Wordle

word cloud of Pink's menu

Today's adventure in food word clouds comes courtesy of Pink's, the hot dog stand (legendary, iconic, fabulous, pick your overused yet applicable adjective) on La Brea. This is not the ordinary menu but the "super specials" menu, from which you can order hot dogs created for actual legends and icons. Look closely and you will find, not unlike the stars embedded in horizontal concrete a few blocks north-east, the names in the menu: Martha Stewart. Ozzy Osbourne. Huell Howser. Makes you damn proud to live in this town, now doesn't it.

G. Snyder

Super perro, all dressed up...

Ever since the closing of Pasadena's Tutti Frutti two years ago, Los Angeles has found itself lacking a single, solitary purveyor of the Colombian street food known as the super perro.

What is this bizarre semitropical creation? Imagine a hot dog taken to its architectural extremes, layered with avocado, pineapple relish, cilantro, onions, tomatoes, crushed potato chips and a latticework of squeeze-bottle spreads -- garlic mayonnaise, mustard, and a chile-spiked fancy sauce, among other things.

In certain neighborhoods of New York, the super perro is known to draw a cult following -- a reality that becomes all the more alarming when you consider our fine metropolis had nothing to match it.

Until now.

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flickr/Imgoblue

Just Add Mustard

"The World's Largest Hot Dog with Cuban Hot Sauce." It's not a slogan for the latest Guinness World Records attempt at temporary hot dog celebrity. It's the name of the hot dog stand that served as the inspiration for local artisan mustard producer Vivi's Original Sauce. Owner Vivian "Vivi" Poutakoglou, a self-described Sherman Oaks "elementary teacher by day and sauce entrepreneur by night," makes spicy-sweet mustard similar to the "Cuban hot sauce" her grandparents once made.

Poutakoglou's grandparents, former dairy farmers, traveled the carnival circuit around Ohio, Indiana and Michigan for nearly 50 years selling hot dogs topped with the spicy mustard sauce they made by the bucketful in their basement. [Yes, they were carnies, but grandmom, aka 92-year-old "Big Vivi," is not fond of that word, so we shall respectfully refrain from using it.]

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T. Nguyen

Chili cheese hot dog at Larry's

For a town whose cultural and culinary landmarks are two hot dogs -- Pink's, for better or worse, and the Dodger Dog, also for better or worse -- the hot dog nonetheless is greatly overshadowed by its other half, the hamburger. While there may not be as many great hot dogs as there are great hamburgers in Los Angeles, they are out there, scattered across town; you could give yourself a tour of the city, really, just trying to visit them all. From the classic hot dog stands that abound on the edges of L.A. proper to the newer joints creating a new breed of dog with their hefty toppings, here are 10 of the top dogs in L.A.

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Foodforfel/Flickr

Bacon wrapped hot dogs on the grill

There is so much fuss over new baconized products (bazookas, salt, alphabets) that we sometimes forget that street vendors were outfitting hot dogs with bacon long before anyone knew how to tweet or Instagram. The vendors wheel out their carts like clockwork, punching in just as you're punching out, leaving a concert or staggering out of a bar. For this version of Food Fight, we set out to see whether the street hot dog can hold its own against a slightly more refined version at The Stand.

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Guzzle & Nosh

The Sooo Cali Dog

The recently opened Dog Haus Biergarten in Pasadena is already practically giving away its food -- for 49 minutes at a time.

If you manage to get down to Old Town Pasadena between 11:11 a.m. and 12 p.m. or 11:11 p.m. and 12 a.m. on this blessed 11/11/11, they'll be selling pints of beer, cans of beer, wine, fries, tater tots, sliders and dogs for one dollar each. Sounds like a promising power lunch (or late-night treat).

Dog Haus Biergarten is not to be confused with the newest member of the Dog Haus family, Dog Haus To Go, which opened yesterday, just around the corner from Dog Haus Biergarten on 93 E. Green Street. Dog Haus To Go specializes in gourmet take-out and is a faster alternative to the original restaurant and the Biergarten. The only drawback? They don't serve beer to-go.

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Guzzle & Nosh

The Sooo Cali dog at Dog Haus.

To celebrate its 1-year anniversary, The Dog Haus in Pasadena is giving away free hot dogs tomorrow, October 20th. The gourmet hot dog shop is doing so well, owners Hagop Giragossian, Quasim Riaz, André Vener and Robert and Denise Zeilstra plan to open two more locations by the end of this year, one in the heart of Old Pasadena and the other in Alhambra.

Anne Fishbein

a Slaw Dogs hot dog

A U.S. District court arraigned two men last week for selling guns and methamphetamine to undercover officers at a San Jose hot dog stand. After multiple drug and weapon transactions, the feds finally arrested 58-year-old Jose Gilberto Ortiz on Sept. 2. His partner in food-stand-crime is alleged to be 23-year-old Guillermo Gonzalez Castillo, who hails from Los Angeles.

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Guzzle and Nosh

The 65-year-old Santa Monica location is scheduled to close.

Update: 9/12, 10:00 a.m. Laurie Sonia, executive vice president of Hot Dog On A Stick, says the plan for a demolition and rebuild is still in the works. HDOS still has to go through various city committees, including the coastal committee, for necessary permissions. "We need to bring [the original Santa Monica location] up to 2011 standards to make it easier for our employees. It will still have the look and feel of the original," Sonia said. The company plans on fully demolishing the original establishment and completely rebuilding. Sonia estimated it would take 12 weeks for the construction process, not counting the time needed to obtain full city approval. She hopes the new building will be open for business sometime in 2013.

Attention corn dog and lemonade connoisseurs: Hot Dog On A Stick near the Santa Monica Pier is closing, but not for good. Beach-goers and visitors alike may have noticed an order for demolition in front of the place, but the shut-down should be temporary.

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Screenshot of Alec Baldwin's Twitter page