Iconic LA Meatpacker Farmer John No Longer Makes Dodger Dogs

Extra long hot dogs at Dodger Stadium, also known as Dodger Dogs, are no longer produced by Vernon meatpacker Farmer John. Anyone familiar with listening to Vin Scully on the radio will recall the famed Dodger radio voice promoting the brand in commercials. In a statement to the LA Times, Smithfield Foods, which owns Farmer John, said the Dodgers didn’t renew a contract with the company to continue producing the extra long hot dogs. Farmer John had been producing Dodger Dogs, which were originally invented in 1962, since 1972. The stadium sold somewhere around 25,000 a game in years past. The team hasn’t announced who the new producer will be, but will soon. Is there any real way to improve the Dodger Dog, though? Maybe an actual snappy texture and more beef flavor would help the cause. And maybe a plant-based version for the 21st Century. Apparently the only standard for the new hot dog would be that it tasted like the old one, which isn’t promising.

In other news:

• Some people are still mad about having to wear masks when entering restaurants, like this very angry person at Sherman Oaks’s Cheesecake Factory. LA County has an ongoing mask mandate.
• Still basking in Oscar glory? These restaurants and bars have award-themed cocktails, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
• Mayor Eric Garcetti said on April 19 that he hopes the expansive outdoor dining areas in LA restaurants can become a permanent fixture to the city’s dining culture. While limited capacity indoor dining has been allowed for a few weeks now, Spectrum reports that most diners still prefer to sit outside. If the outdoor dining areas become permanent, it would help justify the often major expenses restaurants took on to build many of them out.
• Yo Venice has a look at Tar & Roses in Santa Monica, reporting that the popular Westside restaurant seems to back up and running as it was before the pandemic, except with a newly added outdoor dining parklet.
• Even though LA Pride’s organizers said it wouldn’t hold the event in West Hollywood anymore, the city announced a number of events for the weekend of June 26 to coincide with this year’s event, according to WeHoville.
• Highland Park daytime restaurant Amara Kitchen gave a sneak peek to its upcoming Altadena opening this past weekend: