Chefs, restaurants, and delectable dishes have long been depicted in cooking films. If you’re looking for a cinematic feast, you’re in luck because we’ve compiled a list of the best movies about restaurants of all time. Gather your favorite snacks and settle in! This is the ultimate collection, with traditional favorites and a few surprises thrown in for good measure.
Table of Contents
1. The Founder
The Founder isn’t just another restaurant; it’s the world’s biggest restaurant. This movie about restaurants tells the true story of Ray Croc and his long-running business partnership with his brothers, Mac and Dick McDonald. This is one of the best restaurant movies ever made, and it’s based on a true story.
The film, which stars Michael Keaton as Croc, chronicles Croc’s advancements in the fast-food industry as well as his very dishonest business tactics. While it isn’t a particularly heartwarming film, it is an intriguing look at the harsh background behind the establishment of the Golden Arches.
2. Chef
Chef, a pleasant comedy restaurant movie directed by Jon Favreau and starring Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, and other big-name stars, was released in 2014. Chef has a charmingly low-budget indie feel despite their presence.
After abrasive treatment from his boss and a disagreement with a local food critic, Favreau plays Carl Casper, the head chef of a posh LA-based restaurant, who departs in a fit of rage. Uncertain about his next step, he accepts his ex-wife’s invitation to visit his son in Miami.
He buys a food truck in Miami and embarks on a new professional path. He learns to value not only wonderful cuisine, but also friendship and family along the journey. This movie about chefs will not only delight and inspire you, but it will also make you hungry. Roy Choi, a well-known food truck chef, prepared and oversaw all of the dishes in the film.
3. Julie & Julia
Julia Child is one of the most well-known chefs in history, and this film offers a fascinating glimpse into her early years at Le Cordon Blue, where she learned traditional French cooking. The story of Julie Powell, a New York writer who documented her experiences cooking every meal in Julia Child’s classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, is then juxtaposed with these scenes.
Julia & Julia is noted for its outstanding acting and motivational themes. Food brings these two women together, despite the fact that they had never met before and were separated by decades. Anyone interested in Julia Child’s early childhood or Julie Powell’s real-world blog will enjoy this cinematic feast.
View more: 15 Best Movies About Cooking For Foodies To Immerse In
4. Big Night
Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci feature in Big Night, an American comedy restaurant movie. They play two Italian immigrants who are trying to save their eatery.
It’s a lighthearted, well-acted film about food, family, and forgiveness. It earned a New York Critics Award, an Independent Spirit Award, and a Boston Society of Film Critics Award when it was released in 1996.
This is a must-try for fans of authentic Italian cuisine. The film’s centerpiece is the making of timpano, a pasta drum, rice, meatballs, and other dishes.
5. Dinner Rush
Dinner Rush is a family-friendly movie set in an Italian restaurant, yet it has a different tone. The film centers on a single night at Gigino in TriBeCa, which is home to a succession of intertwined stories involving the owner, his son, and their different employees – as well as a cast of mobsters, loan sharks, culinary critics, and other eccentric people.
Dinner Rush was directed by Bob Giraldi, who is perhaps best known for directing Michael Jackson’s Beat It. It debuted in 2001 and has become a cult classic ever since. It has an even mix of humor and suspense, as well as a surprising finish that will leave viewers happy. This is also one of the best movies about food you shouldn’t miss.
6. The Hundred-Foot Journey
This lovely film, based on a best-selling novel, tells the story of an Indian family who runs an Indian restaurant in a small French village. Because their restaurant is directly across from a five-star restaurant, they face stiff competition.
The Hundred-Foot Journey is not only about friendship and love, but also about food and how it can enhance people’s lives. It discusses multiculturalism and its gastronomic advantages.
Surprisingly, the film portrays French cuisine as a villain and Indian cuisine as a hero.
The lack of food stylists in this film was unusual. This implied that everything you saw was edible. There were no food substitutes in this film.
They also have two Indian chefs and one classically trained French chef on staff. They entertained the group with cooking stories and even demonstrated how the two cultures slice food differently.
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7. The Trip
The Trip follows Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, who portray themselves, on a restaurant tour throughout England and Italy for a newspaper.
In this best restaurant movie, these two rob kitchens and devour exotic foods, including scallops, black pudding, and kumquats. They learn the virtues of pasta and the rich food culture present in Italian eateries when they move to Italy.
Although Coogan and Brydon aren’t chefs, their trips to some of the best restaurants in England and Italy provide the film with its balance.
All of the best movies about restaurants featured above are visual and auditory feasts, making them ideal for anyone who has worked in a restaurant or simply enjoys a delicious meal. Whether you’re looking for comedy, drama, genuine stories, or fanciful settings, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for. Even better, all of the recipes depicted in these movies – including ratatouille – can be made at home. Thecookingmovie wish you a pleasant viewing experience and a delicious meal!