Bygone Restaurants in México / Planet Hollywood in Acapulco: Born and Gone in the ’90s
Classic American food, giant screens showing clips from Hollywood blockbusters, and movie memorabilia—all under a giant globe.
By Alejandro Pohlenz
I remember (though, as proven, my memory is a bit shaky) eating at the Planet Hollywood in Cancún. It was a giant globe sitting in a mall in the hotel zone. I also recall the Hard Rock Café in Acapulco: great vibes, lots of people, awesome live music.
How the franchise started
Planet Hollywood kicked off in 1991. It was created by Robert Earl, an Englishman also behind the Hard Rock Café. Instead of focusing on music, Planet Hollywood revolved around cinema, but kept the same “American” menu—burgers, BBQ ribs, fries, cheesecake, and so on. What made it exceptional was the Hollywood star power: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and Demi Moore were all partners—the A-list, basically.
In the ’90s, they expanded wildly worldwide, including Mexico City, Cancún, and Acapulco. Memorabilia was everywhere (I remember the biker jacket from Terminator, for example), and I think there were trailers or promo shorts of movies playing on giant screens.
Decline and bankruptcy
But success didn’t last. The decline, they say, came from having too many locations and the public losing interest in “themed restaurants” (similar to the Rainforest Café, which we covered recently). In 1999, Planet Hollywood went bankrupt, and the celebrities sold their shares.
The Acapulco location (now a vacant lot, as you can see in photos) closed due to, quote, “legal conflicts with the franchise…” Others blame its disappearance on insecurity, extortion, and organized crime in that beautiful Guerrero port, constantly battered by hurricanes.
So: declining Acapulco + Planet Hollywood bankruptcy = poof, it vanished.
Address: Av. Costera Miguel Alemán, Acapulco, Guerrero
Status: Permanently closed
