Flickr/KoreatownLA

Now in its second month of operation, the quiet King Hot Dog on Western is, in the words of General Akbar, "fully operational." In a northern strip of Koreatown just below Beverly that's not exactly known for quick, approachable lunches, King Hot Dog is pushing diners through its doors with fast, snappy hot dogs on grilled Hawaiian sweet rolls. And it has got napkins by the door, because you're going to need a few.

If it's flair on a bun you want, King Hot Dog is right up your alley. Its K'town-inspired Galbi dog weighs in at nearly half a pound, piled on with thin strips of marinated beef, peppers and onions. The lunchtime line also seems to favor the Mona Lisa, a wry smile of tomatoes, arugula, avocado, crispy onion strips, feta cheese and bacon strips locked into a grilled two-pack of that squishy, sweet Hawaiian roll that has become so popular as a bun around town. Every quarter-pound, house-made dog has something unique to offer, from kimchi to cotija cheese.

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A. Scattergood

A Dodger dog

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 4), we'll be counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes.

49: The Dodger Dog at Dodger Stadium.

Are Dodger Dogs the best hot dogs in L.A.? Um, no. Not even remotely close. But often the success of a dish depends more on context than on the specifics of the dish itself. Such is the case with the Dodger Dog, even more so in September, with the team in the thick of the pennant race, when the voice of Vin Scully can create such an overwhelming feeling of happiness and nostalgia that even a mediocre hot dog tastes sublime.

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GuzzleandNosh

Sooo Cali Dog at Dog Haus

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 4), we'll be counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes.

82: Sooo Cali Dog at Dog Haus.

Maximalist-topping hot dogs aren't exactly new in Los Angeles. Pink's has been creating celebrity-named behemoths for the better part of a century. And those famous bacon-wrapped hot dogs, drowned in grilled onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, mayo or anything else on hand, are common enough to be labeled a public commodity.

But a few years ago, the ante increased -- toppings became more gourmet, more extreme and much, much bolder. Would it be too far to call fried eggs and onion strings the new mustard? Pasadena's Dog Haus, which recently opened a second location complete with an outdoor biergarten in Old Town, is one of the few places in town that distinguishes the fine line between creative hot dogs and condiment overloads.

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flickr/Kendall Whitehouse

Tail o' the Pup in 2003

Forty years ago yesterday, on June 18, 1972, an article titled "Biting the Dog" appeared in the Los Angeles Times' West magazine. The piece was about hot dogs, and it was written by David Shaw. If you're not familiar with Shaw and his work, you should be. He wrote about food and wine, about film and the media, and he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1991 for criticism. And in 1972, he was writing about hot dogs.

Shaw's article is, arguably, as relevant to today's blogcentric universe as it was then. In it were photos of 20 servers, each holding hot dogs, framed by signage and storefronts. Below the photos, Shaw wrote a few lines and rated the hot dogs on a scale of 1 to 5 asterisks (1 being worst, 5 best). The following page gave an overview of the history of the hot dog and a focus on the dog Shaw rated highest.

The 20 places Shaw visited ranged from well-known chains and stands iconic even in 1972, to those long since dispatched to the memories of long time Angelenos. For good measure, he threw in a couple of wild cards: a hardware store and Dodger Stadium.

Much has changed in 40 years. It should come as no surprise that most of the places he reviewed are gone. Two made it into the Chowhound-Eater-Yelp era before finally shuttering. Perhaps more surprising, 10 have survived to sell hot dogs to this day.

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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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