14 Restaurants Elvis Presley Loved To Eat At In The US

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Across the United States, there are hundreds of eateries whose walls are lined with photos of celebrities who have dined there. A famous customer, from regulars to one-time visitors, can be great for business, turning obscure places to eat into sometimes lucrative tourist traps.

But when that famous face was the King of Rock and Roll? Well, many restaurant owners have dined out on that for years. Elvis was a fan of simple dishes in large quantities, whether it was his mother's Southern-style home cooking, like grits and fried chicken, to one particular brand of fast food hamburgers. 

Sadly, as he got older, Prseley's always healthy appetite devolved into excess, as demonstrated by some of his favorite foods and, on occasion, the lengths to which he would go to enjoy them. From unusual ingredient combinations to gigantic orders, the star's custom secured a place in history for numerous outlets. Here are 15 restaurants where Elvis Presley loved to eat in the U.S.

Buck and Cindy Scott, owners of Denver steak restaurant The Colorado Mining Company, added a $38 sandwich to their menu as a joke. Little did they know their "Fool's Gold," a hollowed-out sourdough loaf filled with peanut butter, blueberry jam, and bacon, would be forever associated with Elvis Presley.

In 1976, teenage cook Nick Andurlakis served the singer a "big burger" and a Fool's Gold sandwich, just to try. "He ended up eating three of them," Andurlakis said, per Westword. The star visited The Colorado Mining Company restaurant — which closed in 1982 — eight times, but sometimes Elvis just wanted what Andurlakis called the "ginormous, artery-hardening contraption." After the Colorado Mine Company folded, Andrulakis eventually opened his own restaurant — Nick's Cafe — which served the Fool's Gold sandwich before shuttering in 2022.

In Robert Cantwell's Book "The Elvis Presley I Knew," he described how the singer got a midnight craving for a Fool's Gold sandwich. By the early hours of February 1, 1976, Buck and Cindy handed over 22, of which Elvis ate three — at 8,000 calories each — on his own. Cantwell remembers being grateful for there being lots of mineral water on the plane "to wash down the mounds of peanut butter," per The Gazette.

Tupelo-born Elvis moved to Memphis with his family when he was 13, and the city provided the teenager a number of hangouts. One of them was Arcade Restaurant. Even by the time he was a regular, Arcade — which is still going strong — was a Memphis institution. The city's oldest restaurant, it was opened in 1919 by Speros Zepatos, but his son Harry turned it into a swingin' spot in the 1950s. 

Presley had a booth at the back of the restaurant that he often shared with DJ Dewey Phillips, according to "Elvis Style: From Zoot Suits to Jumpsuits," by Zoey Goto. But what did the young star eat at Arcade? Harry Zepatos told Goto that he came for "traditional Southern cooking," like mashed potatoes.

Others say Elvis also loved Arcade's fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Mary Jenkins Langston, one of Graceland's cooks, learned to make them for him, as she explained in a 1995 episode of BBC documentary series "Arena" called "The Burger and the King."

Millions of words have been written about the foods Elvis Presley loved. Friends have claimed he rarely ate out not only because of his fame, but also because his poor upbringing meant he barely knew how to handle a knife and fork (let alone fancy napkin etiquette). That didn't prevent him using them to eat his beloved peanut butter and banana sandwiches, according to Liz Smith in a 2002 article for The New York Times Magazine.

Nor did it stop Elvis from being one of the galaxy of stars to grace Las Vegas restaurant The Golden Steer. Unlike the rest of the flashy gambling town, in the late 1950s, it was a low-key, traditional steak house, where animals that had been freshly hunted were turned into delicious meals for patrons. 

According to a Facebook post by the restaurant, Elvis' first-ever meal there was a burger, made of delicious, USDA prime beef trimmings. Today, fans of the singer from all over the world come to The Golden Steer to sit and eat in booth number four, which is named in his honor and managed by the Elvis Presley Estate.

Elvis wasn't just the King of Rock and Roll — he was also an actor, starring in 31 films between 1956 and 1969. Several studios were behind his movies, but when he worked with United Artists, whose studio was on Formosa Avenue in California, Elvis was one of many celebrities who would regularly drop into The Formosa, opposite the studio lot. 

The Formosa first opened in 1939 and, according to legend, when Elvis and his manager Colonel Tom Parker ate there, the latter didn't leave a tip for the waiter. The singer was reportedly so angry that he went back and bought the staff member a Cadillac. 

It's not clear what Elvis ate at The Formosa, but he made such an impression on the place that he has been given his own booth. In 2023, just a few days before she died, Lisa Marie Presley visited The Formosa and Elvis' booth with her daughter, actress Riley Keough, as well as "Elvis" filmmaker Baz Luhrman and the film's star Austin Butler to mark what would have been her father's 88th birthday. 

It takes a lot of smarts to keep a business running successfully for over 65 years, but Florida-based Coney Island Drive-Inn has it in spades. The Brooksville restaurant opened in 1960 and just a few months later, Elvis dropped in for something to eat, during the filming of "Follow That Dream" in nearby Levy County. The clever owners have used it as a draw for diners, from the mildly curious to die-hard Presley fans, ever since.

Legend has it The King downed a couple of Coney Island Drive-Inn's famous footlong hotdogs, which are steam-cooked and made from top-quality meat. In a promotional video, current owner Carter Lee confirmed the rumors were true. "He came through and had a hot dog and then came through again and had another." His appearance certainly made an impression.

As well as adopting "Eat Where Elvis Ate!" as their slogan and splashing it on the front of the Drive-Inn's limousine, there's a corner of the eatery dedicated to Presley, including a life-size cut-out and photos of his 1961 visit with the local Weeki Wachee Mermaids, alongside lots of other memorabilia.

Elvis and his family moved to Memphis in the late 1940s when, like many teenagers, he liked to eat at the Krystal hamburger restaurant. The chain's square sliders were a particular favorite and, as the eatery's website reveals, local DJ "Daddy-O" Dewey Phillips gave Elvis a popularity boost with some PR that would put slider rival White Castle to shame.

After his first appearance on Phillips' show, they placed a pick-up order with the Krystal restaurant for 100 burgers. When Presley went to fetch them, they were handed out to the assembled crowd. It wouldn't be the only time they placed a mega order, as Louis Cantor revealed in his book "Dewey and Elvis."

After the DJ's "Red, Hot & Blue" show had finished, they would head back to Dewey's house for "wild parties," armed with bags of sliders. Dewey's son Randy said: "Many a morning we had [leftover] Krystal hamburgers for breakfast." It was also a go-to restaurant for some of Elvis' earliest dates. He would go, suited and booted, in a smart Cadillac alongside the girl he was with, and grab a bag of the much-loved burgers. 

Throughout his life, Elvis was known for his generosity, both to those he knew and to complete strangers. In February 1956, a few months before he became an overnight sensation, thanks to his iconic appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show," the singer was performing at the Florida Theatre, later the Sarasota Opera House, when he visited The Waffle Stop in Sarasota.

Elvis ate there twice, ordering "three eggs, three pieces of bacon, pan-fried potatoes, two orders of toast, and three glasses of milk," both times according to Observer. In return, he left waitress and then-owner Edith Barr Dunn a generous $0.50 tip — and a signed photo. "She threw it away because he wasn't popular yet ... she regretted it ever since," subsequent owner Dolly Hollinger told the publication in 2020.

The Waffle Stop took its Elvis link and ran with it, offering themed foods, such as the "Jail House Rock" and the "Hunka Hunka Burger," and covering the walls with memorabilia for fans looking to eat where their beloved idol chowed down. In January 2025, Hollinger retired and shuttered the business for good. 

Given his level of fame, Elvis understandably shied away from the fuss of eating out, and chose other ways to satisfy his enormous appetite. That included barbecue, particularly the pork ribs from Memphis restaurant Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous. It was renowned for covering its meat in a blend of Greek-inspired flavors, as well as red spices for some pizzazz, before being smoked in a closed-up former coal chute. 

How Elvis came to hear about the ribs isn't clear, but he definitely enjoyed them even though he never actually set foot in the underground restaurant. Zoey Goto's book "Elvis Style: From Zoot Suits to Jumpsuits," recounts why. Vergos' son, John, explained: "Elvis always wanted to rent the whole place out, and my father didn't want to lose customers, so he refused."

The solution? They were couriered out to Graceland, and sometimes even further afield. According to a Rendezvous Facebook post, "He loved them so much, he'd also have them overnighted to Las Vegas when he was performing there." His father Vernon had a smokehouse but it didn't compare, as Elvis turned it into a shooting range. 

Elvis the superstar was as much the King of Bling as of rock and roll, from his gold Cadillac to his elaborately decorated jumpsuits. It's easy to forget his dirt-poor beginnings in Tupelo, Mississippi. Although as a child, he had very little money, Elvis did sometimes go with a friend to Johnnie's Drive-In, where they would split an RC cola and enjoy a doughburger. 

Johnnie's Drive-In is still going strong to this day. Visitors can sit in the Elvis booth and enjoy their version of his celebrity fast food order. Overlooking the table is a black-and-white photo of the singer from 1956, the year he shot to fame. Tucked into the frame is a note explaining how the image was created. 

Traveling salesman Paul Cramer found out Elvis was in the diner, and asked the young man if he could take his photograph. After the shutter snapped, he thought nothing more of it. Over 20 years later, Cramer came across the snap and gifted it to the Drive-In, lasting proof of arguably its most famous customer.

In 1967, Elvis and his new bride Priscilla Presley cosied up at the Honeymoon Hideaway in California's Palm Springs. But it wasn't the only place the singer hung out in the sunkissed location. He was also a regular customer at Mexican restaurant Las Casuelas, opened in 1958 by Florencio "Del" and Mary Delgado. 

Alana Coffin, the Delgados' granddaughter, confirmed that Elvis ate there often enough to have a favorite booth. Today, the menu at Las Casuelas Original features mouthwatering dishes such as combo platters, pork carnitas, and chiles rellenos, but fans looking to follow in Elvis' footsteps can sit in his booth and enjoy his often-ordered favorite dish, a bowl of ranchero beans and a glass of cold iced tea – not to be confused with the alcoholic version. Or you can try his "combo #1" of shredded beef tacos, beans, and chile relleno. It may be decades since Elvis last visited the Honeymoon Hideaway or Las Casuelas Original, but the spirit of the man remains strong in this corner of Palm Springs.

Sandwiches are a common theme when it comes to The King. From the famed sweet-savory fried ones he loved for breakfast, to the gargantuan Fool's Gold, the outsized, calorie-packed versions of this food ticked all the right boxes. It stands to reason that, during his time in Palm Springs with his wife Priscilla, the singer would root out somewhere that could satisfy his sandwich cravings.

He did, and it came in the form of Sherman's Bakery and Delicatessen. If the menus on the business' website are anything to go by, it continues to serve up hefty portions of everything, so it's easy to see why Elvis was tempted. He stopped by several times while living in Palm Springs and his go-to order was a hot pastrami sandwich.

One Sherman's Facebook post claimed: "Our pastrami gets rave reviews. And it deserves every one of them," while another said the sandwich was so tasty, it needed nothing else added to it. Given his legendary, man-sized appetite, Elvis probably ate more than one at each sitting.

Restaurant owners who had Elvis Presley among their regular customers have always been a draw for the singer's fans, who want to soak up the same vibe he experienced. In August 1956 after a show with band members Scotty Moore and Bill Black, at Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa, a hungry Elvis went in search of food.

He ended up at the Ayres Diner on Florida Avenue in Seminole Heights, where he presumably ate and drank his fill. While it's not known exactly what he ordered, it's possible that Elvis visited the diner more than once, because he performed at the Armory four times between 1955 and 1956. 

While Ayres Diner didn't last, it was renamed Nicko's in the 1980s and more recently Chanko, serving Asian food, the connection with Elvis Presley lingers. Thanks to a discreet plaque, fans can sit in the very booth it is believed the singer used, back in 1956. Whether the star, who famously wasn't a fan of fish, would try anything from the 21st century menu remains to be seen.

Coletta's Italian restaurant was a Memphis landmark in the 1950s, having changed its name from the Suburban Ice Cream Company. Founder Emil Coletta's son Horest had learned all about pizza-making in Chicago, giving it a signature Southern twist on his return. To this day, the BBQ pizza — Elvis Presley's favorite menu item –- is a restaurant bestseller.

Coletta's is one of several restaurants across the United States that can proudly assert "Elvis ate here," and more than once. While some have a booth or seat where The King sat, this Memphis eatery goes one better: It has an Elvis Room, where the star and his entourage all pulled up a chair and chowed down – presumably on BBQ pizza.

The story goes that, one weekend, some of Elvis' team wanted to go to Coletta's for something to eat. The singer had an account at the restaurant and decided to go with them, marking one of the rare occasions where Presley dined in public. Among the memorabilia decorating the walls is a receipt that was signed by the star. 

In February 1956, a 21-year-old Elvis Presley came to Raleigh in North Carolina to play a series of shows at the Ambassador Theater, a few blocks away on Fayetteville Street. Locals helped him and his band set up their equipment and, not long afterward, decided he wanted something to eat.

Elvis was pointed in the direction of The Roast Grill, which sold hot dogs. In a Facebook video, one veteran customer recalled: "I think he ate 12 hot dogs and three PepsiColas." The wieners clearly did the trick. All four shows sold out, before the singer and his band packed up their gear and moved on to their next concert in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The Roast Grill, which has been in business since 1940, is still serving up homemade hotdogs that can be topped with a savory chili recipe the owners claim is over a century old. Anyone looking to eat where a young Elvis did should be aware it's a cash-only establishment.