The Stand in Encino: Pretty Darn Good
THE STAND
17000 Ventura Bl, Encino818.788.2700
Click for a Map to The Stand
Winner of the 2004 Top Dog Awards
for Best Toppings, Best Atmosphere
and Best Deal in Los Angeles
PARTICULARS:
Standard Hot Dog, Bockwurst, Bratwurst,
Italian Sausage, Andouille Sausage,
Various Low-Fat Dogs made from birds
Sauerkraut, Corn Relish, BBQ Sauce,
Onions: Glazed-Red-NY Style-Raisin Onions,
Slaw, Red Cabbage, Red and Green Chili
Burgers, Fries, Knishes, Baked Beans, Draft Beer
Salads, Chicken Breast and soup for wimps,
Fruit Cobbler, Cheesecake, Root Beer Float,
Egg Creams, Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae
Health Department Rating: A
DISTINCTIONS:
The nicest patio in town, Brand new old-style
interior- impressive enough to take a girl on
a date to, Monday Night Dollar Dog Special,
Recreations of just about every regional dog
style imaginable
The Stand was recommended to Jon the Food Slob by 97.1 KLSX food guru Merrill Shindler, so we had high hopes for the place. When we got there, our jaws hit the floor and we wished we had shaved. You couldn't ask for a nicer place to eat. The inside felt like an authentic "joint", while still being neat and clean enough to take a date to. Outside was an enclosed patio with unobtrusive country music and a TV set tuned to a sports station. Beyond that was a gravel garden area surrounded by pepper trees. Folks were relaxing and reading the newspaper and enjoying the warm evening. This has to be just about the most pleasant place to sit and gnosh in the city.
The menu is impressive as well. In addition to regular old dogs with all the standard trimmings, The Stand has included a wide variety of regional style dogs... from "authentic" Chicago Style Dogs (pickles, celery salt, relish, tomatoes, peppers, yellow mustard) to New York Style (grilled with NY Onions and yellow mustard), Boston Style (baked beans and swiss) and even the famous Georgia Slaw Dog. And it doesn't stop there... The Stand has a variety of sausages too.. Polish, Bockwurst, Bratwurst, Italian, Andouille, Texas Turkey, and various Low Fat Chicken varieties. Where to start?!
We rolled up our sleeves and prepared to chow down in the name of science. Jon the Food Slob, whose tastes for bizarre dog combinations are well known, ordered a Big Blue... A grilled dog with blue cheese, glazed onions and tomato. He also ordered a classic midwestern Bratwurst with saurkraut and mustard. Steve Doggie-Dogg ordered his regular, a dog with brown mustard, onions, cheese and tomatoes, along with a veal and pork Bockwurst, and a Chicago Dog. We split a small order of chili just to see how it was, and washed it all down with a pair of diet cokes. Here's what the chow looked like when it arrived...
The first impression was a good one. We've never seen prettier dogs in our life. Bright green relish, electric red tomatoes and deep maroon red cabbage. The buns were fluffy and nice... much nicer than the average. We were confident that we were in hog heaven. But like Carney's, The Stand got Steve's regular (mustard, onion, cheese, tomato) wrong. It arrived as just tomatoes this time. Steve sent it back, and decided to take a taste of the chili while it was being fixed. The chili was beefy with fresh tomatoes forming the base and a great overall balance... in short, fantastic. But it didn't have any of the onions and melted cheese it claimed to come with on the menu. Next we turned our attention to the sausages. Steve Doggie-Dogg's Bockwurst was subtle and delicious, the way veal based sausages should be. The red cabbage was the perfect complement- not too sharp to overpower the subtlety of the veal. John the Food Slob wolfed his Brat down, enthusing about its flavor... "Mmmmmm... good!"
But that's where it started to go a bit downhill. Between bites, Jon had to admit that his dear, departed mother (God rest her mink stole) would never have approved of the bland, watery sauerkraut on his Brat. Around this time, Steve's favorite arrived back from its corrections, with a huge pile of ice cold grated cheese on top of the exact same (now quite tepid) hot dog that was sent back five minutes earlier. Not impressed, Steve took a taste of the Standard Dog meat... it was a "package dog", not a fresh, locally made one. The Standard Dogs at The Stand are the variety with the bright red rubbery, slimy skin that doesn't snap and salty insides with almost no trace of spice. Perhaps someone who grew up with this particular style of hot dog might look at it with nostalgic fondness, but compared to the smokey, spicy masterpieces we ate last night at Carney's it was a big let down.
Steve Doggie-Dogg's Chicago Dog was an even bigger shock. The thing was topped with florescent green relish that was so sugary, it might as well have been a dessert. It didn't have the dill pickle wedges or the spicy peppers that it was supposed to come with. It didn't even have the poppyseed bun it claimed to have on the menu... just bland onions, tomatoes and a pile of sickeningly sweet relish on a regular bun. If this dog was going to be salvaged, more mustard was definitely called for! Steve reached for a container of the house brand mustard that The Stand makes on the premises. It's an old style German brown mustard with brown specks in it... but a sample proved that it too was super-sweet. Grasping at straws to try to resurrect some sort of spicy kick for his Chicago Dog, he asked for the "hot mustard". Far from hot, it turned out to be a pretty ordinary dijon style mustard. Steve resigned himself to his fate and munched away quietly without a heck of a lot of enthusiasm. Jon's Big Blue was a bit better, because the bite of the bleu cheese added a bit to the blandness of the rest. But overall, the regular dogs were a bust. Even with all the fancy trappings, we couldn't in all honesty give them more than two and a half dogs on our rating system.
When we finished the dogs, Jon spotted a sign on the wall that said, "Don't get up... We'll bring dessert to you." He waited for the cutest waitress in the place (Beth) to walk by, and then staked his claim to his God-given right to cobbler. Still a bit surly, Steve Doggie-Dogg sullenly ordered cheesecake. The desserts were great and took away any lingering disappointment we might have felt about the dogs. Afterwards, Jon launched into his movie mogul routine, and within five minutes had copies of the waitress' head shot and resume. He promises to slip them into piles of headshots going upstairs to the bigshot Hollywood casting directors where he works.
Overall, the evening was a pleasant, if not a totally satisfying one. But with all of the things that arrived differently than the way they were ordered, the disappointing dog meat and the pervasive bland sweetness of everything, it's hard to muster up too much enthusiasm. We're not going to give up on the place though... With a menu that big, there's bound to be a good combination in there somewhere. We're going to go back on one of the Monday Dollar Dog Nights and see if it isn't a bit better. We didn't get a chance to try the house beer. That might help.
UPDATE! May 24th, 2004
The other night, Jon the Food Slob and Steve Doggie-Dogg returned to The Stand for a follow up. Jon had a Boston Baked Bean Dog and a Chili Dog. Steve had another Bockwurst, a Polish Sausage with his regular and a large order of chili. Overall, it was even a bit better than our first visit. For one thing, the dogs came exactly as they were ordered... no mistakes this time. Steve realized that the trick was to "call your dog"... tell them to grab a pencil to write your order down and give explicit instructions. You can't depend on the pre-determined combinations on the menu to come as described. This made a huge difference in Steve's regular... Brown Mustard, Onions, Cheese and Tomato. According to Steve's request, the cheese was melted this time, not just an ice cold pile of cheese shavings. The sausage was excellent... nice and spicy with a good casing. Jon's Baked Bean Dog was good, but not in the same league as the one at Papoo's Hot Dog Show. We had a pitcher of the house beer (a honey wheat ale made by Samuel Adams). It was pretty good, if a bit bland, but it complemented the dogs nicely.
Jon and Steve paused to chat doggiana with the chef. His name was Antonio and he was a real expert in local hot dog lore. We compared notes on Pinks... "The hot polish is WAY too hot! It makes you sick!" ...and Cupids... "Not as good as it used to be when it was family owned and operated." Steve and Jon heartilly recommended that Antonio try Carney's. The cute waitress, Beth was nowhere to be seen, but the waiters were helpful and friendly. They were hosting a huge birthday party with an enormous cake shaped like a hot dog. We've upped our original rating a half a dog. This is a fun place.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE! June 1st, 2004
Steve Doggie-Dogg returned to The Stand on Memorial Day for their dollar dog special. Tap beer was also on sale... half off! Steve lost count of his dogs, but he did try a couple of new things... The Stand's Red Hot (basically the regular hot dog with just a bit of cayenne added), and the corn relish (a tiny bit sweet, but not as overpoweringly so as the pickle relish... excellent on the Red Hot). The place was jumping, but Antonio was running the grill like an Admiral runs his ship. The dogs were flying out the door! Beth was on hand, being her charming and sparky self. Hot dogs for a buck on Memorial Day... what more could you ask for?
STILL ANOTHER UPDATE! July 6th, 2004
Jon the Food Slob and Steve Doggie-Dogg went back to The Stand again to celebrate National Hot Dog Month with more Monday night "Dollar Dogs". The place was jumping, and the food was great. Beth was there... she usually doesn't work Mondays... and we had a lot of fun hearing all about her exploits. Not only can she act, she can sing and play drums all at the same time! She's going to be a big star very soon.
Steve decided to try a few dogs he hasn't tried yet. The Jersey Dog with Peperonata (grilled Italian peppers and onions) was delicious. It's one of the best dogs on the menu at The Stand. The BBQ Dog with melted Cheddar, Onions, BBQ Sauce and Bacon was excellent as well. The Bacon was real, but it was in crumbly bits. We would have preferred strip bacon like we got at Papoo's Hot Dog Show. Steve wasn't as fond of the Big Blue as Jon the Food Slob was. It seemed a bit flat to him somehow. The sweet Stand Mustard helped a bit. Steve ordered a Chicago Dog again, but this time he asked for it "light relish- heavy onions". That was just the trick to prevent him from going into sugar shock, like the first time he tried it. Jon got a Knish with New York Onions on top... big mistake. This was the same ketchup/grilled onions glop we got at Pinks. Of course at The Stand it was much fresher that the day old grill scrapings at Pinks, but just regular grilled onions is a million times better. For dessert, we had a piece of Pecan Pie. It wasn't too sweet... that's the way we like it... but it was very dense. Next time, we'll go back to the Cobbler and the Cheesecake.
