Hollywood’s Classic Pink’s Hot Dogs Reopens Tomorrow With All New Coronavirus Rules

Famous Hollywood tourist spot Pink’s Hot Dogs is reopening tomorrow. The 80-year-old stand, which began life as a cart near La Brea and Melrose, has been closed since shutdown orders on March 15 as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Pink’s made the surprise reopening announcement this morning on social media, laying out its new company health and safety protocols ahead of the planned return tomorrow morning. New details include:

• Plexiglass on the open-air counters between staff and diners
• A “front door ambassador” and “full time sanitizer monitor” to clean and ensure the use of face masks
• Patio-only tables placed six feet apart
• Three customers only inside at one time, each spaced six feet apart

What’s more, the company also said that they will begin taking phone orders in the coming weeks, and will even look to begin delivery in the area, something the company has never done before. Then again, much like Disneyland, the coronavirus pandemic also represented the longest sustained closure in the company’s entire history.

While Pink’s has said on Facebook that it has “brought back all our employee staff, many of whom have been with us over 10 years, and some over 20 years,” don’t expect things to feel exactly familiar. The long lines of waiting tourists, always a familiar sight in front of the stand, will either be severely reduced or socially distanced well down the block, and hours will run only from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, eschewing the late night hours that many have relied on over the years.

Still, the return of Pink’s is welcome news for some, as the city continues to struggle with the loss of so many other prominent restaurants like the 41-year-ld Dong Il Jang in Koreatown, or three-decade-old Patina fine dining restaurant in Downtown. Pink’s also operates locations in Las Vegas and in the Philippines.

• A Running List of LA Restaurants That Have Permanently Closed During the COVID-19 Crisis [ELA]