Friday, October 26, 2007 – Beyond Pink

Get to know Hollywood, one corner at a time. Drive down La Brea to Melrose, to perhaps the most famous hotdog stand in the world, Pink's (it's been there a long time).

The lines are long, even at three in the morning, but it's a giggle –

Eddie Murphy has shown up in a limo. Orson Welles used to come by at least once a week; He once ate eighteen hot dogs on a single visit. And believe it or not, Bruce Willis (romantic devil that he is) proposed to Demi Moore at Pink's. Kiefer Sutherland is a regular (he likes the hot dogs so much that when he was shooting in Europe, he had Pink's hot dogs flown over to him). Johnny Depp likes their dogs. So does Bill Cosby.

Diana Ross is another regular - she waits in line like everyone else for a dog. Other faces on the wall include Seinfeld's George, Jason Alexander, "Spin City's Michael J. Fox (who used to refer to Pink's as his "office"), Tony Danza (Who's The Boss), singer/actress Bette Midler, Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White, talk show host Jay Leno, former Tonight Show announcer Ed McMahon, and actor James Woods… Producer Aaron Spelling sends a car over twice a week for Pink's dogs. Other fans include Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Jerry Lewis, Kim Basinger, Barry White, Ruth Buzzie, Cheech Marin and Richard Dreyfuss.

When Rosie O'Donnell, was in town taping her talk show, she had 1,300 Pink's chili dogs delivered to her studio audience. Tom Hanks ordered Pink's dogs for his wrap party. Matt LeBlanc of "Friends" said his idea of success was to get his photo on the wall of Pink's. He got his wish.

A while back, Martha Stewart did a broadcast from Pink's, so they named a hot dog in her honor - among other things it contains bacon, relish, sauerkraut and sour cream. Pink's also had a cameo appearance in the 2001 David Lynch movie, "Mulholland Drive."

Yeah, and if you visit, try the pastrami-Reuben or and the bacon-burrito dog.

Across the street from Pink's, a mural in the alley behind the Jiffy Lube –

Across Melrose from the Jiffy Lube, Golden Apple Comics –

A few doors east, the door of a taco place –

Rear view –

A rose on a store façade –

Local architectural detail –

No Hootie – just a blowfish. The antique shop at this corner makes them into lamps.

Scared yet?

How about this?

How about this?

Final thoughts –

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik