Profile: Thai Town Express
The Dog of Hollywood. Western and Hollywood, to be precise. You’ve seen it. We’ve all seen it. It is largely unclear when this famous shack served its last hot dog, but one thing is sure: the glorious hot dog on the roof with the assortment of filthy cubes that are supposed to be onions is here to stay.
And why wouldn’t it be? If that hot dog disappears, I’m lost in the wilderness of Hollywood. I’d be more disoriented than I was the day the Ships sign suddenly went AWOL. I’d pull up to the corner of Western and Hollywood and have no idea that I was precisely where I intended to arrive; namely, that joyous slice of Western where I can quickly score crack, prostitutes or, ideally, both. I’d have no idea I was mere doors away from the acclaimed Gershwin Hotel. I’d be…I’d be on just another corner. So I say YES! to the hot dog roof. I also say YES to the food the dog-roofed shack currently serves. It’s basic Thai food. It does what it’s supposed to do, and it does what you’d expect it to do. The real draw here is the venue, which gives you two bonuses you might be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in Thai Town or, for that matter, the entire city: One, an incredibly dirty, old papier mache-looking hot dog on the roof. Two, a more-or-less bulletproof-plastic-walled patio that allows your eyes full access to the parade of crazies, druggies and perverts outside. What’s not to love?
Back to the dog. Somebody clearly took some time on that thing, and damn it I don’t care if a record shop moves in next. I don’t care if it becomes a laundromat. A flower market. A meat purveyor. I don’t care if the adult bookstore next door annexes it because it needs more space to install an additional fleet of booths for perverts: The Dirty Hot Dog Remains. Got it?
Personal note to Thai Town Express webmaster: I noticed you’re incorporating multiple domains. FWIW, I performed a quickie search over at netsol. The following are still available at press time:
http://www.thaifoodnotahotdog.com
http://www.wedontsellhotdogs.com
http://www.thosearedirtycubedonions.com
http://www.notonyourlifewillyougetahotdogherebutthepanangsnotbad.com
Thai Town Express
http://www.thaifoodtoday.com, aka http://www.thaitownexpress.com
(323) 962-9099
11 am – 11 pm daily
Some additional photos from flickr here and here. Let’s face it, this dog is well documented but its origins aren’t. Somebody with info…please comment!
Boy, you blow the “freak factor” at Hollywood & Western way way outta proportion.
Is it being blown out of proportion? Or is it so accurate that your entire world is crashing down all around you?
Me? Exaggerate!?
[...] Proposition 655: Thai Town Tail o’ the Pup This initiative would ensure that in the event the Tail o’ the Pup shack closes, the monstrous hot dog facade will be installed haphazardly on the roof of Oki-Dog a la the acclaimed dog at Thai Town Express. It would also reallocate sixty thousand dollars from the children’s welfare fund into making sure the cubed onions on the dog look properly smog-thrashed, downtrodden and generally filthy. losanjealous recommends you vote: YES [...]
It was a mexican food restaurant for years. Some time in the late 1990’s is became “Red’s Hot Dogs” or “Red’s Red Hots” or something like that. They really fixed the place up compared to the crumbling dirty sheck it was before. That lasted for a really brief time. Maybe a year. I was sorry about that because they obviously spent a lot of money on the giant fiberglass hot dog and fixing the place up. Then it became the Thai Food place. If you’re at that corner, I recommend it. Decent food, but not worth a special trip. It is right across the street from the subway station at Hollywood/Western, if that helps anybody.
Thanks for the update, Fred!