Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood

Since 1919, Musso & Frank Grill has been the canteen of choice for Hollywood's elite — Chaplin, Hemingway, and apparently Taylor Swift all agree on the booth seating. The menu is unapologetically retro: think flannel cakes, martinis that taste like the golden age of cinema, and a vegetarian spread that holds its own amid the steakhouse staples. It's expensive by any reasonable measure, but you're not just paying for food — you're buying a seat inside cinema history. Ek bar toh jaana chahiye, even if just to say you sat where the Swifties sit.

HEII Score: 3/5 ★★★

The food is excellent without being exceptional. The service carries the weight of a century of practice. The room is among the most atmospheric in all of Los Angeles. You are not going to Musso & Frank for the most technically adventurous meal of your trip — you are going because history has a flavour, and this is what it tastes like. Verdict: Order the flannel cakes. Order a dry martini. Sit in a booth and consider every person who has sat there before you.