---
title: "5 Celebrity-Owned Food Franchises"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/b90c7e76-4744-4d50-aeed-79a8a5cf832b
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/5-celebrity-owned-food-franchises-2718330
category: "Franchise Industry"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
published: 2022-03-31T17:12:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:12:17.335Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/9d341b6db34933bc6814f02ce153fc6a3003.jpg
---

# 5 Celebrity-Owned Food Franchises

**TL;DR:** Several celebrities own food franchises, including Wahlburgers, founded by Mark Wahlberg and his brothers, and other brands like Blaze Pizza and Rock & Brews. These franchises offer various investment opportunities for global investors and entrepreneurs.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-03-31. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/5-celebrity-owned-food-franchises-2718330).*

## Story

Celebrities aren’t just well-known people who walk around all day looking pretty and dodging the paparazzi. They work hard – some of them so hard that they even decide to go out and start their own businesses. Believe it or not, many celebrities are franchisees with national brands, and then there are others who actually invest in or start their own food franchises.

These are five celebrity-owned food franchises:

Wahlburgers was started by celebrity Mark Wahlberg and his brothers Donnie and Paul. There are 49 locations of Wahlburgers and limited territory currently available. Wahlburgers offers fresh burgers, fries and a variety of other items inspired by family dishes and created by Chef Paul (Paul Wahlberg).

Although only international locations of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville are franchised, it gives global investors an opportunity to open a restaurant with worldwide brand awareness. What started as a restaurant has turned into a resort-style business featuring hotels, cruises and residences, in addition to its eateries and merchandise stores.

The build-your-own pizza franchise got its start with an investment from NBA basketball player LeBron James. Blaze Pizza has been ranked as a top brand and the top fast-casual pizza franchise. Startup costs to own a Blaze Pizza franchise range from $319,800 to $858,000, with units available throughout the U.S.

A group of music-loving celebrities started House of Blues in 1992 in Massachusetts to celebrate live music, folk art and Southern-inspired food. Originally financed by Dan Aykroyd, Aerosmith, Paul Shaffer, River Phoenix, Jim Belushi and Harvard University, the House of Blues is now owned by the entertainment company Live Nation. It offers partnership opportunities to those who want to invest in the brand.

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS opened their own food franchise Rock & Brews. The brand offers customers a unique dining experience with a rock-and-roll based twist. Currently, there are Rock & Brews locations in California, Florida, Texas, Missouri and Kansas.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- Blaze Pizza (company)
- investment opportunities (topic)
- Mark Wahlberg (person)
- food franchises (topic)
- Harvard University (company)
- Wahlburgers (company)
- celebrity ownership (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/5-celebrity-owned-food-franchises-2718330). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/b90c7e76-4744-4d50-aeed-79a8a5cf832b).