Inside the box car of a train that looks more out of place in West Hollywood than a snowball in hell is Carney’s. While not as old as Pink’s, Carney’s has been around for a while and is unquestionably one of the city’s biggest hot dog landmarks, especially when it comes to chili dogs.
Typically, the biggest crowd forms after the bars let out of the Sunset Strip, but I was looking to check Carney’s off my list before leaving LA and willing to get there even during regular feeding hours. I opted for a big basket of chili cheese fries and a chili cheese dog to go with it.
The result was pretty tasty. As for the fries, the chili sauce washed over them nicely with slices of American cheese mixed among the brown getting melted into oblivion. I was a big fan of the fries and took to them heartily with a fork, as there was pretty much no chance of taking them down by hand without adding a scent to my fingers that would last for days.
The chili cheese dog was prepared in essentially the same way, with the same slices of American cheese accompanying the chili. The hot dog was butterflied and grilled, which I found to be a nice touch, and the bun was steamed in a style that would be welcome in Detroit.
Certainly, I was happy with my meal at Carney’s and I have to say that wifey was even happy with the turkey burger she ordered for some strange reason.
Yet, as good as everything was it still couldn’t match up to Coney Dog, which isn’t even a place anymore (it has become another Gaby’s) although it still serves the same coney dogs. Even so, Carney’s is worth throwing into the mix of LA chili dogs, burgers and fries and won’t disappoint, even during typical feeding hours.
