Iconic LA Hot Dog Stand Tail O’ The Pup Levels Up With Snap

Actor Leslie Odom Jr. enjoys a Tail O' the Pup hot dog at EEEEEATSCON Los Angeles, Presented by ... [+] Chase Sapphire.

Guests last month at The Infatuation's EEEEEATSCON Los Angeles might have noticed something strikingly different about a beloved hot dog vendor.

Yes, the wieners served by Tail o’ the Pup, a hot dog stand that dates back to 1946 and was resurrected by the 1933 Group in West Hollywood last July, were snappier and beefier.

Tail o’ the Pup now exclusively serves Snap-O-Razzo hot dogs, a top-tier product developed by seasoned chef/butcher Ralph Perrazzo. Perrazzo's goal is to bring back the nostalgic snap and flavor of the hot dogs he used to eat and to combine those texture/taste memories with high-quality ingredients. This is a meaningful endeavor for Perrazzo, who grew up on New York's Long Island and had a butcher grandfather who made sausages.

So at EEEEEATSCON, Tail o’ the Pup popped up to debut its new hot dog with Snap-O-Razzo's natural lamb-cased Beefy Butcher Dog, which was devoured by guests including actors Leslie Odom Jr. and Ryan Hansen. The Beefy Butcher Dog is made with beef cheeks and other select whole-muscle cuts and without any byproducts. It uses fresh onion and garlic to create sweetness and avoids sugar, soy, gluten, MSG and dairy altogether. The result is a hot dog that's emphatically meaty, a hot dog that tastes a bit like a good steak and a hot dog that seems buttery but doesn't weigh you down. Higher in protein and iron and lower in fat and sodium than typical hot dogs, this tastes like a better version of the past.

Tail o' the Pup was resurrected by the 1933 Group last year.

"That's what we always try to do," says the 1933 Group co-owner Dimitri Komarov, whose painstaking restoration projects have also included Idle Hour, The Formosa Cafe and Highland Park Bowl. "We try to take something from the past and bring it to modern tastes."

Perrazzo has Snap-O-Razzo hot dogs everywhere from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to the storied Sarge's Deli in New York City to grocery stores including Kroger. But the 1933 Group, which recently opened a Tail o’ the Pup stand at the Topanga Social food hall, is the only hospitality company in California serving the Beefy Butcher Dog because the Vegas-based Perrazzo wants to have a meaningful relationship with an iconic hot dog slinger.

"I basically walked in the back door and said, ‘Hey, I love your sign outside, I love the history of the place,’" says Perrazzo, who's proud that Tail o’ the Pup is now using an assortment of Snap-O-Razzo items that also include jalapeno wieners and mini beef dogs (for kids). "They obviously saw that Snap-O-Razzo was a better product and cooking better."

It also may not have hurt that Perrazzo has a wiener dog, Boudin, who resembles Tail o’ the Pup's logo.

Hot dogs are basically a lifestyle for chef/butcher Ralph Perrazzo.

Komarov and the 1933 Group are so pleased with Perrazzo's product that they’re also serving Snap-O-Razzo hot dogs at Idle Hour and Highland Park Bowl.

"When I eat this hot dog, I feel light inside," Komarov says. "A lot of times, you go to these fast fast food places and you walk out feeling like you have a brick in your stomach. I don't feel that way with these hot dogs. And they’re super flavorful. It just tastes like a gourmet hot dog. It just tastes so much better than any other hot dog that I’ve had."