Skooby's in Hollywood: Have We Found The Best Dog In LA?

SKOOBY'S HOT DOGS
6654 Hollywood Bl, Hollywood
323.HOT.DOGS
Click for a Map to Skooby's

PARTICULARS:
Standard Hot Dog, Monthly Dog Specials,
Quesadilla Dog, Garlic Lovers Dog,
Onions, Chili, Cheddar Cheese, American
Cheese, Sauerkraut, INCREDIBLE Fries,
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, Frozen
Lemon, Strawberry and Orange-Ades
Real Iced Tea, Arnold Palmer, Hot Chocolate
Health Department Rating: A

DISTINCTIONS:
Open late... till 10pm weekdays,
till 2:30am weekends, The best Standard
Dogmeat in town, The best French Fries
in town. Friendly service



When we went to grab a few hot dogs at Skooby's in Hollywood, we didn't expect to get into a philosophical debate about whether perfection actually exists in our flawed universe. But that's exactly what happened when Jon the Food Slob, Chicago Mike and Steve Doggie-Dogg headed for a late night snack after one of Chicago Mike's shows at Goldfingers. Steve Doggie-Dogg read a report at Chowhound's Los Angeles Message Board that a new hotdoggery named Skooby's is challenging Pink's for the late night Hollywood dog crowd. After our fiasco at Pink's the other night, we decided we needed to give Skooby's a try.



Parking around Hollywood can be a bit tricky, but we were lucky enough to find a space on the street. (We since found out that there's a cheap municipal lot just north of the boulevard on Cherokee.) Nestled into a space alongside a Mexican evangelical church was a tiny little shopfront with a big hot dog on the sign. This had to be the place. We went inside and found a cozy little joint that was shiny and clean as a bright new penny. A sign on the counter proclaimed that the dog of the month was "The Big German", a German Knockwurst with Kraut, Onions, Cheese, Brown Mustard and a Pickle Spear. That sounded good to Steve and Jon. To go with it, Steve ordered a Chili Cheddar dog and a Bacon Cheddar with onions. Jon decided on a "Garlic Lover's Dog" (on Garlic Bread!). Chicago Mike had a New York-ish Dog with grilled onions and brown mustard (they sometimes feature an authentic New York Red Hot, but they didn't have it the night we visited...) and a Sorta-Chicago Dog with relish, onions, mustard (they were out of sport peppers...) We had heard that the specialty of the house was the french fries, so we ordered a couple of boatloads of that.



The nice fella behind the counter (Stephen) set to work on our orders, so we paraded out onto the sidewalk to kibitz a bit while we were waiting for our grub. No sooner had Steve hit the sidewalk, but a young black man down the block threw his arms in the air and hollered, "MY MAN!" He ran up and hugged Steve, patting his back vigorously. Then he broke the clutch and proceeded to go into a convoluted handshake ritual that left Steve completely befuddled. Before Steve could say, "Do I know you?", the guy hit him up... "Hey man, could you spot me a quarter for a phone call?" Steve fumbled around and gave him a quarter. Not missing a beat, the guy turned to Jon the Food Slob and said, "Y'know... if I had three more o' these, I'd have a buck!" Jon replied, "If I had a few more of those, I'd be eating something better than hot dogs for dinner every night!" The effusive black gentleman went on his way, and the dogophiles sat down at the counter.

From the counter on the boulevard, you can watch them make your dog through the window. It was immediately apparent that Skooby's was a class act all the way. The potatoes that were used to make the fries looked like they were straight out of a TV commercial for the Idaho Tourism Council... Stacked up next to the window were real glass bottles of Orange Crush, Coca-Cola and IBC Root Beer... Fresh lemons and an enticing jug full of fresh squeezed lemonade tempted passers by... And behind the grill, Stephen flipped and finessed the meat expertly. It's clear that someone had put a lot of thought into making this more than just a boulevard hot dog stand. Pretty soon, the feast arrived, and here's what it looked like...



Chicago Mike was the first to speak up for Skooby's... "These fries are the best I've had outside of Chicago... In fact, they may just be a little better than back home!" Mike was right, they were exquisite, with a crisp crust, potatoey insides and a dusting of delicious homemade seasoning salt. John at the grill gave us a couple of containers of freshly made garlic pepper mayonaise called "Aioli" for the fries. It was "to die for" and Stephen at the grill informed us that they roast the peppers for it themselves. "The Big German" was fantastic, with nice spice and natural casing. The pickle spear and sauerkraut tied it all together well. The chili was doggone good, with lots of high quality chopped beef and the unusual addition of Guiness Stout as a not-so-secret ingredient... it would be hard to pick a favorite between it and the chili at The Stand, but the delicious flavor of Skooby's chili was just a wee bit better. The Standard Dogmeat. was absolutely perfect, with a snappy skin and spicy juice that squirted in your mouth when you bit down. Mike and Jon the Food Slob agreed that we had found a really good hot dog here. Steve was in such a state of hot dog bliss, he wasn't saying anything.



After the grub was gone, we chatted a bit with Stephen at the grill. He owns the place, along with his brother John, and they take turns manning the fort... one takes the day shift, and the other one works nights. They choose their menu and ingredients carefully, create monthly specials, and have big plans to open other Skooby stands around the city. Skooby's is definitely a dog to be reckoned with. As we headed back to the car, the three doggie reviewers put their heads together to come up with a Dog Rating for Skooby's. Chicago Mike said that he considered Skooby's to be as good as Carneys... Four Dogs. Steve Doggie-Dogg proclaimed the Skooby's Standard Dogmeat to be the best he'd ever had... but he had to take a half dog away because of the panhandlers... Four and a Half Dogs. Jon the Food Slob narrowed his eyes and got ready to drop the bomb. He was prepared to award Skooby's his highest rating... FIVE DOGS.



This drew a gasp from Steve and Mike... "Surely, you can't mean that! The PERFECT dog?!" Jon stuck to his guns. "I can't think of anything that would have made it better." Chicago Mike shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe that a PERFECT DOG could exist outside Chi-town, but he had to admit, this came pretty darn close. The Dog Ratings averaged out to Four and a Half Dogs. That is a mighty fine achievement. We will definitely be back.

UPDATE: July 2, 2004

Skooby's has just added a bunch of frozen lemonades to their menu... lemon, strawberry and orange flavors. Next time we're down there, we'll give 'em a try.