You’d think we’d be done with this eating thing. So far we had been spacing it at a good pace.
Breakfast at 10:30AM and the pie probably around 2:00PM.
I forgot to mention that the wait in line at The Pantry was 45 minutes.
Next stop, another institution that began in 1939.
The drive from Farmer’s Market isn’t a long one but the walk back to Chip’s car was. We were lucky and found a back way in to the convenient lot and parked right outside of Du-par’s front door so we got to Pink's about 15 minutes before the Chips.
So we got to Pink’s and drove around and around the block looking for a place to park. Pink’s has their own parking lot which is even free, but they park the cars three deep. With the lot being as narrow as it was, I wasn’t handing over my keys for some stranger to move my car so others could get out.
Didn’t matter that it looked like rain. The line for a hot dog went around the building. We got in line awaiting the arrival of The Chips.
Just as they got in to line with us it started to rain. Sharon decided she’d had enough to eat and went back to the car. Immediately after her departure, four Pink’s employees came out with one of those big four posted tents you see at swap meets.
Here is the left side of the menu:
Here is the right:
What I noticed while in line was that people driving by were taking our picture. Lots of people sticking lots of cameras out their windows and snapping.
I also noticed this:
A major French fry machine. I guess with the number of people that pass through there it’s needed. I wasn’t ordering fries, but the person in front of me did.
Fries and Rings to be exact. The machine had two sides, so I’m guessing the onion rings could be made in the other side or either.
The order ahead of us was so pretty, I just had to get a picture of it.
Looks like three chili cheese dogs and one of the specially named dogs… with guacamole. (Ick!)
The specialty dogs had individual paper poster types of things taped to the counter. I guess they change specialties often enough that they don't rank menu board permanency.
My order:
I ordered a chili dog. I don't like cheese on my chili dogs.
I hadn’t been to Pink’s in years.
It is now official. I do not like Pink’s hot dogs. They are specially made for Pink’s by Hoffy. That doesn’t mean that I have to like them. First thing I noticed was that the bun was ice cold. Not steamed like advertised in the flyer they passed out while we were in line trying to decide. It also fell apart in my hand as I was trying to eat it. A crumbly bun!
The dog itself had a nice snap, but it was extremely porky tasting. The chili was greasy. Neither to my liking.
Jim changed his mind the last moment and ordered this:
It’s an Oki-Dog wanna be. But... Pink’s had to one up Oki-Dog (A not to distant neighbor) and add one more hot dog to the mix. Three hot dogs all wrapped up in a tortilla.
I’m not exactly sure what was inside along with the dogs as Jim took one bite and decided he’d rather look at all the celebrity pictures hanging in the other room. He was all about the celebrities and we even saw one in line. Not real famous as neither of us knew his name, but just knew he was someone.
While in line we all came to the agreement that the other places on our lists would be for some other day. We were thinking about driving up the street to Mashti Malone’s for some odd flavored ice cream and then to the city of Inglewood for a donut at Randy’s.
To prove that Chip Couple ate at Pink’s…here is the evidence:
We had a great day and it was a lot of fun. We’ll have to do it again!
We all chose to eat at the old Los Angeles establishments rather than eating at restaurants with fantastic Roadfood so it was more about the place than the food. Nothing was horrible and I'd certainly eat at all of them again.
The only downside to the day was that we weren’t able to meet Sam. Maybe next time!
Jim and Trudy... It was a pleasure!
