Cupid's Northridge: Not All Cupid's Are Created Equal

CUPID'S HOT DOGS
9039 Lindley Av, Northridge
No Phone Number
Click for a map to Cupid's

PARTICULARS:
Natural Casing Dog, Chili, Cheese, Basic
Condiments, Chips, Sodas and nothing else!
Open 10 am to 10 pm
Health Deparment Rating: A

DISTINCTIONS:
Open late. Longtime Los Angeles doggery.
Very inexpensive. Good place to chat up cute
college girls.



For months, Hot Dog Spot readers have been asking us when we were going to get around to visiting Cupid's Hot Dogs. It's a valid suggestion, because no other hot dog chain in Los Angeles has as long a history as Cupid's does. Richard Walsh opened the first Cupid's in North Hollywood way back in 1947. For the past half century, Cupid's stands across the valley and sprinkled across Southern California have been serving up the world's most basic selection of fare... Hot Dogs and nothing but Hot Dogs. No Hamburgers, no Fries, no sissy Chicken Fingers or Garden Burgers... just Chili Dogs. The Cupid's Dog hasn't changed a bit. It still sports a natural casing and it's still smothered in the same kind of chili as it was when you were a young'un.



Believe it or not, neither Jon the Food Slob nor Steve Doggie-Dogg had ever eaten at a Cupid's. So we decided to give it a try. However, in the past year or so, Cupid's hot dog stands have been dropping like flies. We discovered that the locations in North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Torrance, Panorama City and Encino had all gone the way of the dodo. The phone number for one of them was answered by a lady with a thick accent who said, "No more hot dog! Thai food now!" After a bit of searching the phone book, we finally found a listing for Cupid's in Tarzana on Ventura Bl, just a few blocks east of The Wienery. Since we were already planning to visit the Wienery, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and grab a quick dog at Cupid's afterwards to see what all the fuss was about.

Perched on the corner, next to a car wash was a lonely Cupid's stand. The lights were on, but no one was eating. We approached timidly and peered up at the menu. Something seemed amiss. There were "Gourmet Sausages", Hamburgers and other fripperies on there. We were under the impression that Cupid's didn't make that kind of stuff. Steve ordered a Standard Dog with Chili and Cheese, and Jon had some sort of apple flavored Chicken Sausage (only the Food Slob would be secure enough in his masculinity to order a dog like that!) The girl behind the counter slapped the dogs together half-heartedly and shoved them through the window at us. We sat down to eat them, and in unison, we had identical "something stinks" looks on our faces.

The dog was flabby, overcooked and tasteless. There was no natural casing, and the bun was soggy and mushy. In fact, when you chewed on it, the bun wadded up into a soggy mush in your mouth. It had the body and consistency of Wonder Bread. But that wasn't the worst. The chili was completely devoid of meat, and it was jam packed with flour. There was so much flour in it, it took on the consistency of marshmallows suspended in slime. This just wasn't right! How could this be the fabled Cupid's dog we had heard so much about?



We rushed home without finishing our dogs and Steve logged onto the Los Angeles Chowhound Message Board. He posted a question for the culinary brain trust that hangs out there, asking what was up with Cupids. Pretty soon the reply turned up. We were told that there were two kinds of Cupids... authentic family owned locations, and cheapjack franchised ones. The Tarzana Cupid's was one of the latter kind. A friendly Chowhounder nicknamed the Wild Swede (aka Lisa the Cupid's Dog lover) tipped us off to the last remaining original Cupid's location in the valley... the Northridge store on Lindley near Cal State Northridge. This particular Cupid's was her home turf, so she invited Jon and Steve to join her for a Cupid's run as her guest.

We hopped in the car and met her in Northridge. The hut was clean and bare bones. There was an order window and some picnic tables off to the side. The menu listed only one item... hot dog. The options were basic... chili, cheese, onion, relish, mustard and ketchup. There was a certain simple, spartan charm to the limited choices. Lisa ordered her "regular"... two Chili Dogs with extra Chili. Jon the Food Slob had a Chili Dog and a Dog with Mustard and Onions, along with with a bag of chips... and Steve ordered two Chili Dogs with Cheese and Onions, and a Dog with Mustard, Onions and Cheese.



As you can see, the young gentleman behind the counter wasn't too pleased to have his picture taken, but he did a fine job of swiftly assembling the dogs. Cupid's uses the same wooden hot dog caddies we've seen used at The Wiener Factory. It was clear that the steamer was very carefully monitored. The dogs came out in a cloud of steam, piping hot and ready to eat. Our surly server deftly dolloped chili from a vat over our dogs, and In two shakes of a lamb's tail, we had our meals in hand.



The first order of business was to evaluate the dogmeat. It had a nice delicate snap, much like the dogs at The Stand and Skoobys. The meat was very subtly spiced, tending a little towards the bland side, but it wasn't nearly as bland as the tasteless blubber dogs we had gotten at the Tarzana Cupid's. The buns were warm and fluffy, not mushy at all. The chili was pretty devoid of meat and flour enhanced, but it complemented the dogs well and wasn't agressively awful like the marshmallow slime. The overall impression was generic and basic, but relatively tasty nonetheless.

Even though the chili is nothing to write home about, there really isn't any reason to order a dog without chili at Cupid's. The spices in the dogmeat are so subtle, you really need a little bit of a chili kick to set it off. The chili dogs aren't exactly humongous either... even the frailest of frails would want to order at least two of them. But at two bucks a pop, even the poorest college student would be able to afford two or three. Steve Doggie-Dogg commented that the no-frills basic goodness of these dogs would probably make them really popular with kids. Lisa verified this from first hand experience. She's been a fan of Cupid's since she was a wee lass. All of the dogs were devoured in no time flat, and Steve went back for another pair of Chili Dogs to cap it off. Lisa ordered a few to go, claiming that Cupid's Dogs stand up well to reheating in the middle of the night.



As we sat around comparing notes on local doggeries, a steady stream of college kids padded up to the window and sat down to eat at the tables around us. The low prices and rib-sticking chili make Cupid's a great place to fill up for not much money. A fellow dog lover overheard our discussion and joined in with Lisa to sing the praises of the humble Cupid's dog. While Cupid's certainly isn't as exotic as Oki Dog and it doesn't offer the baroque range of toppings like The Stand, it does accomplish what it sets out to do very well. Both Jon and Steve bade Lisa farewell with full tummies and satisfied smiles. It was nice to still be able to taste a little bit of authentic Los Angeles hot dog history.