100th Anniversary of Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood

I first stepped into Hollywood’s Musso and Frank Grill in the fall of 1992. I was the guest of my dear friend Shirley Wilson. She knew I loved vintage Hollywood and suggested we go there to get a real taste of a classy Hollywood restaurant. She was right. Musso and Frank sits on Hollywood Boulevard, virtually untouched through the years. In fact, one hundred of them, as today is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the restaurant.

Everyone who has been anyone has eaten at the Grill. It was a hangout for famous Hollywood writers for decades, as well as actors, directors, producers, and anyone else who had anything to do with Hollywood.

The author, at his favorite Hollywood restaurant in 2019.

One of my favorite memories of M&F is from the second or third time I went there. We sat on the bar side (rather than the usual dining room side). Our waiter came up to us and I said something about how I heard F. Scott Fitzgerald loved to come in and get drunk here. He smiled yes, and said “In fact, you’re sitting in his favorite booth!” I don’t care if he was lying; he was sweet to say it.



I’ve had a love affair with M&F for more than twenty years, eating there whenever I got the chance to be in town. I have such admiration for the restaurant and its history that I included it as a major set piece in two of my James Murray Mystery novels set in the 1930s: Sabotage at RKO Studio (The James Murray Mysteries Book 2) where James takes his new girlfriend for their first big night out after the opening of the movie "King Kong"; and in Abduction at Griffith Observatory: A James Murray Mystery (The James Murray Mysteries ) (Volume 3) where James’s world comes crashing down around him. It’s so neat knowing my characters could very possible have eaten at this wonderful restaurant!