L.A. Is My Beat: The Pup Returns!

Tail o' the Pup, La Cienega Blvd., 1957

Our friend and bonne vivante' Los Angeles historian, Alison Martino scooped all other news sources by announcing in Los Angeles Magazine that the iconic hot dog stand, Tail o' The Pup is returning after a 10 year absence from our city. This is excellent news.

Alison's article in Los Angeles Magazine. You'll have to buy the magazine to read the details

The hot dog stand was originally located on La Cienega Boulevard between 3rd Street and Beverly Boulevard. It was built in 1946 (Milton Black, architect) and owned by the dance team of Veloz and Yolanda. In the early 1970s Eddie Blake purchased the Pup and ran it, along with his son, Dennis. The Pup moved from it original location at 311 North La Cienega to 329 North San Vicente in the mid-1980s. This portion of La Cienega would soon be the site of a behemoth shopping center called The Beverly Center. Tail o' the Pup served up wieners until 2005 on San Vicente near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center when it was evicted by a company with plans to develop the property. This property remains an undeveloped parking lot today.

Tail o' the Pup, 1963. Photo by Julian Wasser

The Blakes housed the Pup's iconic hot dog in a warehouse while searching for a new location. In subsequent years, both Eddie and Dennis passed away. The Blake family found saviors of the stand in Brett Doherty and his partners. Brett is the man behind Killer Shrimp Restaurant chain and the re-boot of the Van Nuys Hamburger Hamlet. In addition to the Pup's new location on La Cienega south of Melrose Avenue, there are plans for yet another Tail o' the Pup in downtown L.A.!

Photo from Jim Heimann's book "California Crazy" (1980, reissued and updated in 2001)

Of course I ate at Tail o' the Pup in both of it's West Hollywood locations. Their hot dogs always had snap. I liked their dogs better than Pink's! I liked the place so much, that I copied the above photo from "California Crazy" and painted it myself.