There are restaurants that you go to when you're hungry. And then there are restaurants that you go to when you want communion with history. Heading into Musso & Frank Grill at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard definitely puts you in that second category. Operating since 1919—and most accredited as Hollywood's oldest continually operating restaurant—Musso & Frank isn't just a dining room. It's a historic archive where time has been preserved, not fabricated.
Reviewed by Allan R. Ellenberger
Photo Credit: Jim Shippee
Time slows when you walk in the door. From the dark wood paneling to the red leather booths to the murals to the conspiratorial whisper of the room around you, everything is exactly as it should be. Critics call Musso & Frank a “time capsule.” They're not wrong. It's Old Hollywood preserved, pure and undisturbed by Instagram Buddhists and other people who can't sit still.
I started, as tradition demands, with a martini, probably the most famous drink on Hollywood Boulevard. They come in a small glass, chilled ice cold and to any degree of powerful you want. Stirred (not shaken) with cracked ice, strained into a frozen martini glass and served with olives, the house martini is, as rumored, made without vermouth for purists. It tastes bracing, elegant, and sure of itself—much like the room it's served in—and still serves as one of America’s finest amuse-bouches.
For an appetizer, we chose the Zucchini Florentine, a longtime fixture on the menu and one of those dishes that explains why Musso & Frank resists culinary trends. It features tender zucchini prepared in the traditional Florentine style, with a tomato sauce. It is rich without being heavy, familiar without being dull, and deeply comforting—a dish that has outlasted fads precisely because it doesn’t chase them.
The main event was Boneless Garlic Half Chicken—one of Musso & Frank’s house specialties and one of their most popular. Prepared taking approximately 20 minutes, it arrived sizzling, steaming, and served with mashed potatoes and a sizable heap of roasted garlic cloves on the side. The chicken was juicy, the skin delightfully crispy, but the sauce—created from chicken drippings and the roasted garlic mush—was where it was at. Silky-rich and intensely savory, it was the kind of sauce that makes you want to slurp it straight from the plate. Shameful cravings aside, if I were eating this someplace other than Musso & Frank’s I probably would have wiped every last bit up with a piece of bread.
For dessert, we shared the New York cheesecake, a choice that carries its own Hollywood pedigree. Musso & Frank’s cheesecake has long been associated with Frank Sinatra, who was famously devoted to J.M. Rosen cheesecakes, supplied to the restaurant and beloved by Old Blue Eyes. The menu may list it simply as cheesecake, but the connection matters: dense, creamy, and unadorned, it tastes like an era when restraint was the highest form of luxury. Sinatra’s recommendation still holds. It was the perfect final note, enjoyed in those legendary red booths, surrounded by more than a century of stories.
Service, predictably at Musso & Frank, was excellent. Courteous without being intrusive, the waitstaff— immaculately turned out in their iconic red jackets—are efficient but also charming, professional but discreet. Most important, they move quietly through their work, knowing they are serving as the restaurant's ambassadors—and that they are part of the legacy, too. Musso's bartenders continue to rank among the city's best, protectors of time-honored cocktails that require neither explanation nor apology.
Eating at Musso & Frank is not an exercise in reinvention or culinary surprises. Here you will find well-crafted American comfort food, served in a room that has no identity crisis whatsoever. Make reservations. Unless you want to sit at the bar. Which is a fine idea too, particularly if you're new to the room and want to soak in its rhythms.
Bottom line: If you’re a native Angelino or a tourist seeing L.A. for the very first time, dining at Musso & Frank Grill is something that shouldn’t be missed. You aren’t merely eating here, you’re living Hollywood history—one martini, one sauce-drenched bite, and one red booth at a time.
What are your favorite Musso & Frank Grill memories or menu picks—and do you agree with our take on this Hollywood institution?
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