Hollywood Restaurateur Craig Susser Reveals the Secret to His Celeb Hotspot and Why He Took Kelsea Ballerini’s Advice (Exclusive)

Hollywood restaurateur Craig Susser says there’s a simple recipe for creating a spot where celebs and everyday diner feel at ease.

“I want this to be your home,” says Susser, whose West Hollywood spot Craig’s has been a favorite haunt for famous faces, including the Kardashians, Madonna and Kamala Harris, since it first opened in 2011. “It does not matter to me if you’re a celebrity. My relationship is with the person.”

His eponymous restaurant is known as a place where the entertainment industry elite can go to be seen and snapped by paparazzi, or to slip in quietly through a private entrance for an evening with friends to dine on decidedly “not fussy” menu staples like pigs in blankets, chopped salad and chicken parmigiana.

It’s where George Clooney once toasted his engagement to his now-wife, Amal, it’s where Selena Gomez once hosted her album release party. It’s where Kim and Kanye had date night pre-split, and it’s where Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff (an old friend of Susser’s) had their first date — and where they chose to dine earlier this year, weeks after the former VP’s election loss to President Donald Trump.

“I get a lot of attention for all these things that we don’t go out of our way to make happen,” he says. “We are just a local’s place. And I’m like Switzerland. The idea is to be available and accessible.”

Susser just opened his second Craig’s location in Nashville and says he’s brought the same ethos to Music City. “There are beautiful restaurants that are edgy and flashy and push the envelope,” he says. “But my goal was to always create something warm and comfortable. I like to say, ‘Life is tough enough. Dinner shouldn’t be.'”

Susser says he took a cue from his friend Kelsea Ballerini when opening Craig’s in Nashville. The singer’s advice: “No live music, no country music and keep the menu and just be Craig’s.”

“That’s humbling,” says Susser, who started his career in the food industry more than three decades ago as a server (and later general manager) at Hollywood’s famed Dan Tana’s. He’s stuck to his winning formula, he says, because it’s “a touch of home for a lot of people.”

Susser says Nashville, with its growing entertainment, healthcare and tech industries, has “opened its arms to me”: “I think Nashville is a much more sophisticated crowd than the outsider gives them credit for.”

And while he’ll welcome any famous faces in his new restaurant, he says the doors are open whether or not your star is rising.

“You might have a number one hit single, but then there’s other times where you fall flat. You’re still going to be able to call me and get a table,” he says. “Sometimes people treat people well because of the position they’re in or the power they have. I’ve never believed in that. This isn’t just a transaction. We’re in the people business.”