You call this Pink's?!?!

[Six_of_One]

Recently there was a thread started by JimRivett regarding the Pink's hot dog stand that just opened inside the Bicycle Casino. I made some snide remark about Jim's lack of sophistication due to his failure to appreciate the wonder that is a Pink's dog. It pains me to say it, but I must now take that back.

I was at the Bike tonight, first time since the hot dog stand opened. I walked up to the counter and ordered a chili cheese dog. Moments later -- make sure you're sitting down for this part -- I heard the unmistakable whine of a microwave in operation.

A MICROWAVE!!! I couldn't see over the counter, so I don't know whether he was nuking the hot dog or the chili. It doesn't matter. It was a sham. A travesty. An embarrassment. When -- Oh, Lord, please tell me -- when will this injustice end?

mike l. -- Stay away. Stay far away.

[mike l.]

dude theyre microwaving the buns. was the hot dog gross?

[Six_of_One]

It was extremely average. Tasted pretty much just like any normal hot dog. The chili didn't taste right either. If I had never eaten at Pink's before I probably would have thought it was perfectly fine, but it just didn't compare to the original Pink's location, or the cart in Hollywood Park for that matter.

I didn't know they were microwaving the buns, though. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[wayabvpar]

My one visit to Pink's was among the highlights of my stay in SoCal. Of course, it came after a >$500 bar tab at the Dresden for the 5 of us (with one designated driver!), so I could have been eating leather for all I knew. My fuzzy memory tells me that the hot dogs ruled!

[ArchAngel71857]

It was extremely average.

Interesting.

-AA

[mike l.]

"it just didn't compare to the original Pink's location, or the cart in Hollywood Park for that matter."

fair enough. hey what time of day did you have it? and was the dog tender? are you fan of the spicy polish dog?

fwiw, over the past 8 months or so ive had the cart at hp several times and the melrose/la brea pinks about as many and the cart has been much better consistently -- weird dont ya think?

[Sundevils21]

[ QUOTE ]
It was extremely average.

Interesting.

-AA

[/ QUOTE ]

He also ordered an extra medium sized soda.

[DeezNuts]

If you like hot dogs, try Top Dog in the Berkeley area. Almost everyone I know think this is the best hot dog they have ever eaten. Pink's is good too, but you also can't forget the heart attack-inducing bacon wrapped hotdogs they sell in LA outside of clubs around 1-3am.

DN

[rtrombone]

If you want a heart attack try Pink's double poli-bacon chilicheeseburger.

[Rick Nebiolo]

mike,

After reading Six of One's post I looked into the matter a bit Friday. You are right, they are microwaving the buns. I don't know if this is standard Pink's practice or not, but I remember when the Bike (a few years back, before I worked there) used to microwave the dinner rolls which IMO is about the worse thing you can do to bread (now they have a pretty good long thin roll sort of like a bread stick (there is another name for them that escapes me at this hour)which either stand up to microwaving or are heated another way.

Later a young lady in a Pink's outfit was distributing promotional flyers to the no limit tables and I asked her what the story was but she had only worked for Pink's for two days and didn't know much. The Pink's web site didn't have much information either, but I would think a famous hot dog chain wouldn't nuke the buns.

I'll see if I can find out more the next few days, but I don't have a lot of juice in this department (or any other for that matter) /images/graemlins/grin.gif

~ Rick

[mike l.]

im glad im sitting up at 430 playing 1-2 on paradise so i can field this question.

you guys are making too much of an issue over this bun scandal. i promise you the buns microed for 5 seconds or whatever make no difference whatsoever. it's still a great dog. did you have one yet rick??

[mike l.]

there is a lot of important hot dog talk going on on here right now so im glad im able to read it all...

i will definitely try this top dog place in berkeley in august when im up there.

[Rick Nebiolo]

actually went right to bed after my goofy series of posts last night, read a bit of a novel before nodding off (notice how early i'm up again - five hours is all i can sleep).

anyway i've had both a polish (not sure whether it was spicy or mild, hero delivered it to the table) and a regular dog at hollywood park and many years ago when i more often made it up to the city of la i tried a pink's (probably a regular) at the original location knowing beforehand it was an institution of sorts. those dog/pizza/burger stands that stay open late at night are best known for the atmosphere in my opinion. in other words, i'm not sure a pink's eaten in a generic mall court would be that big a deal.

for example, if you ever make it to providence rhode island and already made it to a ny system weiner joint (you could never get a weiner in a mall) and are up clubbing (not poker clubbing) and it is about 2:30 am and you naturally are hungry, still a little too drunk to drive, and need just a little more of that "late night renaissance city stimulation" you need to check out haven brothers. they have great dogs too but the neatest thing is they serve a burger from special order to your hands in about 30 seconds (verify with john cole on other topics) the grill is so hot and they put it together and wrap so fast plus you have every weird late night type in the world hanging out but it's all pretty safe the point i'm making is that the ambiance is a big part of the experience.

here (http://www.quahog.org/attractions/index.php?id=5) is a link to a pretty good story on haven brothers and while i'm at it here is another link (http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=88).

btw, that roadfood.com web site might be a good site to bookmark for future reference, the book "roadfood" was a big seller years ago before the web became a better reference for that kind of thing.

~ rick

ps i'm trying to get over the guilt i have not using the shift key for caps but i must admit it is faster so i may stick with it but will it make me cool too?

[Ulysses]

OK, guys. Between a couple of 10-20NL sessions, we headed to the Good Luck for a few hours. Good times. Good drinks. I had mainly Ketel & Sodas and Maker's Manhattans Rocks and some other stuff. Almost had an old-fashioned, but didn't. Then we headed to Pink's on LaBrea. I was drunk and tired but remembered a few things from these threads "Spicy Polish" "Guacamole" well, that's really all I remembered. I also remembered "kraut" but then I forgot. Also, there was too much stuff on the menu. So I tried to find a special that matched and went w/ the OZZY OSBOURNE DOG - Spicy Polish dog, nacho cheese, American cheese, grilled onions, guacamole & chopped tomatoes. I was going to add kraut, but forgot. Oh well. Anyway, what do you think, mike - did I make an OK choice? It was pretty good, but I was pretty drunk, so who knows. Also, the onion rings ruled. Then we went back to Commerce and I doubled up. Olé!!!!!!!!!!!

[mike l.]

glad you liked it and glad you doubled up. those specialty dogs at the original pinks are generally pretty rad me thinks. i like the martha stewart dog and i really love the rosie dogs!

sorry i missed you. im a clown.

[Ulysses]

No worries, mike. I'll be back soon enough. I almost went with the Martha Stewart dog, but with so many raves from you, I figured I had to try the Spicy Polish first. GiftOfGab got some sort of two-hot-dogs-in-a-bun special that looked pretty good.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
i will definitely try this top dog place in berkeley in august when im up there.

[/ QUOTE ]

August, Berkeley? How have I not heard of this, punk?

[Six_of_One]

[ QUOTE ]
"it just didn't compare to the original Pink's location, or the cart in Hollywood Park for that matter."

fair enough. hey what time of day did you have it? and was the dog tender? are you fan of the spicy polish dog?


[/ QUOTE ]

It was around 10pm when I had it. The dog wasn't as tender as it should have been, though. I've never actually tried the spicy polish dog...I'm kind of a lightweight when it comes to spicy food, so I'm afraid it might be too much for me. I've had the mild polish dog before, which was good, though I prefer the regular hot dog. Once I had the double poli-bacon cheeseburger, or whatever it is they call it exactly...now that was a meal. I couldn't finish it, and that's saying something.

[Six_of_One]

[ QUOTE ]
GiftOfGab got some sort of two-hot-dogs-in-a-bun special that looked pretty good.

[/ QUOTE ]

That two-hot-dogs-in-a-bun thing is pure genius. It can be quite a challenge to eat without getting it all over the place, but it's all in the technique. They used to have a "Threepeat" dog in honor of the Lakers...that was 3 hot dogs wrapped in a tortilla with about every topping you could imagine. Knife and fork for that one.

[mike l.]

cause ill be with my woman and aint no way im playing no poker. ill come up and do that some other time. frankly i like it better when you guys come down here, the games are much better down here.

[mike l.]

" I've had the mild polish dog before, which was good, though I prefer the regular hot dog."

ah yeah that explains it. the mild polish is gross. the regular hot dog is much better. go for the spicy or dont go polish. that should be a bumper sticker.

[mike l.]

"GiftOfGab got some sort of two-hot-dogs-in-a-bun special that looked pretty good."

yeah the two dogs in one bun concept just sickens me. the dog to bun ratio is just nasty wrong on that one. it also scares me on some sort of freudian level.

[Easy E]

"microwave the dinner rolls which IMO is about the worse thing you can do to bread"


Wad up a paper towel, make it damp, then microwave the roll or bread with the towel in there as well (no dripping, please!)
You can thank me after you try it

[samjjones]

You guys gotta come out to NJ if you want some good hot dogs...

[Dominic]

I've lived in L.A. for 15 years and I, for one, think Pink's stinks. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I'm a poet and didn't know it!

Seriously, what is so great about this dog? I can't stand that tough outer casing you have to gnaw through to get at the dog...makes it very unappetizing...you just about have to PEEL the damn thing off the meat in order to eat it...plus, you have to deal with the damn knott at the end of the dog....it's like trying to eat a tamale without first removing the husk!

[mike l.]

"I can't stand that tough outer casing you have to gnaw through to get at the dog..."

oh well see this is easily taken care of by going at the correct times. you need to go when the dogs are overcooked. then they are quite tender and remarkable. yes i went one time at like 11am and the dogs were not fully cooked and it was an awful experience.

[Six_of_One]

You're missing the whole point. The crunch when you bite into it is part of what makes it so great.

[Cptkernow]

Is he saying it was incredibly mediocre?

[MaxPower]

[ QUOTE ]
You guys gotta come out to NJ if you want some good hot dogs...

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you ever been to that place where they deep fry the hot dogs?