Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Opens Sat.:

It took longer to make the restaurant than the movie on which it’s based, but Bubba Gump Shrimp Company will open on Santa Monica Pier this weekend.</p><p>Five years in the making, the nineteenth Bubba Gump restaurant, and the first in the Los Angeles area, will hold an invitation only party on  Friday, November 4, and open to the public the following day. The restaurant chain was inspired by the 1994 film, <i>Forrest Gump.</i></p><p>According to company officials, among the local sports, film and TV stars who are expected to  attend the Friday party are Efren Ramirez,  Levar Burton, Emily Van Camp and Chris Pratt.</p><p>A “Forrest Gump” look alike will also be on hand.</p><p>To mark its arrival in the community, Bubba Gump will donate half of its opening day receipts on Saturday, November 5, to the Santa Monica/Malibu School District Equity Fund.</p><p>The only restaurant chain based on a motion picture, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.’s southern-style kickoff party will feature a chocolate bar in tribute to the Gumpism, “Life is like a box of chocolates,” and the “rock Americana” of the Merchants of Moonshine.</p>The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is the first chain restaurant outlet to secure a lease on the City-owned Santa Monica Pier. It occupies a  new building on the north side of the Pier on the site of the old Boathouse restaurant, which lost its lease several years ago.