In 1984, Tower opened his own restaurant, Stars, in San Francisco, in partnership with Cathe and Doyle Moon. Stars was among the top-grossing restaurants in the Bay Area. Tower opened branches of Stars restaurant in Oakville (Napa Valley), Palo Alto, Manila, and Singapore. Numerous American chefs worked at Stars, among them Mark Franz (Farallon), Mario Batali, George Francisco (Voodoo Bacon), Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier (Arrows', MC Perkins Cove) Loretta Keller (Bizou/Coco500), Dominique Crenn, Joey Altman (Bay Cafe/Wild Hare), Michael Shrader (N9NE), Brendan Walsh (Arizona 206, Elms Inn), Chris Colburn (The Chanticleer, Dalvay by the Sea), and Ron Garrido (Avalon in Eureka), as well as pastry chefs Tim Grable, Emily Luchetti, and Jerry Traunfeld.