Hot Dog Fever

At the moment, hot dogs are really hot in LA.  Wiener specialists are opening up all over the place, introducing Angelenos to things like rippers and Chicago dogs.  Not that hot dogs were unheard of in LA before this new trend:  Pink's is a legend, and so is Carney's.  Roughly in the same Hollywood area, Skooby's has a die-hard following.  But now you have genuine altars to the dog like Fab Hot Dogs (Reseda), Vicious Dogs (N Hollywood), and, the latest darling of every LA food blog, The Slaw Dogs (Pasadena).  Oh, and there's Let's Be Frank Dogs (Culver City), a gourmet hot dog stand which I guess would be a portable altar.  And to remind you that we should thank the Germans for the humble dog, there are Brats Brothers (Studio City) and Wurstkuche (Downtown).  No signs that the trend is slowing either — heard that Big City Dogs, which is based in Michigan, will soon be opening up a branch in Old Pasadena.

Which altars are my favorite places to worship the silly dog?  Well, I can't claim I've eaten at even 10% of the hot dog joints in this town, but here goes anyway.

Carney's (8351 Sunset Blvd & 12601 Ventura Blvd, Studio City)
If you have kids, this is a fun place because you eat in a train.  The dogs aren't anything special here, but they're still pretty good.

Pink's (709 N. La Brea Blvd)
Only if you're a tourist.  The average wait seems to be around 45 minutes, but Pink's is legendary, having started out sometime during the Great Depression.  And all the Hollywood stars seem to love getting their hit here — usually they'll send a flunky with a limo, but, hey, you might see someone worthy.

Fab Hot Dogs (6747 Tampa Ave, Reseda)
I really hate that they're all the way in Reseda.  And that seating is so small.  And that you can't get in ever since Guy featured it on a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives episode.  What they're really known for is their rippers — a dog that's been deep fried.  Amazingly good.  And so are their tater tots — why don't more places do tater tots?

Brats Brothers (13456 1/2 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks)
Cozy place in Sherman Oaks with very good European-type dogs.  Very friendly.  Can't believe they don't have beer.

The Slaw Dogs (720 N Lake Ave, Pasadena)
They still have their new car smell, but they're already very popular.  Great relaxing room with plenty of space (unless it's lunch time or Saturday night).  Their menu of toppings is crazy huge, from the humble sauerkraut to kimchi, jalapenos to truffle oil.  Slaw's philosophy is definitely "Pile It On!" and they always look at me strange because I'm a purist and like my dog modestly dressed — just sauerkraut and dark mustard.  Probably one of the only hot dog places that do salads (which are really good).  Going back to the dogs, I'd really suggest you get the natural casing dog and have it rippered.  OMG.  And the chili dog — Slaw probably has the best chili in LA (the secret is the Newcastle beer).  Certainly in Pasadena.  The nicest thing about Slaw (besides the really good food)?  They treat you like good friends.

So, does LA have a dog of its own?  Actually, yes.  It's called the Street Dog because it came from the streets:  Mexican hot dog vendors liked to wrap a bacon around a dog.  Because of health regulations, you can't legally get an authentic Street Dog from a vendor anymore.  Luckily, Fab does one.  In any case, the story of the Street Dog is fascinating, and this LA Weekly article does a pretty good job telling it.

One last thing:  what happened to the corn dog?  Is it considered sacrilege for a hot dog joint to serve up a good corn dog?  Because I love corn dogs.

Here's the YouTube video on Fab Hot Dogs:

American Food

Food and LA. I love eating here, so many restaurants, so many different kids of food, so many places to try. But when I think up a list of all my favorite places to eat, the list is filled mostly with ethnic places, usually Asian. Which leaves me surprised. Why are there so few great American food restaurants? Not the expensive, must-reserve, Frenchified or Italianized places, but the every day eating joints where you can pop in anytime for a really satisfying meal.

I do like Pann's — it's one of my favorite places and a near perfect dining experience: great Googie architecture, great atmosphere, comfy booths, nice service, good comfort food. Musso and Frank is near perfect too. And there's Langers. Greenblatt's too. And I like Milk a lot. Du-par's has a fantastic Monte Cristo sandwich and their French dip isn't bad (but their service can be pretty annoying and the other dishes ho-hum). Phillipe's is fun. The Counter burger places are great too. And Fab Hot Dogs. But now I'm starting to run out of names, and for such a huge metropolis with so many restaurants, it seems like there should be so much more.

Often, I'll end up going to a place that gets mentioned in LA Weekly and I'll have a sandwich and think, "Wow. I could be at a Vietnamese banh mi place in the SGV. The food would be 80% better and I would have spent $5 - $10 less." A lot of the good American food places tend to be very specific too: like good only for breakfasts, good only for hamburgers, nice for Cincinnati-like chili (Chili John's) etc. There should be more places like Du-par's, only much, much better with less expensive choices. And the experience shouldn't be so inconsistent or so stressful. Like at The Golden State — getting a table can get rough, and the food can be really off (I once got sweet potato fries which were mostly black from having been burnt, and soggy, which defied my expectation because you'd think burnt food would be extra crispy — I mean, if you can't get your basic side right, what's the point of existing at all?). Oinkster is pretty inconsistent too (never go during the off hours, like 4 in the afternoon). Or at Father's Office, where the food is always fantastic, but the fight-for-your-own table situation so rough, the side to every meal is indigestion (last time we went, we had to play tag-team with another desperate couple — each couple stationing themselves at opposite ends of the restaurant, ready to swoop at the first signs of an emptying spot). The same at Apple Pan. The busiest Chinese dim sum houses give you numbers. Which is showing respect and consideration for your customers. After all, hospitality is as paramount as good food, isn't it?

I'd like a renaissance of American food. Not the cute interpretations at $20 a plate, but just good, classic fare, a nice blue plate special for $5.99. Last week, I spent an hour on the web looking for a basic caramel apple recipe — what I could find were the ones that advised you to buy candy at the store and melt it (telling you to buy the ready-to-use caramel wrappers is not a recipe)*. This is why I'd like an American food renaissance.

As an aside, here's an unscientific observation. The most demanding, enthusiastic and busy LA Yelp restaurant reviewers seem to be Asian. As a correlation, I often find Caucasian diners at American food restaurants to be not very discerning. Like I was at a nouveau Swedish restaurant and everyone around me was raving about the Swedish meatballs — I thought the meatballs were hard, not seasoned very well, and the milk gravy pretty appalling (I sighed and thought, "I could be eating the meatball plate at Ikea for around $6 — I would have gotten more meatballs, paid about 20% less, the food would have been more authentic, and tastier, too [I'm not saying Ikea food is gourmet or anything]."). To add to this, when I was in college, my fellow diners and I would spend hours complaining about how truly awful the dorm food was (mostly cheap cheese on carbs). The only diner to protest was Caucasian, and she said, "This is a lot better than what I got at home." Our hearts broke for her. So I wonder. Is the Asian food here so much better because Asians grow up eating good food at home (and I mean recent immigrants)? Certainly, there are a huge number of Asian immigrants concentrated in a very small area, but if they weren't so demanding, I'm sure the state of Chinese food in the SGV would be as blah as the state of the American food.

*I did finally find a wonderful recipe at Real Mom Kitchen. The caramel is to die for. Really.

Fab Hot Dogs

I think I'm in love with Fab Hot Dogs. And as with all obsessions, I don't think I'll be able to rest until I've tried every single item on the menu. Thus far, I've only tried two: their famous The Bald Eagle and their Polish Firecracker dog.

The Bald Eagle is a ripper smothered with Fab Hot Dogs' homemade mustard relish. A ripper, I've come to understand, is a deep-fried hot dog. What more do you need to know to start salivating? And it isn't at all greasy or OTT. What you get is a very hot, crunchy, juicy hot dog. And Fab's mustard relish is, well -- fab. I can't imagine eating the ripper without it.

The Polish Firecracker is an extremely spicy polish sausage. I had mine with sauerkraut and it was delicious. They also have a non-spicy polish sausage, which I'm sure is just as good.

As much as I love the hot dogs, what I'm really looking forward to getting on my next visit is their tater tots. The table next door had a heaping serving -- it looked just like the tots of my dreams: small, crunchy, roly-poly, golden brown. So why don't more places serve tater tots?*

BTW, Fab also has hamburgers.

Here's their address.

6747 Tampa Ave.
Reseda

*Had the tater tots. OMG. Soooooo goooood......!