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Building History

Originally, this restaurant, located at was known as "Frank's (Francois's) Cafe" when it opened on 09/27/1919, operated by Firmin "Frank" Toulet and Robert Prachacq (Firmin's father-in-law), Helene Prachacq Toulet. and Joseph Musso. In 1925, Joseph Musso bought an ownership share and the establishment became known as "Musso and Frank's Grill." In 1927, Toulet and Musso sold the business to the latter's friend, Joseph Carissimi, and his partner, John Mosso (-1974).

In the 1930s, Hollywood screenwriters would frequent a private back room of this restaurant (leased from the Vogue Theatre next door) between 05/1935-1954. The back room lease expired in 1954, and the restaurant moved into larger quarters next door (what had been the Stanley Rose Bookstore) at that time, from 6669 Hollywood Boulevard to 6667 Hollywood Boulevard. The new restaurant continued to attract Hollywood moguls during the 1950s and 1960s. The Los Angeles Times said of it in 2010: "Long famous as a haven where writers F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler and others held court, it was also a frequent dining spot for such Hollywood personalities as media mogul Merv Griffin and comedian Jonathan Winters...." (See Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles.com, "Edith Carissimi dies at 95; a family pillar of Musso & Frank Grill," published 04/04/2010, accessed 01/20/2023.)

Well-known writers of Hollywood productions began to gather at the Musso and Frank back room after 1934. The restaurant's online history stated: "Musso’s became a literary hangout in the 1930s, when studio executives began to recruit great American authors to Hollywood, hoping their names would help sell tickets. With the Screen Writers Guild just across the street, the writers — tired of working under the execs’ watchful eyes — began to spend time at the restaurant. If they weren't in Musso’s Back Room, they could be found at the Stanley Rose Bookshop, which at the time was Musso’s neighbor to the east. Working late into the night under the comforting amber glow of the great chandeliers in the famous Back Room, writers like literary greats F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and Raymond Chandler could have considered Musso’s a second home." (See Musso and Frank Grill.com, "History," accessed 01/20/2023.) As noted here, the restaurant's location nearby to the Screen Writer's Guild offices and the Rose Bookshop helped to insure the presence of writers.

John Mosso passed away in 1974. His ownership share passed to his daughter, Rose Mosso Keegel (1912-2000), who co-managed the eatery until her death in 2000 at the age of 87. Beginning in the 1940s, Charles B. Carissimi (1904-1969), Joseph's son, who had lived previously in Sacramento and worked as an importer, began employment at Musso and Frank.

In the early 1960s, Edith Blau Reich (1914-2010), a recent Argentinian transplant, came to the Musso and Frank Grill as a cashier/hostess. Reich wed Charles Carissimi in 1963, and after Mosso's death, began co-managing the landmark restaurant with Keegel for the next forty years. Edith Carissimi became the perfect Hollywood greeter saavy at seating the entertainment industry's rich and powerful in the restaurant. As noted in her Los Angeles Times obituary, she was used to dealing with stars: "An immigrant from Hungary by way of Argentina, Carissimi was used to rubbing shoulders with the famous. She wrote for South American equivalents of Photoplay, her family said, and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s so her first husband, William Reich, could become vice president of the independent studio American International Pictures. The dynamic Carissimi 'could charm the birds out of the trees' as she mingled with customers, said Ricki Kaye, the grill’s bookkeeper since 1970. 'She was a great, great asset, making Musso & Frank what it is today.'" (See Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles.com, "Edith Carissimi dies at 95; a family pillar of Musso & Frank Grill," published 04/04/2010, accessed 01/20/2023.) Edith Carissimi would later marry a third time in 1983, to Los Angeles architect Carl Maston (1915-1992).

After Edith's death, third-generation descendants of the Mosso, his three grand-daughters, continued to operate the venerable restaurant.

Building Notes

Originally, Musso and Frank's Grill had a tall clerestory located above its main storefront windows. A large sign, trimmed in light bulbs (before neon), spells out the owners' names in capital letters.

The Chuck Lorre Productions-Warner Brothers Television comedy, The Komisky Method, shot a number of scenes at the Musso and Frank Grill between 2018 and 2021.

Tel: (323) 467-7788 (2010);

Alteration

Significant alterations occurred to Musso and Frank in 1954. The restaurant lost its leased back room space but moved next door to 6667 Hollywood Boulevard. Elements of old back room were reused in the remodeled restaurant: "Musso's exclusive, storied Back Room opened in 1934. Guarded by a discerning and austere maitre d’, the Back Room was a legendary private space reserved for the Hollywood elite. Eventually, the lease on the Back Room expired. Today, the restaurant’s New Room holds the Back Room’s original famous bar, light fixtures and furniture from 1934." (See Musso and Frank Grill.com, "History," accessed 01/20/2023.)

PCAD id: 15683