Marlon Brando's Favorite Late-Night Hot Dog Order Is A Permanent Staple At Pink's

Marlon Brando's career in Hollywood was filled with iconic roles. The method actor portrayed such famous characters as Don Corleone in "The Godfather," Colonel Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now," Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire," and Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront," among many others. One of the slightly lesser known places in Tinseltown where the Brando name shows up, however, is Pink's, a hot dog stand that dates all the way back to 1939.

Brando was a regular customer of Pink's back in his day, stopping in with his family to enjoy his top menu item at this old favorite Hollywood restaurant, the Famous Chili Dog served with mustard, chili, and onions. In an interview with Ed Magik TV on YouTube, Marlon's daughter Rebecca Brando said, "Dad would just pile us in the car and drive us down here at midnight — or whatever time it may be — and we'd have a dozen hot dogs, eating in the car." The chili dog, she added, was her favorite as well.

Brando's patronage of the restaurant was clearly not forgotten, as Pink's debuted a new menu item in his honor on April 27th, 2012, on what would have been his 88th birthday. True to form, the Brando Dog is a 9-inch hot dog of his favorite style, featuring mustard, chili, and onions, though in this case with the addition of shredded cheddar cheese. These days, that hot dog sells for $10.50, but for a two-hour window on the day it was released, all you had to do to get your hands on one was show up dressed like Brando in one of his signature roles.

Given that Pink's has been serving up hot dogs in La La Land for nearly 90 years now, it should come as no surprise that Marlon Brando is not the only celebrity who has found a place on the menu. Among the many specialty dogs on offer are a wide variety of choices that mirror the character of Los Angeles on the whole, with some celebrating famous films or stars of the silver screen and others supporting the local sports heroes.

The Lord of the Rings Dog, for example, is a 9-inch hot dog celebration of the Oscar-favorite movie trilogy topped with barbecue sauce and onion rings. The Giada De Laurentiis Dog, on the other hand, features the same sausage at its base, but instead comes topped with sautéed peppers and onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and shredded mozzarella cheese — paying homage to the Food Network star's Italian heritage — though for some reason it isn't listed as one of Giada's favorite foods. As for sports, the Back to Back Dog dedicated to Dodgers Pitcher Shohei Ohtani features not one but two stretch hot dogs piled high with pastrami, bacon bits, and nacho cheese, as well as a pair of onion rings.

There are far too many interesting and exciting options on the menu at Pink's Hot Dogs for us to be able to list all of them here. But whether you are looking for a meaty homage to a favorite actor or simply trying to find the best hot dog in the state of California, the right answer is the same. Both of them are at Pink's.