restaurateur

Eva Longoria Parker's Expanding Restaurant Empire

The restaurant world may not be having its best season but one celebrity restaurateur is ready to expand. People Magazine reports that Eva Longoria Parker is taking her Beso restaurant concept to Las Veas. Beso Las Vegas will open on New Year's Eve 2010 with an event hosted by Longoria Parker. The exact venue is still under construction but the menu will resemble Beso Hollywood with items like Eva's tortilla soup and chili rubbed skirt steak on the menu.

Longoria Parker and her business partner celebrity chef Todd English (who already has a version of his signature restaurant Olives in Las Vegas) plan to make the Las Vegas version a little different with a variety of specials and drinks and an upstairs lounge called Eve. Las Vegas is a smart move for a burgeoning restaurant chain, Although tourism is down in Las Vegas, the city still brings in hungry tourists looking for a special experience. Tao Las Vegas has topped the list of highest grossing independent restaurants for several years.

Longoria Parker is also planning a series of smaller airport versions called Besitos (little kisses in Spanish). The first one will be in Los Angeles. English can guide her there too, his Bonfire restaurant has outposts in both Boston's Logan Airport and New York City's JFK Airport.

Gallery: Celebrity Restaurants