Oki-Dog Fairfax Vs. Oki’s-Dog Pico: The Chart That No-One Wants To See
Hello my bloggy friend. Is it me you’re looking for? I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your smile. I’ve dreaded this moment for nine months, and yet here I sit. And there you sit. And here it is. Let us begin, then.
I shall start with a straightforward review of Oki/Oki’s-Dog, Pico. Following that we will jump straight into:
OKI-DOG FAIRFAX VS. OKI/OKI’S-DOG, PICO: THE CHART THAT NO-ONE WANTS TO SEE
Least of all, me
Oki East: Identity Crisis From The Get-Go
Couldn’t talk anyone into reviewing Oki/Oki’s-Dog, Pico. Eventually, of course, she would call my name. A search for the phrase ’oki-dog’ on this website currently yields sixteen articles. This will officially tip it to seventeen. Am I obsessed? The fuck I am. Let’s do this.
From the get-go something is amiss. The requisite orange is in effect. The place emits a strong shack vibe. The Oki-dog appears very similar to the mother’s offering. Yet a few things, almost intangible things, disturb me…
- The “A” health rating
- Dodgy clientele interspersed with normal citizens (where are my much-preferred transvestites, crusty shifts peddling VHS copies of The Running Man and filthy transients hawking loogies?)
- The ’ No Trespassing’ sign [photo], possibly the first I’ve ever seen at an eating establishment
- The lack of perimeter foliage [photo] as compared to Mother Fairfax [photo]
- The fact that they can’t decide whether the name of the fool restaurant is Oki-Dog or Oki’s Dog
- The fact that they keep touting themselves as world famous
- The fact that the menu is clean, fully legible and permanent, unable to be edited by the average unscrupulite with a penchant for filth
Minor quibbles. I enter the chapel and forgive all in neon glow of Holy Foodshack East.
I order my food. Immediately afterward, mass confusion ensues. I’m confused. The cooks are confused. The cashier is beyond confused. Everybody else waiting around is incredibly agitated and confused. Nobody knows who the hell’s supposed to order next. Nobody knows what food is coming out of the window for whom. There’s no real line. All of us are now, by definition, loitering. Including the cashier. A no-no.
Twelve, fifteen minutes pass. Cashier scratches his head and reads my order back to me. No food in sight. He tacks on a large fries. I’ve already paid. I talk myself out of the free fries. I don’t want the damn fries. More bags appear and are snatched. A bag of food is thrust my way. In lieu of Fairfax’s greased wax paper on a dirty frisbee system [photo], Pico has a very distinct bag-and-box system in place, more detrimental to the environment albeit considerably healthier to my own personal ecosystem.
I try to eat the oki-dog. I can barely manage half. It is as it should be.
I then eat an entire bacon cheeseburger.
I drink a large Orange Bang.
I begin taking macro-zoom photos of my half-eaten Oki. Some guy two tables down is giving me stink eye. I sense it loud and clear. Spidey sense. Why the fuck are you taking those photos.. I finish the laughable meal to the best of my ability. I get up to leave. One of my unfinished dogs wiggles out of the sack and plops onto the table. I crack up. Disgusting. I’m juggling oki detritus again. It is at this point that I know this shack and the one on Fairfax are connected on a spiritual level. Time to go. I’m walking to my car. I turn. I’m snapping photos of the dual signs. I hear a ruckus. Somebody’s chasing me to my car. “Hey man, you taking photos of me?”
Yeah. That’s what I was doing. I was taking secret photos of you.
“Photos of the sign, man. Not you.”
“..?.. Oh – ok.”
“It’s for a food review…”
“Ohhhhh…..”
Now you get it. Please leave me the fuck alone as I must go throw up this meal someplace.
Oki-Dog/Oki’s Dog
5056 W Pico
Click the ’more’ prompt for a full side-by-side comparison. Oki takes on Oki. And/or Oki’s. You choose. This is the real deal. No holds barred!
| Menu | Oki-Dog Fairfax | Oki/Oki’s Dog Pico |
| Cost of Oki-Dog | $2.78. $3.70 for ’Combo’ with fries | $3 flat tax-inclusive |
| Menu with customer-editable letters | Absolutely | Not |
| Serving style | Greased wax paper on dirty frisbee | Bag-and-box method |
| Detritus (NONE OF THIS HAS BEEN CHEWED) |  |
 |
| Architecture/Decor | Oki-Dog Fairfax | Oki/Oki’s Dog Pico |
| Indoor dining | NA | Stuffy |
| Outdoor dining | Surreal. Fairfax melts away. You could be in a Caribbean tar shack were it not for the transvestites and weathered shifty-looking drifters | 100% Pico blvd experience. Neither tropical nor Hollywoodlike |
| Lighting | NA | Scary Lab Bright |
| Foliage |  |
 |
| Shackfactors | Oki-Dog Fairfax | Oki/Oki’s Dog Pico |
| Trespassing | Yes. Encouraged | Yes. Posted: Forbidden |
| Loitering | Yes. Encouraged | Yes. Posted: Forbidden |
| Confrontation Potential | Yes. Medium | Yes. Medium-high |
| Transvestites | Yes | NA |
| Ne’er Do Wells | Yes | Yes |
| Entertainment | Broken TV | Piped radio |
| Something for Quarters | Shacktastic video games | Craptaculous Vending Machines |
I love oki Dogs. Have loved them from the times back in the 80s.
What I miss is the Oki Dogs on Santa Monica Blvd. The big can of hot veggies on the counter. And the view. OH MY GOD the view at that one.
Whenever I am in the L.A. area, I make it my job to get an Oki Dog and introduce my travel companions to them as well.
I luv oki dog. Every time I go to LA I drive right up and get one. That amd Los Tacos are the bestest ever.
Fairfax only. Durrr
Hello my name is Carlos I am writing to you because I Would like to know if you have any lapel pins key chains or collectibles or merchandise from oki dog. Carlos Torres 1133portland place apt.222 boulder Colorado 80304
Oki dog on Pico kids the place to go for me. Interestingly i remember the LADS LOL. Punk from about 79 through 83. Good times art Santa Monica Oki dogs
I started hanging out at the Oki Dog on S.M. Blvd. as a kid back in 1981, a few years after I got in to punk, which is where I met the punk gang called the L.A.D.S.(L.A. Death Squad) and they nicknamed me “Captain Anarchy”. I have a lot of fond memories growing up hanging out there, those were some great times and I miss that place and time in my life a lot. This was a 24/7 punk rock hangout, and was especially always swarmed with punks after gigs. “Long hair’s” hung out there too, but they often got their asses handed to them by the punks.
These days I usually grab a bite at the one on Pico & Redondo, as it’s closer to my pad on the Westside, but if I’m in Hollywood I hit up the one on Fairfax. I’m cool with either location though, as I’m a punk, so in other words I look like a “street freak” and thus I roll through whatever hood like a “gyro”. Funny thing is I have long hair now though, and actually usually look more like a heavy metal guy most of the time ~ LOL !
A lot of people think these spots are just greasy meateries, but they also make a killer veggie burrito that’s not on the menu. And if I’m not mistaken the reason behind the name “Oki Dog” is because this is the owner’s spin on how they serve hot dogs in Okinawa, where he was originally from. I can still hear him screaming; “Oki, Oki, Oki !”, and I still see him sometimes at the one on Pico, so if he’s there then I do it to him instead when I walk in the door ~ LOL !
But man do I remember a lot of punks puking up that greasy chili after a night full of filling their bellies with Rainier Ale… hell, I think that I was one of them too, on more than one occasion ~ LOL
I started hanging out at the Oki Dog on S.M. Blvd. as a kid back in 1981, a few years after I got in to punk, which is where I met the punk gang called the L.A.D.S.(L.A. Death Squad) and they nicknamed me “Captain Anarchy”. I have a lot of fond memories growing up hanging out there, those were some great times and I miss that place and time in my life a lot. This was a 24/7 punk rock hangout, and was especially always swarmed with punks after gigs. “Long hair’s” hung out there too, but they often got their asses handed to them by the punks.
These days I usually grab a bite at the one on Pico & Redondo, as it’s closer to my pad on the Westside, but if I’m in Hollywood I hit up the one on Fairfax. I’m cool with either location though, as I’m a punk, so in other words I look like a “street freak” and thus I roll through whatever hood like a “gyro”. Funny thing is I have long hair now though, and actually usually look more like a heavy metal guy most of the time ~ LOL !
A lot of people think these spots are just greasy meateries, but they also make a killer veggie burrito that’s not on the menu. And if I’m not mistaken the reason behind the name “Oki Dog” is because this is the owner’s spin on how they serve hot dogs in Okinawa, where he was originally from. I can still hear him screaming; “Oki, Oki, Oki !”, and I still see him sometimes at the one on Pico, so if he’s there then I do it to him instead when I walk in the door ~ LOL !
But man do I remember a lot of punks puking up that greasy chili after a night full of filling their bellies with Rainier Ale… hell, I think that I was one of them too, on more than one occasion ~ LOL !
Hi There! I am writing a story about the Kosher Burrito from Oki’s, Could I ask you some questions about your memories of Oki’s?
Thanks!
We heard you this first time ‘tard.
This is the Absalom, Absalom of restaurant reviews. Bless you. No joke.
[…] My friends all ordered the Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup but I decided to hold out for Oki Dog Fairfax–which is just across the street and has been on my LA dining to-do list for […]
Anyone remember Oki Dogs Santa Monica and Gardner? The cooks were always flipping the grill food and literally hopping from one foot to the other and we were alway sure that they were on speed. It was a real party spot.
My band mates & I used to eat at Oki-Dog after gigs back in the eighties. We were so loaded that we would have eaten the droppings of an oki dog and the large greasy bag of fries and loved it!
I saw a preview of the Germs movie ‘What We Do Is Secret’ and it included a brief scene at an Oki Dog.
I challenged my current gf to eat a whole Oki dog and fries. Being that she is a girl and also a small, picky eater i never expected her to finish. She did, just to impress me before a long car ride to Sacramento. Now we live together.
I accept your challenge if it is still open to eat at both Oki Dogs on the same day. If I live I would be up for more challenges.
I went to the original Oki dog and the f’in Fairfax is as close as you’ll get. Buckets of fries in water…and hanging plants-either you get it or not.
what in the….
so, group photo shoot, lunch and shanking @ oki dog pico this weekend? takers?
Yeah, I love how there are hints of gentrification, borderline racism, splattered across this review. Comparing the mean streets of Pico to plush fucking Melrose? Get the fuck outta here! Stay out of the ghettos and go sip your martinis at The Standard.
Seriously. Or walk back over to Roscoe’s; at least they’ve come to accept that white people like you are gonna show up with a fancy 20D and a 1.4mm L lens.
Mass confusion? Yeah, that’s what happens when people like you show up and fuck up the system. You ask for your dog, you lay in the cut, and when your shit is ready its in a bag on the counter. You pick it up and go about your merry way. You don’t hang out and take pictures in the hood. We don’t have cameras in the hood. White people with cameras = NARC.
Stay the fuck out the hood with a camera, IN FACT stay out of the hood all together. Next time I see your ass at my Oki Dog with your camera and lost look on your face, I’ll take your hot dog and break your camera…. then I’ll shank you and tell you to take your ass back to your posh little Hollywood Oki-Dog.
[…] from the island of Lesbos can sue Lesbian groups, shouldn’t I as an Oklahoman be able to sue Oki Dog? I mean, think of all the merchandising cash they must have made in the […]
I remember “Danny’s Dogs” in the late 70’s/early 80’s.
We used to go there all of the time after gigs at the Starwood, the Whiskey, the Rainbow, the Troubador, the O N Club, et al.
What a great time in music and Hollywood history!
I went there in the mid 80’s with a buddy, and there was no one there. Apparently, the cops were trying to close the place down. I spoke with the owner, and he confirmed that this was the situation. A few minutes later, the stand was surrounded by Hollywood’s Finest, who proceeded to hassle and hand cuff my buddy and I, as well as searching my vehicle.
After they dumped out all of our beer that we had in my vehicle (we were both over 21), the cop leader stated to me, “You can complain, but we have your license plate number.”
That was the last time I went to Danny’s Dogs.
Oki Dogs Pico; my dad took me there years ago in the 70’s. Great food. fresh air
Oki dogs Santa Monica: original punk hang out popularized by darby crash. Good food, fresh air.
oki dogs Fairfax: enclosed eating area usually full of secind hand smoke because of the workers there smoke their shitty ciggies.
Deep In the Heart of Texas, Part Two
Sign on Club, Deep Ellum I have something to say about the difference between American and European cities… but I forgot what it is… I have it written down at home somewhere. – True Stories Just because you attribute…
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[…] I park, and glance at the new paint job. It’s that peculiar day-glow orange. They must share the same painter as Oki-Dog. Now all they need are some arcade games and plastic trees. […]
God food for the money
Well, here is another spin on the origins of the “oki-dog” (note: Read the entire article before jumping to conclusions) (hint: Aloha!)…..
http://starbulletin.com/2004/09/01/features/story1.html
Thanks Scott. You’re the second person to send this my way. i may have to offer a rebuttal.
Cabeza, birria, and lengua are pretty standard taco fillings, man. I had myself a tasty goat burrito a week or so back.
Found an article from an Australian paper about fast food in Los Angeles. Good reading, I agreed with most of what they had to say.
http://tinyurl.com/zn5ao
I use to work at an insurance company around the Lafayette Park area of Los Angeles back in the early through mid 1980’s. And I do fondly remember the amount of “colorful” eateries around that area that our fellow workers would dare to try to eat.
One place in particular was a hotdog stand that served a “oki-dog” back in the early through mid 1980’s. The hotdog stand was shaped like a dog house, and it was located next to the car wash that was featured in that late 1970’s Universal Studio pic “Car Wash”.
I also remember there was a fast-food Mexican restaurant in front of the car wash that offered tacos with such tasty fillings as brain, goat meat, and tongue.
Ahh. The good old’ days….
there is nothing arbitrary about this cruelty, fan-of-waits, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to pay you to to try to eat all of that and more. E-mail me for details – I may need to take on a second intern that focuses strictly on pastrami and the harsher end of the food spectrum.
I can eat two pastrami burritos no problem. But having to shove an extra oki-dog in my craw just sounds like arbitrary cruelty. Hmmm….maybe we should talk.
I think I’ll have to pass. I haven’t eaten red meat or pork since I was 18. (No reason other than I don’t like the taste.) And although I’m considering eating it again, I can guarantee Oki-Dog won’t be the first place I’ll sample it. But good luck finding someone for the challenge! :)
heartattackandvine: if you can manage to go to both locations on the same day, eat a full pastrami burrito AND an oki-dog (which contains pastrami) at each, live to talk about it and photograph everything in sight, I will foot the bill. I will then send you to more places. Let’s talk.
Hilary: same challenge. Probably you don’t eat pork. That said, as you noted the dogs are purple. They might not be pork.
_r
Ryan, you’re on, I’ll be in LA this weekend. Challenge accepted.
Yeah, um, why does the oki-dog look purple?
You shoulda got the Pastrami Burrito.