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Seeing Stars: Hollywood Landmarks..

329 N.
San Vicente Blvd.
451 N. La Cienega Blvd,
now at
8512 Santa Monica Blvd., in West Hollywood.
Update July 2022:
Despite several announced plans to return the Tail of the Pup to
its original location in West Hollywood, none of them panned out.
In June of 2017, the venerable concrete hot dog was donated to the
Valley Relics Museum, in Chatsworth, a museum which preserves other
remnants of the Valley's past, from neon signs to automobiles.
(They even have one of those original clown-head speakers from an old
Jack in the Box.) The Tail of the Pup was to be put on display
there. The museumIs at 21630
Marilla St, in Chatsworth, CA.
But finally, in July of 2022, the hot dog-shaped restaurant was rescued from retirement atthe museum and reopened as a working restaurant near its original spot.
It is now open for business at its new location: 8512 Santa Monica Blvd., in West Hollywood. That's about a mile North of its original location.
I will leave this page up for a while for anyone who wants to read about the landmark stand. But remember that the article below
was written back in 1999, when the stand was still open at its original 329 San Vicente Blvd location. )
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At
one time, architectural kitsch was the rage in L.A., and there were dozens
of eccentric restaurants scattered around the Hollywood area. You could,
for instance, eat in a restaurant shaped like a hat: the Brown Derby. Other
restaurants resembled teepees and even a bull dog. (You can see models
of many of these buildings at the Petersen
Automotive Museum, on Wilshire Blvd.)
Alas, the Brown Derby
and most of L.A.'s other unusually-styled buildings were torn down long
ago. But there is one notable survivor from those days of architectural
excess: the Tail O' the Pup.
Built in 1945, it
is a hot dog stand shaped like (what else?) a giant hot dog, in a giant
hot dog bun - with mustard, of course. Over the years, this humble counter
has served the public over five million hot dogs - everything from the
Mexican Ole, (with chili, cheese & onions) to the Boston
Celtic (with baked beans).
 It
may be tacky, but the Tail O' the Pup has become a beloved local landmark.
There were serious
howls of protests from Los Angelenos when the stand was threatened with
destruction in 1985. When it re-opened in 1986 (a few yards away from its
original location), the odd little hot dog stand had a grand reopening
worthy of any Hollywood premiere, complete with star emcees such as Jay Leno
and Robert Wagner.
Billy Crystal
is also a fan, as is Richard Dreyfus,
Lily Tomlin,
Whoopi Goldberg,
Magic Johnson,
Robert Culp
and Jenny McCarthy.
 Tail
O' the Pup has even appeared in a few movies. It's seen during the opening
credits of the 1984 Brian De Palma
thriller, "Body Double." And it was seen twice in the
1991 Steve Martin
comedy "L.A. Story" : first being towed across the sky
by a helicopter (during the movie's opening credits), and then in its actual,
down-to-earth location, during the scene where Roland tries to win back
his ex-wife, Sarah (while they dine outside the hot dog stand).
It was also seen
in the George Benson
video "Give Me the Night."
And if you take a
look at the Buck Owens'
album, "Hot Dog," you'll recognize our old friend.
Most
recently, Pamela Anderson Lee
filmed the pilot for her new action show, "V.I.P."
at Tail O' the Pup. In VIP episode #1, titled "It Beats Working
At A Hot Dog Stand," Pamela's character is working at Tail
O' the Pup when she is asked out to a movie premiere by a handsome actor.
When she saves him from a would-be assassin, she finds herself sucked into
the exciting life of a bodyguard.
As you might guess,
Tail O' the Pup also dishes out some very good chili dogs (although, for
my money, not quite as good as those at Pink's).
There are a few tables out front, with umbrellas, on a tiny patio where
you can sit down to eat your hot dogs in the sunshine. Hot dogs sell for
around $2. Open daily: 6 AM - 6 PM (except Sundays, when they open at 8
AM).
Getting
there:
Tail of the Pup is located within walking distance of the Beverly
Center Mall and the Hard Rock
Cafe , just north of the corner of Beverly Boulevard and San Vicente
Boulevard, in Los Angeles (on the border with West Hollywood).
As noted above, the hot dog stand has moved two blocks north, to 451 N. La Cienega Blvd.
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