While Costco is known for its rotisserie chickens, pizzas and jumbo everything, it\u2019s the $1.50 all-beef hot dog<\/a> that is routinely cited<\/a> as the warehouse company\u2019s top dish.<\/p>\n I feel fortunate to live about 20 minutes away from one of the only two California locations for Chicago\u2019s famed Portillo\u2019s hot dogs and its divine jumbo tomato-pepper-pickle dog<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you love a great hot dog, our Food Team has curated a list of delectable delights<\/a> from around Southern California for your sampling pleasure this summer.<\/p>\n You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n Sign up to start every day with California’s most important stories.<\/p>\n By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at four selections from the full list<\/a>, since you\u2019re going to need to save every minute.<\/p>\n Amboy (Chinatown) (Jenn Harris \/ Los Angeles Times )<\/p>\n The chili cheese dog at Amboy may be the most decadent (and certainly the messiest) hot dog in the city, according to colleague Jenn Harris<\/a>.<\/p>\n It starts with a wrinkled, wonderfully snappy dog that extends well beyond the buttery brioche bun.<\/p>\n It\u2019s smothered in rich, beefy chili and a house-made cheese sauce that lands somewhere between queso and melted American cheese. And it\u2019s crowned with a smattering of diced raw onion. It\u2019s a once-in-a-while indulgence worth the chili stains at the corners of your mouth, the mountain of soiled napkins and the need to lie down.<\/p>\n Cupid\u2019s Hot Dogs (Winnetka) (Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Few L.A. hot dog spots feel as quintessential as Cupid\u2019s, where the food is just as steeped in family lore as nostalgia, according to my colleague Stephanie Breijo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Walsh family\u2019s been slinging hot dogs across the Valley since 1946, with sisters Morgan and Kelly Walsh serving as third-generation stewards. <\/p>\n Their thin, steamed all-beef dogs still snap with each bite. The signature Cupid dog \u2014 a creation of their father\u2019s in the 1980s \u2014 is punchy with mustard, chili and onions, and the chili here is so thick it\u2019s practically a flavor-packed paste. Drop by Simi Valley for newer digs, or by the old-school Winnetka location for a walk-up window and that iconic red heart-shaped sign.<\/p>\n Larry\u2019s Chili Dog (Burbank) (Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Larry\u2019s Chili Dog has been serving glizzy-hungry patrons since the early 1950s, and its dogs and breakfast burritos can be purchased as early as 7 a.m. from a busy walk-up window, Breijo wrote.<\/p>\n The little yellow shack under a vintage puppy-in-a-bun sign is one of the region\u2019s oldest and most classic roadside hot dog stands, and it specializes in house-made chili: You can find it on the signature chili dog, atop fries, in a cup by its lonesome, or smothering a spicy grilled link in a tray.<\/p>\n For all of Larry\u2019s classic items, there\u2019s plenty of room for modernization. There are corn dogs, Chicago dogs, bacon-wrapped dogs, pastrami-laden dogs and sauerkraut-topped dogs, and any signature snappy dog can be swapped out for a Louisiana hot link, a Polish sausage, a turkey dog or a veggie dog. Just be sure to get your fix on the early end: Larry\u2019s closes at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n Wezzarepas (Whittier) (Angela Osorio \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Hot dogs are a popular late-night craving you\u2019ll find at any street food stand in Colombia, known for loaded toppings and an array of sauces, creating a chaotic but delicious combination of sweet, savory and tangy flavors, wrote my colleague Angela Osorio<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Wezzarepas food truck, you\u2019ll find a choriperro (dubbed the \u201cMastiff\u201d dog) stuffed with spicy chorizo sausage instead of a hot dog frank and topped with shredded mozzarella, bacon, crumbled potato chips and a drizzle of in-house sauces: creamy cilantro aioli, pink sauce (mayo and ketchup), and a sweet, tangy pineapple sauce. Also worth trying are the arepas de choclo, sweet yellow corn cakes filled with gooey mozzarella.<\/p>\n For more, check out the full list<\/a>.<\/p>\n The week\u2019s biggest stories (Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inL.A. Affairs<\/p>\n Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s just something very American about hot dogs. Is there another dish that consumers routinely devour despite scientific…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":["post-404360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784469009_724_.jpeg\")
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