The Currywurst Craze Is Here | Los Angeles

From the explosion of cupcake bakeries to our ever-expanding fleet of food trucks, Los Angeles is certainly familiar with instant trends.

Now, our latest nascent craze is currywurst, a sausage dish invented in postwar Berlin that has a growing presence in L.A.

Dog Haus The Berlin influence began in Pasadena last fall with the opening of this encyclopedic cased-meats spot, which serves currywurst alongside numerous other sausages. Here, it's juicy knockwurst hiding under a tangy ketchup-and-curry-powder dressing. (105 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena; 626-577-4287)

Germany's Famous Bratwurst In January, Berlin native Jill Kussmacher launched this truck, taking currywurst mobile. For $6, expect a traditional iteration of the dish: snappy pork sausage doused with ketchup and dusted with orange curry powder. (Locations vary; 323-608-5630)

Berlin Currywurst This week-old storefront near Sunset Junction offers the best of the wurst. Organic sausages ($6 each) such as veal-and-pork bockwurst, beef-based rindswurst and the self-explanatory paprikawurst are grilled, slathered with a tomato-based sauce, and sprinkled with curry and paprika powders of varying heat levels, with the fire options topping out at 4, aka the "Break the Wall" version. Thick-cut, skin-on fritten ($3.50)–don't call them French fries–are available with minced onions or jambalaya. (3827 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake; 323-663-1989)