THE THEME'S THE THING ...; BUT FOOD'S IMPORTANT, TOO, IN `EATERTAINMENT' EQUATION.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

Do fries taste better with a giant picture of Spider-Man looming over you or next to Chuck Berry's guitar?

Or does the food really matter when you're sitting in one of the new ``eatertainment'' restaurants popping up around the country.

From submarines to motorcycles, movie stars, rock 'n' roll, country music, fashion, comic books, even the National Basketball Association, it seems everyone is trying to cash in on this museum-with-food trend. But some of these giant theme eateries may have a questionable future. After all, taste may really matter.

``Entertainment with food is lasting,'' admits Richard Martin, West Coast editor of the Nation's Restaurant News. But he cautions that ``the consensus by the gurus and investment analysts is you have to have a concept that resonates with the culture.''

The Hard Rock Cafes do that, he says, because ``rock 'n' roll is iconic.''

``You've got to have a reason to come back,'' says Andy Harris of Harris and Associates, a Century City-based hospitality-industry consulting firm.

Assessing the future of the ``eatertainment'' restaurant concept, Harris adds, ``Unless there is a fundamental soundness to the menu, it will have trouble.'' He praises the House of Blues as a good example.

A real Marvel

The jury is out on one of the latest, Marvel Mania, based on the characters in Marvel comic books, which recently made a huge splash of a grand opening in Universal City adjacent to Universal Studios' colorful CityWalk, where Country Star and the Hard Rock - Hollywood already reside.

The latter two ``eatertainment'' restaurants appeal both to tourists and locals, especially to those who have a passion for the themes they represent.

The food, of course, varies in these establishments but sometimes surprises. With food expectations being rather low in such huge emporiums of alternate interest, achievements of any consequence by their kitchens are often viewed as remarkable.

Marvel Mania, for example, hired the ex-executive chef of the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel, Frank Laucis, to help in its menu planning and food preparation organization.

Initially, Planet Hollywood was highly involved with the Marvel venture, but its role has ended, possibly because of its reported financial difficulties of late.

You'd think that movie-themed restaurants would be sure-fire, longtime hits. Yet with Planet Hollywood, is its macho movie star connection in the form of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis enough to maintain a constant customer base?

Perhaps not.

As Martin explains it, we don't get that close to rock 'n' roll stars even if we go to their concerts. So the mystique and attraction a la Hard Rock Cafe is still there in a big way.

Planet trouble?

On the other hand, we feel closer to movie stars because we can always spend a few bucks to see their latest picture. Consequently, Martin believes movie-based restaurants like Planet Hollywood or niche interest-based restaurant attractions like the Rainforest may wear thin after one or two visits.

Yet they all seem to kick off well, and Martin admits that there's one Planet Hollywood in Florida that's reputed to be one of the highest-grossing restaurants in America.

Case in point of the grandiose kickoff was Marvel Mania at its grand opening.

The place was packed to the rafters. Everybody present was ogling all the outlandish, larger-than-life comic characters: Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, the Incredible Hulk and the like.

The camera corps, both still and video, was out in full force, capturing the antics of a stuntman in Spider-Man garb who traversed a wire from the top of the Hilton Hotel over to the Marvel Mania building amid a series of explosions.

And there were several television actors among the throng of invitees who attended the bash, billed as a fund-raiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

According to chef Laucis, he would be feeding some 600 at the party and was already averaging 1,300 customers a day at the giant restaurant that had opened quietly a few weeks earlier.

Many of those customers are children. At the Marvel party, Larry Shultz of Beverly Hills was enjoying himself with wife Sally and children Alex, 12, Eric, 7, and Brian, 5.

Shultz, a longtime comic book reader, declared, ``Kids can't relate to Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock. This is the place for kids to relate.''

Josie Leoni of Lake Hollywood brought her daughters Gina, 7, and Kathleen, 9. Kathleen rated the food an A. As they all watched the huge screen with its comic book heroes in action, Leoni confided, ``I'm kind of childlike.''

And she opined, ``Boys are more into Marvel Comics than girls.''

Nearby, Country Star was serving its chili, ribs, pecan-crusted duck, chicken-fried steak sandwiches and the like, the creations of cowboy chef Layne Wooten.

As with Marvel Mania, Country Star is full of television screens, here showing country music videos instead of animated comics.

You can't escape them. In fact, there are even video screens built into the mirrors in the women's restroom and above each urinal in the men's.

Behind the three-story-high huge guitar outside the Hard Rock building at the other end of CityWalk, the restaurant shakes with the constant sounds of rock n' roll. This is no place to hold a quiet conversation.

But there's no doubt about its popularity. The crowd waiting to buy its t-shirts and merchandise is nearly always as large as those waiting to eat and/or drink in its dramatic circular dining room dominated by the suspended vintage red Cadillac.

Where to chow down: here, there, everywhere

There are numerous themed restaurants around the nation, even the globe, that fit the ``eatertainment'' description.

Here are a few of them:

Dive, a submarine-fantasy restaurant, featuring submarine sandwiches, with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as celebrity partners, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City, [phone]. Also in Las Vegas.

House of Blues, a blues music-themed wharf warehouse-looking place with well-conceived Southern and haute food plus music acts in concert almost every night, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, [phone]. Five others are in Cambridge, Mass.; New Orleans; Chicago; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Orlando, Fla.

Billboard Live is a dramatic Sunset Strip music-themed club and restaurant with live musical acts and a mezzanine restaurant with a menu planned by celebrity chef John Sedlar. Single location is at 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, [phone].

Hard Rock Cafe, which began in London in 1971, now has 85 outlets, both owned and franchised, in 10 countries and no longer connected to the original co-owners Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett. Hard Rock Cafe International Inc. is privately held by the London-based Rank Group PLC,which has reportedly signed a $90 million deal with the NBA to open 10 theme restaurants in three years, the first to debut in Orlando at Universal Studios Florida in 1999. Local Hard Rocks are at 8600 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, [phone]; 1000 Universal Center Drive, Universal City, [phone]; and 451 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, [phone].

Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill has eight restaurants in Kansas City, Kan.; Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; St. Louis; Dallas and Austin, Texas; and Philadelphia. The firm has no local restaurants, though the company headquarters is in Burbank.

Country Star American Music Grill, with a local outlet opposite the new Marvel Mania adjacent to Universal CityWalk, has opened and closed an Atlanta version but still has one in Las Vegas. Big portions of Americana fare are served at reasonable prices. Country music acts and line dancers appear here along with memorabilia and constant videos on a multitude of screens. Local address is 1000 Universal Center Drive, Universal City, [phone].

Rainforest Cafe, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, [phone], is one of 11 restaurants with trees, live birds and fish, waterfalls, fountains, mechanical gorillas and the like, located nationwide, also in Mexico and London.

Speedway International Racing Bistro & Bar, featuring what is termed ``a spectacularly authenticated motor sports environment, opened last year at 353 E. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, [phone]. Future locations are planned in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Miami.

Harley-Davidson Cafe, 1370 Sixth Ave., New York, [phone], is a motorcycle-themed eatery with a second location in Las Vegas.

Fashion Cafe, 51 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, is a supermodel-themed restaurant with support from Claudia, Elle, Naomi and Christy. Call the restaurant (not the models) at [phone].

Cartoonsville at 12121 Wilshire Blvd., West Los Angeles, [phone], is described by one local writer as ``an upscale Chuck E. Cheese.'' It has several live cartoon characters on hand and a funhouse for the youngsters.

Copperfield's Magic Underground, due to open in June in New York City, is one of several magic-themed restaurants around the country. Wizardz, with a local restaurant in the same CityWalk area of Universal City as Marvel Mania, Hard Rock and Country Star, is one of the prominent types in this genre. Others include Amazing Randolph's at Casino Magic in Biloxi, Miss., and Caesar's Magical Empire in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Planet Hollywood, finally made it to Hollywood, or at least to Beverly Hills, when it opened at 9560 Wilshire Blvd., [phone], in September '95. But don't expect to run into Arnold, Bruce or Sly there or in Orange County at 1641 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, [phone]. You're more likely to see tourists from Podunk or abroad. There are now 78 Planet Hollywoods worldwide, but the firm's grosses of late may be more like those of ``Waterworld'' than ``Jurassic Park.''

- Larry Lipson

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) THEME CHOW!

FROM COMIC BOOKS TO COUNTRY MUSIC, FROM MOTORCYCLES TO MOVIE STARS, `EATERTAINMENT' EMPORIUMS SERVE UP COOL STUFF TO SEE AND DO. BUT CAN THEY SAVE THE DAY FOR HUNGRY POP-CULTURE FANS?

(2) Universal CityWalk's latest theme restaurant, Marvel Mania, is designed to appeal to younger diners.

(3) The Hard Rock Cafe, featuring vintage cars, guitars and other memorabilia, remains one of CityWalk's most popular eateries.

(4) At Universal CityWalk's Country Star restaurant, there's no escape from music videos _ even the bathrooms feature TV screens.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News

Box: Where to chow down: here, there, everywhere (See Text)