COUNTRY COOKIN’: Robert Shuster wanted to expose...

COUNTRY COOKIN’: Robert Shuster wanted to expose his young daughter to the world of country music, but found that most of the places around L.A. where it’s played didn’t really offer the proper environment.

“I didn’t think taking her (to bars) was appropriate,” he says.

So he decided to create the “right” kind of place, and on May 3, ground will be broken at Universal City’s CityWalk for Country Star, a country music-themed “family” restaurant in the mode of the Hard Rock Cafe.

Billy Ray Cyrus, Tanya Tucker, Diamond Rio, Carl Perkins and Charley Pride are among the artists scheduled to be on hand for the ceremonies, boosting Shuster’s hopes that the site will be a center of the L.A. country community, with private industry showcase concerts and parties as well as public events celebrating the music.

The restaurant--featuring a three-story, computer-driven Wurlitzer jukebox facade, a “Boot Walk of Fame,” 62 large-screen TV monitors, a gift shop, a showcase stage and “interactive” kiosks where visitors can watch videos and get information on their favorite artists--is slated to open by the end of the summer. Plans are also being made for a Las Vegas Country Star to open next year.