Musso & Frank Grill | A Hollywood Legend

In a city where they say anything over 40 is old, Musso & Frank Grill seems to be the great grandfathers of L.A. restaurants. This place is legendary with plenty of A-Lister history from Hollywood’s golden age. Musso & Frank still stands even after many iconic Hollywood restaurants, such as the Brown Derby, have sadly disappeared.

I first stumbled upon this Hollywood iconic restaurant during my high school days. I was scouring Hollywood Blvd. for single earrings in one of those black leather – heavy metal shops, as we used to call them. I came into Musso & Frank Grill by accident for lunch with the friend, who I was shopping with. Back in the 1980’s this restaurant was one of the only decent, and clean places to eat on Hollywood Blvd, and we did not want McDonalds. Even back then I knew that I was sitting in a special place of an era gone by, and I always remembered that restaurant experience. Such was the life of an L.A. girl in the 80’s.

The specialty at Musso & Frank Grill is the Original Fettuccini Alfredo, which was brought over from Rome by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. According to their website:

Silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were frequent guests at Musso’s. While on their honeymoon in Rome, they dined at Alfredo’s restaurant and after tasting the Fettucine Alfredo, they begged Alfredo for the recipe. He declined them. The next night the newlyweds again dined at Alfredo’s and presented a golden fork and spoon to Alfredo. This time they got the recipe and brought it back to Hollywood. They asked Musso’s chef, Jean Rue, to make the dish. He often prepared it specially for the famous couple, but the dish was never added to the menu. We now proudly serve the ORIGINAL Fettucine Alfredo as prepared for Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

Many old Hollywood’s elite were regulars here like Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. Others frequented here like Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper, Humphry Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve McQueen, and the list goes on.

Hint: If you call ahead, you can ask for certain celebrity booths. On one of my recent visits, I was surprised when they seated us at Marilyn Monroe’s favorite booth!

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Food Journal

Musso & Frank’s has been serving delicious old school cuisine since 1919, and is noted as Hollywood’s oldest restaurant. The original owners, Frank Toulet and Joseph Musso, had brought in French chef, Jean Rue, who created the menu. Many of his classic creations are still on the menu today.

When looking through the menu, you will find many old school dishes such as Welsh Rarebit, Chicken a la King, Grenadine of Beef, and Calf Livers.

I am not done yet with grazing their menu of classic dishes, but this is what I have tried so far.