Pink’s Hot Dogs and other restaurants celebrate the Dodgers in the World Series – Press Telegram

Pink’s Hot Dogs once again turned blue to celebrate the Dodgers reaching the World Series against the New York Yankees. The first game is Friday, October 25th.

“We painted the entire front facade of Pink’s blue,” president and co-owner Richard Pink said in a phone interview. “We put all employees in Dodger t-shirts that say ‘Pink’s Loves the Dodgers,’ as well as Dodger hats.”

The hot dog stand, founded by his parents in 1939, is still in its original location, 709 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles.

This is the fourth time Pink’s has celebrated the Dodgers’ World Series appearance, starting in 2017 when the Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros. In 2018, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Dodgers. In 2020, the Dodgers triumphed over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pink’s promotion includes a Blues Dog, which is a dog with bacon and cheese that costs $7.17. The $7 commemorates the seven times the Dodgers have won the World Series. The 17 cents are for Shohei Ohtani’s uniform number.

Pink’s challenged Gray’s Papaya, a New York hot dog restaurant, to a bet on the World Series, with the loser promising to donate $1,000 to a charity of their choice.

“Win or lose, Pink bleeds Dodger blue,” Pink said.

He has fond memories of pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who passed away on Tuesday.

“Probably the most special time we had with the Dodgers was when Fernando Valenzuela came to Pink’s. He notified all his friends, so there was a crowd of about 200 people. Fernando signed autographs and shook everyone’s hands. Just a great personality and one of the greatest human beings to ever play for the Dodgers.

Pink said Valenzuela asked for something with jalapeños.

“I said I have a 12-inch jalapeño dog and I’m going to put mayonnaise on it. I’m going to add mustard, ketchup, grilled onions and bacon. He said perfect.

Pink’s has 40 hot dogs on its menu, as well as 12 hamburgers, and several of them are named after celebrities. There is only one dog named after an athlete, the Shaq Dog, in honor of basketball great Shaquille O’Neal. Pink said Dodger players tend to be loyal to the Dodger Dog, a pork hot dog that is now available in stores.

Pink said that when Valenzuela was launching, he saw a lot of customers wearing his shirt.

“It was almost as if you cloned Fernando, because there were about 10 people in a row who had his shirt, one after the other. Some of them didn’t even know each other. They just loved him.”

Proceeds from Blues Dog will go to the LA Dodgers Foundation, which has a mission to “improve education, healthcare, homelessness and social justice for all Angelenos.”

Information: pinkshollywood.com