Hollywood’s Iconic Restaurant Musso & Frank Is 100 – And Still Growing!
Located on the famed Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood, Musso & Frank is Hollywood’s greatest restaurant, and this year, it’s turning 100 years old!
Sitting in the shadow of the iconic Hollywood sign, where so many of Hollywood’s legendary restaurants and theaters have closed or been torn down, the legendary celebrity hangout Musso & Frank turns 100 by announcing expansion plans!
Musso & Frank has always been Hollywood’s clubhouse – name a star and they were there – usually enjoying one of their legendary Martinis – like this one that I had recently:
Deadline.com has the exclusive story on the restaurant’s plan to expand their Hollywood location::
“Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the iconic Hollywood Blvd. eatery is about to undergo a major change: sometime late this fall, it will open three private dining rooms with special access entrances, all with an eye toward addressing a long-standing customer desire for more privacy.
“It’s something our customers have been asking about for years,” said Mark Echeverria, the COO and the fourth generation of his family involved in the restaurant’s operations. Plans for the space started germinating back in 2009 upon his appointment, and though it takes a long time to get anything through the city planning boards and to construct in old buildings, it appears that three private rooms will open sometime around Thanksgiving of this year.”
To that, I say we toast with one of legendary Bartender Manny Aguirre’s Martinis!
Here’s a look at the restaurant interior, as it has looked for a century:
When we were recently at the restaurant, my wife Alex started with the classic avocado salad, which comes to the table with a half hard-boiled egg, tomato wedge, pickle spear and steamed asparagus spear!
What a classic old school dish! For her main course, she got the legendary Sand Dabs, presented simply on the plate:
I had a classic steak with a side of mashed potatoes and spinach…a great way to celebrates Hollywood’s past!
As Deadline reports:
It all started back in 1919, when Frank Toulet formed a fateful partnership with Joseph Musso. The men in 1922 hired French chef Jean Rue, who would showcase his artistry at Musso & Frank for 53 years.
Musso and Toulet sold their restaurant to a duo of Italian immigrants named Joseph Carissimi and John Mosso in 1927, and today, Musso & Frank is owned and operated by the families of Mosso’s three granddaughters: John and Cathy Echeverria and their son, Mark Echeverria; Steve and Anne Jones; and Richard and Kristen Kohlmeyer.
The restaurant has never been busier, Echeverria claims, and there will be some special centennial celebrations in September. The secret to surviving 100 years? “It’s all about the people,” said Echeverria, whose most cherished memory of the place is as a four-year-old sipping some Shirley Temples in a booth with his cousins and feeling very sophisticated.
Perhaps the best news in the terrific story is that these signature Martinis will never be sold beyond this Hollywood location – they have stated they will NEVER expand to other locations:
“We’re here to serve our community,” Echeverria said. “It’s what we do.”
Here’s a look at the artist renderings for the newly expanded private dining rooms, looking as classic as the restaurant itself:
Bravo to Deadline.com for breaking this news!
So many of Hollywood’s iconic locations are closed or forever altered, and we are still waiting to see what happens with Hollywood’s legendary Formosa Cafe:
My friend Alison Martino had that story, on her “Vintage Los Angeles” website – where she tells the stories of Hollywood’s iconic locations and how they are at risk…along with lots of great stories about entertainment – she is, after all, Hollywood royalty!
Check out her website here:
And it’s been almost two years since plans to save the Formosa were announced – I just went by and it’s still shut – here is my original story that you can read here:
Here’s to another hundred years of Musso and Frank Martinis!
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johnrieber 
My friend, Sonny, is one of the bartenders there – a life-long LA bartender and great character. Look for him in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming pic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in the scene shot a Musso & Frank.
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I can’t wait for that- thanks for sharing!
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Good to see it continuing and expanding, John. Tradition is worth hanging on to!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete – most everything is going, so nice to see this one working!
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This all looks amazing, John. I love avocado salad. Yummy!
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It’s very “old school” in the best way – everyone there has worked there for decades!
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