Papoo's Hot Dog Show is often overshadowed by the popular and iconic Bob's Big Boy across the street in Toluca Lake. And to be honest, well, Hot Dog Show is kind of weird. Decorated like an old-fashioned ice cream parlour and populated with bar flies, the restaurant has a strange air of desperation. The servers are friendly, but somehow you get the feeling that everyone has kind of given up.
In contrast to the general weirdness, the food at The Hot Dog Show is amazing. As old-school chili sizes and onion rings go, this is the place. It helps if you think of it as a bar that happens to sell food as opposed to a restaurant that happens to sell beer.
One thing they love here is extreme food with extreme names. So we decided to pit the hyperbolic Monster Dog against the Colossal Burger. As the names would suggest, they are both gigantic. The burger is topped with delicious pastrami that has been cooked on the grill. The monster dog is split and grilled, and bursting with fat. Topped with a delicious truck stop-style chili, it is a force to be reckoned with.
The contest was neck and neck until we stripped away all of the bells and whistles and judged the two solely on the meat. The patty, although moist, is pressed flat and could not be described as juicy. The hot dog on the other hand, bursts with fat and flavor. So in the end, the Monster Dog emerges victorious. Now pour me another beer and let's try to ignore the drunk guy babbling about politics at the end of the ice cream counter.
