George Harrison Said ‘It’s Only Americans’ That Bothered the Beatles in Restaurants
According to George Harrison, American fans sometimes “bother[ed]” the Beatles while at restaurants. Still, this band made time to dine out, as noted in one interview with Playboy Magazine.
John Lennon heard Beatles songs while dining out
The Beatles’ music (and fans) followed them — even at dinner. In All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the songwriter mentioned hearing Beatles songs while in public.
“I go to restaurants and the groups always play ‘Yesterday,’” Lennon said. “Yoko and I even signed a guy’s violin in Spain after he played us ‘Yesterday.’ He couldn’t understand that I didn’t write the song. But I guess he couldn’t have gone from table to table playing ‘I Am the Walrus.’”
The Beatles were sometimes ‘bother[ed]’ by American fans at restaurants
During a 1965 interview with Playboy, the Beatles were asked if they could “safely” enjoy meals at restaurants. Ringo Starr replied by saying he went out to eat “the other night,” with McCartney chiming in with, “we’re known in the restaurants we go in.”
“Usually it’s only Americans that’ll bother you,” Harrison said (via Beatles Interviews). “If we go into a restaurant in London, there’s always going to be a couple of them eating there; you just tell the waiter to hold them off if they try to come over. If they come over anyway you just sign.”
As one of the world’s biggest bands, the Beatles didn’t often have time to frequent restaurants together. They did, however, have the funds to do so, as noted by the band’s drummer.
“The restaurants I go to, probably if I wasn’t famous I wouldn’t go to them,” Starr said in the same interview. “Even if I had the same money and wasn’t famous I wouldn’t go to them because the people that go to them are drags.”
“The good thing when you go to a place where the people are such drags, such snobs, you see, is that they won’t bother to come over to your table,” he added. “They pretend they don’t even know who you are, and you get away with an easy night.”
Which restaurants did the Beatles eat at?
Most restaurants frequented by the Fab Four have since closed, although some are still open, boasting their connection to the “Let It Be” band.
One restaurant, Beso in London, boasts the Beatles often dined there when visiting the Covent Garden and Soho area. A picture of the Fab Four is visible on the wall, and some cocktails now available are inspired by the band members.
According to legend, The Beatles visited Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, California, with a plaque stating, “The Beatles dined in this booth in the summer of 1965. Their Help album was released in the USA on Aug. 13. Big hits included ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Ticket to Ride.’”
