includes Michelin-starred kitchens in Chile, Italy and the Basque Country, cooks modern European sharing plates: ’nduja and mozzarella arancini, tuna tartare, short ribs with Korean barbecue sauce and a veal tomahawk cordon bleu.

Why book it: King’s Cross is now one of London’s busiest business districts, home to Google’s London offices among many others, and St Pancras International is five minutes’ walk away. It is ideal for a wine-led client dinner or a glass before the Eurostar, and the tasting room suits private events.

Theo James’s restaurants: Lupa, Highbury, and Ornella, London Fields

Theo James (pictured above with partner Ed Templeton chef Naz Hassan) is having a moment. After Divergent and a scene-stealing turn in the second season of The White Lotus, he now leads Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen. He has also become one of London’s more credible restaurateurs.

In June 2025 he opened Lupa at 73 Highbury Park with Ed Templeton, co-founder of Carousel in Marylebone, and chef Naz Hassan, formerly head chef at Pidgin in Hackney. It is a 28-seat Roman osteria with lime-washed walls, candlelight and handmade benches. “It’s really, really small,” Templeton told Wallpaper. “The benches felt like the best way to maximise covers and make it comfortable.”

The menu is Roman comfort food: hand-rolled carbonara and cacio e pepe, carciofi alla romana, supplì al telefono and slow-roasted porchetta, sold in thick sandwiches through the window on Arsenal match days. Lupa has since earned a place in the Michelin Guide.

In late April 2026 the team opened Ornella at 51 Wilton Way, off London Fields, this time looking to Milan, where Hassan grew up. At 48 covers it is almost twice Lupa’s size, and the cooking is richer: cotoletta di vitello, risotto alla Milanese, vitello tonnato and tagliatelle with butter and Parmigiano, plus aperitivo on a long pavement terrace. James’s wife, actor Ruth Kearney, has shaped the look of both. “We want every guest to feel like they’re in a place that cares about the details,” she says.

Why book it: The kind of local, generous place a visitor remembers. Book well ahead.

Lucien Laviscount’s bar: The Wealthy Beggar, Kensal Rise

For a later night, head north-west. Lucien Laviscount, who started out on Coronation Street and now plays Alfie, the British banker in Netflix’s Emily in Paris, co-owns The Wealthy Beggar at 109 Chamberlayne Road.

He opened it at the end of 2022 with business partners Zac Lichman, a restaurateur, and chef Gareth Drew, whose CV includes Nobu, which makes this the second venue in our round-up with a Nobu connection. The trio had earlier run a cult cocktail bar, The Shop, in the same neighbourhood until the pandemic closed it in 2020.

The Wealthy Beggar bills itself as a “five-star dive bar”, and that is about right: low-lit and speakeasy-styled, with a recording studio downstairs. Music is curated by punk and reggae figure Don Letts, with live sets on Wednesdays and DJs at weekends. Cocktails lean tropical, such as the Loaded Dice, a multi-rum piña colada, and food is pan-Asian small plates, including wagyu tartare with foie gras and cheeseburger dumplings with kimchi ketchup.

Why book it: Perfect for someone who wants drinks or to see a different London. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 5pm until late.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s pub: The Turf, Wrexham

The newest name on this list belongs to the most famous pub in British football. In September 2026, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who bought Wrexham AFC in 2021 and made it a global story through the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham, added The Turf to their portfolio.

The pub on Mold Road sits in the corner of the Racecourse Ground and claims to be the oldest pub at any football stadium in the world. It was here, in 1864, that a meeting of the local cricket club led to the founding of Wrexham AFC, Wales’s oldest football club. Landlord Wayne Jones has turned it into a place of pilgrimage for fans from around the world, and he stays on to run it under the new owners.

“By bringing The Turf into the group, we are securing the long-term future of the pub,” said Eric Allyn, a minority investor in the club. The deal puts club, stadium and pub under one ownership and opens the way for a bigger fan zone along Mold Road.

Why book it: Wrexham is within easy reach of Chester, Manchester and Liverpool, and a pre-match pint here before a game at the Racecourse is informal hospitality your guests will talk about for years. Just do not expect to reach the bar in the hour before kick-off.

The curtain call

Not every actor’s venture has a happy ending. Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey stepped away from his Staffordshire village pub in 2025, a reminder that a famous name brings customers through the door once and the cooking has to do the rest. Others choose to support rather than own: in September 2026, Jim Broadbent was among the famous names backing a £650,000 community bid to save the 17th-century King’s Arms at Polebrook in Northamptonshire.

The six venues above have got the balance right: a professional at the stove and an owner who adds glamour without getting in the way. Book for the food, the wine or the history. If the star walks in, consider it a bonus.

FAQs

Which actors own restaurants in London? Robert De Niro co-founded Nobu, whose London flagship is on Old Park Lane in Mayfair. Sir Ian McKellen co-owns The Grapes pub in Limehouse, Idris Elba co-owns Porte Noire in King’s Cross, Theo James co-owns Lupa in Highbury and Ornella in London Fields, and Lucien Laviscount co-owns The Wealthy Beggar in Kensal Rise.

What pub does Ian McKellen own? Sir Ian McKellen has co-owned The Grapes at 76 Narrow Street, Limehouse, since 2012, with Sean Mathias and Evgeny Lebedev. It does not take table reservations.

Do Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney own a pub? Yes. In September 2026 the Wrexham AFC owners bought The Turf, the pub next to the Racecourse Ground where the club was founded in 1864. Landlord Wayne Jones continues to run it.

Which actor-owned restaurant is best for a business dinner in London? For a formal client lunch, Nobu London Old Park Lane is the safest choice. For a wine-led dinner near St Pancras, try Idris Elba’s Porte Noire in King’s Cross.

The black book

  • Nobu London Old Park Lane, COMO Metropolitan London, 19 Old Park Lane, London W1K 1LB
  • The Grapes, 76 Narrow Street, London E14 8BP (no reservations)
  • Porte Noire, Gasholder 10, Unit A, 1 Lewis Cubitt Walk, London N1C 4BX, 020 3479 1914
  • Lupa, 73 Highbury Park, London N5 1UA
  • Ornella, 51 Wilton Way, London E8 1BG
  • The Wealthy Beggar, 109 Chamberlayne Road, London NW10 3NS
  • The Turf, Mold Road, Wrexham

Details correct at the time of publication. Check opening times before travelling.