Long Beach City College students are now eligible for free rides with LA Metro and Long Beach Transit after the school announced a new partnership with the transportation systems, the Viking News will be posting a different location every week that students can go to using the Metro Go Pass.
Looking for a new spot to try in the Hollywood area? A celebrity favorite where you can get a great variety of hotdogs and drinks with an American vintage feel in the most famous city in California?
Pink’s Hot Dogs has been a family-owned business since 1939. The Pink family first started the business on a pushcart, but it has come a long way since then.
With your Metro GoPass, you would begin your travel to Hollywood, by starting at Metro Center Station in Long Beach taking the Metro A (Blue) towards 7th Metro B Line (Red). Then take the 7th Metro B Line towards North Hollywood stopping at the Vermont and Beverly Station and walking 210 feet towards the Vermont and Beverly stop where you will then board. Continue onboard until you get to Vermont and Melrose towards West Hollywood. Continue on the metro and get off on Brea and Melrose Ave where you will then be only 289 feet away from the restaurant.
Richard, Gloria, and Beverly Pink are now in charge of the famous hot dog joint which has been visited by everyone from locals, celebrities, and tourists from all over the world.
Pink’s is surrounded by the Hollywood movie industry, allowing it to be a place where directors and actors would go in hopes of getting discovered.
One of the many features Pink’s has to show is its celebrity wall which started back in 1964 and now has over 200 photographs displaying celebrities who have dined at Pink’s.
Now, Pink’s is a hot spot that sells over 1,500 hotdogs and burgers a day.
“There are over 40 different varieties of hot dogs and over 12 different varieties of burgers, all created by me,” said Richard Pink.
The chili cheese dog is priced at $6.95 being Pink’s all-time favorite.
Pink has gone to schools including USC, UCLA, and Biola University. “Oftentimes, that’s what I say it takes to run a hot dog stand,” said Pink.
Pink’s prime location has been a place many enjoy creating an atmosphere of happiness, full-bellied customers, and delicious smells.
All over the location, you will find something to smile at. Pink refers to them as the eight wows.
“In terms of atmosphere, what we wanted to do is always have eight wows, so that meant that when somebody walked up to the front of Pinks there would be over the counter dining which isn’t usual, you would order through a window or inside, the second wow being how long we’ve been in business, the third wow would be the extent of the menu, the fourth wow is that most of our employees have been with us over 20 years so we take really good care of our employees, the next wow is just how photogenic the hot dogs are, and other wow would be all the decor we have”, Pink said.
“We have a paparazzi wall, a step, and a repeating wall. We have a wall of hotdogs made up of cartoon characters. We have a wall where it all looks like a garden, and then on the other side. We have a wall that shows all the studios that surround Pinks and another wall that really reflects all our favorite teams, the Dodgers and the Rams, and we have another wall that has all the hot dogs on the wall which is the window by the parking lot. And then of course the big wow is you walk inside and see over 200 photos of celebrities”, Pink said.
Celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dog, Oprah, Cindy Crawford, and Kevin Hart have all eaten at Pink’s.
“My experience here has been perfect, it was my first job that I learned. I started working here in 1987, so I will have 35 years of working here and I love what I do, that’s why I’m still here,” said Yolanda Garcia, manager at Pink’s.
“We want customers to be satisfied with the service and they have a beautiful experience at Pinks because it has over 80 years of service and our bosses are amazing,” Garica said.
Pink’s menu is located on their website, where a wide variety of food, drinks, and desserts can be found to enjoy as well as all of the prices.
Pink’s is currently trying to raise money to support Ukraine during their wartime against Russia. They are giving 100% of the profits of the Polish Pastrami Dog which cost $10.95 to World Central Kitchen.