Hot dog stands have a great history in the San Fernando Valley, and nowhere is that more evident than at the Winnetka location of Cupid's Hot Dogs. While there are other franchised Cupid's, those stands just don't have the same retro feel of those now run by a third generation of the chain-founding Walsh family. Beyond the original building, what sets the location apart is a blissfully basic menu of three dogs, two types of chips and drinks. This extends to a minimalist toppings approach: mustard, onions, relish, chili, cheese (ketchup is extra). That's it. If not for the prices, you'd feel as if you'd stepped through a portal back to the 1950s: a time when cigarette-smoking men bedecked in suits and fedoras grabbed a Cupid dog and drove off in DeSotos and Buicks with large tailfins. 20030 Vanowen St., Winnetka. (818) 347-1344, cupidshotdogsinc.com.

—Jim Thurman

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