Hot Dogs and Doughnuts!

Hot Dogs and Doughnuts ... they usually don't go together, but for one day ... they did for me. My friend Laney is moving to Utah in a month and so she has decided that she needs to finish up her list of "must see" places in L.A. Because I really don't have anything else to do during the day and I have also wanted to get out and see what there is in this great place that we live, I told her that I would be happy to join her in all of her adventures.

First stop: Pink's Hot Dogs. I had heard a little bit about Pink's before, but not much. Apparently it is a Hollywood hot spot. It has been around for 70 years and is now considered the "Hot Dog to the Stars." With such a big reputation, I had pretty high expectations for this hot dog. When we got there I found out that it's not necessarily in what we call the nice part of town, so that was the first surprise to me. The next was that there was absolutely no line when we got there. Laney and I had both heard how there is always a line at least an hour long. We must have come at the perfect time. Here I am standing just outside Pink's.

Once we got there, we stared at the menu for awhile, trying to decide if we could get away with ordering a hamburger, but decided while we were there we better just get what they are famous for: the chili dog. We were rushed through the line by people who were clearly annoyed that we had never been there before and that we were taking our time trying to decide what we wanted. I ordered my chili dog with no onions and no mustard and then waited and watched as she pulled a hot dog out of a big pot of boiling water, stuck it in a bun and then smothered it with a big spoonful of chili. There it was, my first pink's hot dog, just waiting to be devoured. We quickly found a place to sit so we could eat. Laney took a picture of the first bite (and I can't believe I am actually posting this picture!). I took the first bite and began chewing ... and chewing ... and chewing. Hmmmm... not quite the Hollywood hot dog that I was expecting. The chili wasn't bad, the bun wasn't horrible, but the hot dog was like rubber. So I decided that just like most things in Hollywood, Pink's is famous simply because somebody once said it was good, not because it actually is.

Our next stop: Fritelli's Doughnuts. I had never heard of this place before, but when Laney mentioned doughnuts, I came running! I have now learned that it is Arnold Schwarzenegger's favorite place for doughnuts. It is a cute little shop in Beverly Hills. When we walked, in there was a lady there taking some pictures for a story she was doing for the Beverly Hills Courier. She must have thought we looked famous because she asked if we would pose for some pictures for her. We were happy to help out. She took a few pictures of us looking at the doughnuts and ordering them. We then had to pose for pictures as we sat at the tables pretending to eat our doughnuts. It was pretty funny and I hope that we can somehow find the story so we can see how they turned out. But the doughnuts were amazing. I ordered a couple for myself and then took some home for Andrew, but then realized that he was out of town so I had to eat them all myself that night for dinner. The one that I am holding in the picture was the red velvet. It was delicious!

So my suggestion if you are travelling to L.A.: skip the hot dogs and go straight for the doughnuts!