Agreed. Go and take a selfie if you must but skip the dog. Not great.
2 Likes
No, American dogs are not even in the ballpark. For one, no curry ketchup. No, no swirly, spiral schnitzles between a toasted bun spec’d to code. No Rotweiss, if that’s your thing. I have longed for a good while, a standard deutsche dog.
3 Likes
Hmm, I wonder what The Infatuation would have published about that Monte Cristo sandwich I ordered over 20 years ago from Canter’s Deli. It really is tough to find a good Monte Cristo, even at the turn of the century.
5 Likes
I had never heard of a Monte Cristo before, so I looked it up and it does sound rather good.
Of course any sandwich depends on the quality of the ingredients and the skill of whoever is preparing it.
When I used to work in Soho in London, there were several excellent Italian run deli-sandwich shops in the area. You could order pretty much anything you liked. Toasted ciabatta with potato salad, brown sauce, sliced avocado and crispy bacon. There you go, £5. Take it abck to the office to eat “al desko”.
But that was over 10 years ago, before Covid, and I expect most of those places have closed.
4 Likes
Absolutely true! Dip the fries in a shake for the full experience, and play heartburn roulette!
2 Likes
Still quite a few italian delis, at least last time I wandered through…
3 Likes
Vancouver (B.C.) has this problem where people want to be seen lining up irrespective of what is inside (if they even know) … I’m sure this isn’t unique…
I remember there were two Greek restaurants, literally side-by-side (family owned to give two brothers a chance to run their own businesses FYI) that shared the same kitchen and kitchen staff.
One had a long line-up. The other, which we chose (of course?!?), had none.
I looked at the line-up for the other place, then the waiter taking a break, and he just smiled and shrugged, because: people sheesh 
6 Likes
Had a joint in town, famous for the hot dog and fries. For decades people raved about it… anyone from Hollywood who came through went there, the walls were filled with pictures of who’s who.
One day I decide to give it a shot - I very much enjoyed the atmosphere and general retro funk of the place … but the food was shit. The dog was unremarkable, fries … I swear the fries we frozen McCain’s from Safeway. Owner retired and closed shop a few years later.
Yet, there’s a burger stand Downtown that actually lives up to the hype - they don’t ride on celebrity endorsements or InstaTickTock - it really is delicious and I’ve got no problem steering people their way.
1 Like
I had no idea his reviews went that far back. That one’s pure Gold.
1 Like
That’s nice to know. I rarely visit London nowadays, and I never have time to go and check out old haunts.
2 Likes
What a stupid take. Pink’s is fantastic.
1 Like
Whew. Nothing about The Apple Pan.
1 Like
Sigh. There is no such thing as “American hot dogs” just as there is no such thing as “American beer”. The variety of frankfurters I have available to me is fairly wide, including one very good local brand, but even that doesn’t hold a candle to the variety of beer I can get from the (checks notes) thousands of breweries in the US. Yes, yes, the most popular forms of each of these foods are mass-produced and bland. I think that’s true pretty much everywhere. But no Frankfurter is a Bratwurst, just like no Macro Lager is a Czech Pilsener. You’re not comparing like to like. It’s like saying a Bentley is better than a Toyota. Arguably, yes, but they’re not the same thing.
As for Pink’s, I’m happy for the advisory to steer clear. I’ve only been to LA a couple times, both for business, but I’ve always wanted to explore further. I’ll strike this one off the list.
Do people go to these expecting to meet celebrities or power brokers? (Execs etc)
In my city there used to be two types of place – one was the good kind of hipster place that was “cool” because it had nice stuff – like the café that served booze like a European cafe and had a cigarette machine.
The other kind was the just-as-bad-as-Starbucks-and-quite-possibly-worse-since-less-benefits-but-hey-at least-it’s-“local”-and-“indie” coffeeshop that lots of “cool” people hung out at.
(Then again, not in LA and forgive me if I intend to keep it that way – I enjoy consuming media but I don’t feel a burning desire to see the dude from Star Trek eating hash and eggs)
Historically there have definitely been a number of celebrity sightings there. Orson Welles was a regular back in the day, and there’s a persistent (but probably exaggerated) legend that he once at 18 dogs in a single sitting.
https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/pinks-hot-dogs-hollywood-los-angeles-richard-pink-19524656.php
Even if you don’t see a celebrity, it’s a landmark that’s been seen in countless movies and TV shows, and that alone is enough to draw in a lot of tourists.
2 Likes
oh cool this i can actually understand, a landmark in the architectural sense.
