Creator
Musso & Franks Grill
Title
À la carte
Coverage
Hollywood
Date
July 17, 1936
Description
Frank’s Café opened on Hollywood Boulevard in 1919, when this still-rural area was the up-and-coming movie capital of the world. The restaurant, which was renamed Musso & Franks Grill in 1922, became the haunt of studio heads, actors, producers, directors, and screenwriters in the film industry. In the mid-1930s, Musso & Franks Grill opened its exclusive Back Room. Dubbed “Algonquin West,” the dining room was a literary hangout for the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, William Saroyan, Dashiell Hammett, and Dorothy Parker. The Screen Writers Guild was conveniently located on the other side of the street and Stanley Rose’s Bookstore was right next door. One of the classic dishes at Musso & Franks is sautéed medallions of filet mignon served in a pool of beef gravy with a drizzle of béarnaise sauce. On this menu, the entrée is called “Grenadine of Beef à la Frank” and costs 80 cents. The price had risen to $1.00 by 1937 when it was renamed “Grenadine of Beef, Bordelaise.”