Visitors arriving at the famed Musso & Frank Grill in search of a classic Old Hollywood experience are increasingly met with a different scene: visible homelessness and debris near the landmark restaurant’s entrance.
Images taken by The Post show multiple people gathered on a soiled couch left along the street, a sight that has become increasingly familiar around the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In the years since the pandemic, the area has struggled with a worsening homelessness crisis, leaving the once-bustling tourist strip changed dramatically as many small, locally owned businesses have shut down permanently.
Musso & Frank, which first opened its doors in 1919, remains one of the rare establishments still offering visitors a direct connection to Hollywood’s storied golden age.
Yet preserving that sense of glamour has become harder as sidewalks honoring some of entertainment’s biggest names are increasingly marked by tents, discarded items and trash.
The century-old steakhouse has endured the Great Depression, a world war and the COVID-19 pandemic, but a weakened tourism market may now present one of its most serious challenges.
California saw international travel fall by about 8% compared with last year, according to Visit California, while local business owners and street vendors say Hollywood appears to be feeling the downturn most sharply.
Vendors and tour guides told SFGATE they frequently hear disappointed reactions from first-time visitors, some of whom say they regret making the trip.
“We’re not very happy with having come here,” Robert Daniel Fernández, who makes custom Walk of Fame stars for tourists, said visitors frequently tell him after walking Hollywood Boulevard.
Fernández told SFGATE that he estimates tourism has declined about 50% compared to before the pandemic, and said the only silver lining is the World Cup that has brought a slight up tick in recent weeks.
It’s not just businesses, residents also feel the neglect from LA city officials to take ownership of a deteriorating Hollywood.
“You could argue it’s one of our country’s great shames,” Dylan Kendall, who has lived in the area for 30 years, told the paper. “We all just collectively accepted that it was never good. It can never be good.”
While inside Musso & Frank, old Hollywood may still feel alive, outside many fear the boulevard that made it famous is slowly losing its magic.
