Musso & Frank

Not too long ago Alison and I went out to Hollywood to see William Elliott Whitmore at the Hotel Cafe. So, why not go to the world famous Musso and Frank Grill? The place has been around forever, specifically since 1919. My main drive to visit the place was because I've read Bukowski's exploits and visits to Musso and Frank. Totally an odd reason to want to go to a restaurant, but hey, why not?

Finding parking was pretty easy since they have their own lot in the back. Usually parking in that area of Hollywood costs a bunch and is a total pain. Since this was easy, I was in a good mood. I really hate parking problems. There's been one or more occasion where I've had a meltdown and threatened to turn around and head for home due to lack of parking. Once I think I even turned around and came home. Gotta love a healthy temper.

The restaurant is nice and dark (as you can tell from our photos), which provides a nice ambiance. Upon looking around, the first thing I noticed that harkened back to older times was that each and every booth had it's own coat rack. Unfortunately I wasn't wearing a coat which could occupy our table's coat rack, but that is neither here nor there.

Time for drinks...

Musso's has a pretty broad range of cocktails that your grandparents may have indulged in. Not to say that the liqior is old at Musso's, but they have classic recipes. Alison ordered a Ramus Fizz and I had an Old Fashioned.

The menu at Musso's is full of classic dishes: pork chops, steaks, turkey meals, etc. Unfortunately for us, $35 for a meal is a bit much, so we had to find the cheaper menu items. Alison went for cheese ravioli's with mushroom sauce and I had the manicotti. Both were pretty damn good.

After we stuffed our bellies and sucked down our drinks, it was time to head down the street and check out William Elliott Whitmore. You can see a video we shot at the show here. We apologize in advance for the weight-supporting beam in the shot, but the place was pretty packed.