“Pink’s Hot Dogs founded in 1939, is a genuine Hollywood landmark. The legendary hot dog stand now overseen by 2nd generation hot dog maven, Richard Pink, serves over 1,200 hot dogs and 200 hamburgers a day. Pink’s was started in 1939 by Richard’s parents, Paul and Betty Pink, with a pushcart they purchased for $50, with money they borrowed from Betty’s mother. The land on which the pushcart stood was leased by Paul and Betty for $15 per month. Hot dogs at that time were 10 cents and colas were a nickel.”
“Pink’s offered curb service, and was lucky to sell 100 hot dogs a day. Paul and Betty operated the hot dog stand, starting with 4 employees and expanding over time to 10 and then 20, and now Pink’s has a staff of about 30 employees. In 1985 at the age of 73 and 75, Paul and Betty retired. At that point, Richard, his wife, Gloria, and sister, Beverly, took over the operation of Pink’s. Since that time, the family has created over 40 combinations of hot dogs and a dozen varieties of hamburgers to satisfy the variety of tastes of its patrons.”
“Pink’s, located near major Hollywood studios like Paramount, Universal Studios and Disney started to attract up-and-coming and established movie and TV stars. Pink’s celebrity wall of fame in the dining room started as a place for aspiring actors to hang their photos to be discovered by producers and directors who were known to dine at Pink’s. Today, Pink’s dining room is filled with over 200 photos of celebrities with signed endorsements of their enjoyment of Pinks Hot Dogs.”
Pink’s is one of the celebrated restaurants again taking part in the LA Loves Alex’s Lemonade Stand Benefit seeking cures for children’s cancers on Saturday Afternoon, Oct. 5th on Royce Quad at UCLA.
From November 8th through 12th Pink’s is celebrating their 85th Anniversary by selling “Chili Dogs for Charity” for 85 cents for 85 minutes starting at 8:00 p.m. Celebrities including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass will be serving up the nightly chili dogs.
Pink’s 2nd generation Top Dog, Richard Pink, continues as our guest providing all the snappy details of the upcoming 85th Anniversary Festivities along with a side of yellow mustard.
This is Wing Lamb, founder of Wahoo's Fish Taco, with my brother's Mingo and Ed. When I want to know what's going on in the world of food, I listen to SoCal Restaurant Show on AM830, K-L-A-A, the home of Angel's Baseball. And welcome back. It is the SoCal Restaurant Show, and we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, right here on AM830, K-L-A-A, the home of Angel's Baseball 2024. It can also catch us on the AM830 Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show, and we're proudly presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Brian Meets. We're journeying back to Hollywood and picking up the conversation with second-generation proprietor Richard Frank of Pink's Hot Dogs. Unbelievably, in November, they are going to be celebrating their 85th anniversary. And you can be sure they're going to be doing some special things. Richard, welcome back to the show. What do you have going for the 85th anniversary? And I understand you talked about being a big draw for Los Angeles tourism. I think you have enticed the mayor to be part of all of this. So spill the beans, if you will, or spoon the chili as the case may be. Pink's is going to be celebrating its 85th year in business by selling its chili dogs for 85 cents, for 85 minutes, for five nights, and donating 100% of the proceeds to a different charity each night. And to launch the first night of our chili dogs for charity celebration, Mayor Bass is going to come to Pink's and serve hot dogs and meet people in line. And she is just so proud of the fact that she's able to celebrate the anniversary of a business that has survived for 85 years in her great city. Richard, you've got to love that. Now, talking about Pink's and celebrities, you have, excuse me, a lot of your hot dogs that are named after celebrities. In terms of all the years that you've been doing this, what is a celebrity Pink's hot dog that's on the menu right now that goes back the furthest in terms of a celebrity dog? Who might that be? Well, the menu is filled with celebrities that have come to Pink's, such as Martha Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Mario Lopez, Zamro Lecasse, Chiotta De La Rensis, all of them have created special hot dogs at Pink's with the idea that they would put their name on the hot dog. And we're just so proud to be able to feature them. So amongst our 40 varieties of hot dogs, I mean, just to give you an example, the Martha Stewart dog is a nine-inch stretch hot dog with relish and onions and three strips of bacon and chopped tomatoes and sauerkraut and sour cream. It is just totally loaded. Another one is the Drew Barrymore dog and Drew used to come to Pink's when she was a little girl. And it's a 12-inch jalapeno dog topped with mustard and chili and onions and three slices of bacon and shredded cheddar cheese. And I have to say that we're just so proud. I mean, even Chaco Neil says, "I want a hot dog on your menu," and Chax Dog is a nine-inch stretch hot dog topped with mustard and onions and chili and nacho cheese and four onion rings symbolizing as four championships. So I have to say that in addition to all the other hot dogs, it's just great to have celebrities because Pink's has a celebrity wall of fame in its dining room that has over 200 photos of famous people that have died at Pink's through the years. And you say, "How far back?" I would say that maybe the most historical figure that has set a record at Pink's, and that happens to be Orson Welles, who consumed at one sitting 18 chili dogs, and my dad counted them. So he was a big man back then, big in popularity and big in size, and he ate 18 chili dogs at one sitting. Richard unbelievable. Now, before we move on, and there's just so much to talk about, in terms of the celebrity visits that you've had over the years, there's one that I think really tops them all. And I will let you tell the story, but just to kind of pique your memory here, one afternoon three black SUVs, probably Cadillac SUVs, pull up in back of Pink's. Who might that celebrity visitor and their family have been? It's worthwhile telling the story just a little bit longer than that. So I'm at Pink's with my wife and my sister, and as you know, it's a family business. And a man comes up to us, and he's very casually dressed, and he says in 10 minutes, somebody that is really famous is going to be pulling up to Pink's, and we want you to know it's coming. And we said, "Well, who is it?" And they said, "If you live on this planet Earth, you will know this person." So that kind of sends chills through us. And 10 minutes later, the three Escalades come up into the back alley and out steps. Michelle Obama, Malia, Sasha, and Michelle's mother, and they come walking across the parking lot to the patio and sit down, and we are absolutely shocked. And everybody that is in the patio cannot believe their eyes. I mean, everybody just stops eating and just stares at them, and they have big smiles on their face. And they said, "Can I have a menu, please?" And we bring over the menu, and Michelle Obama looks through the menu and scans it and ticks out various items that she wants on her Polish dog. And it was amazing to me that she was able to scan it so quickly and come up with a customized hot dog for herself. And the girls were young at the time, so they basically had, you know, a hot dog with ketchup on it, and her mother picked out a nice hot dog on the menu, and we served them, and they were as delightful as they could be. And at the time that they got up to leave, everybody stood up and applauded. And they all turned around and waved and smiled, and they could not have been friendlier, and they took off in those escalades. And that was one of the highlights of Pink's history. And Richard, the footnote to all of that, for our listening audience that doesn't know, the Obamas are real foodies. They know fine dining, they know food. So Richard, I think you pinch yourself after that, and what a great story to share. Now, before we run out of time, one of your marketing attributes of Pink's is you like to participate in local food and wine events that benefit very worthy charities. And an example of that is coming up on October 5th. This is not the first time that you've done. L.A. loves Alex's lemonade stand, which raises money for cancer research for children. Probably one of the noblest events that's done in L.A. that chefs and restaurateurs support. Celebrity chefs, huge names from all over the country come in to do this, as well as the best of L.A. And there is Pink's hot dogs. As we need to conclude, tell us about that experience. Alex's lemonade raises money to cure childhood cancer. It supports the families that are stricken with that disease. It provides money to various research organizations and doctors that are all studying cancer in order to cure. Find a cure for childhood cancer. So I have to say it's one of the most important charities that we support. But you're absolutely right. You have some of the greatest chefs from around the United States and all converge on UCLA at the Quad. And it's delicious food. It's a great day to spend an afternoon for families. I encourage everybody to buy tickets, to come to Alex's lemonade, and your contributions will go towards curing cancer. And I don't think there's a greater cause out there. And you know, I have to say Pink's has been doing a lot for charities through the years. My parents always said, you know, Richard, Beverly, you're very lucky to have what you have, a good hot dog stand. Be sure to give back. And this is one of those great causes that we love doing every single year. And although, yeah, as you mentioned, you have these gourmet chefs, but people love hot dogs as well. And so we're gourmet road food, if you will. And so come and enjoy a Pink's Hot Dog, but enjoy all the other great food that's provided by chefs from around the country. And we should say, Richard, this event always sells out. We're getting close ticket information, Alex's lemonade dot org, Alex's lemonade dot org. Richard, a real pleasure. I will see you October 5th at the Royce Quad at UCLA. And thanks for the time. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. When we return, we are speaking with Manhattan Beach restaurateur and chef David Lefavor. A great guy. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. We're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Produce. Give us a minute. We'll be back. [Music]
