Frankly Popular

Next time you quail at the thought of dropping a week’s wages for dinner in a fancy restaurant, think back to the last time you sat enjoying a hot dog at Dodger Stadium on a warm summer evening--and high-tail it to the Wienery in Woodland Hills.

February isn’t August, to be sure, and El Nino isn’t the white summer sun of Southern California, but the Wienery probably sells more hot dogs in any month than the Dodgers do in a whole season.

The folks who elbow their way into this place don’t care what the season is. They just want hot dogs--and not just one or two kinds, either.

“My wife and I and our kids got hooked on this place a while back, with all the handmade breads and wieners,” says Richard Kaplan, a Calabasas writer and art dealer. “I’m part vegetarian, but I tell you, this place sells the Rolls-Royce of tube meat.”

Kaplan also likes the motley crowd he finds at the Wienery, including every variety of the human animal, from young moms and dads towing kids with scrubbed faces to bikers on their Harleys.

“You drive by this place and you don’t know what it is,” he says, “but you try it and it’s great.”

Four brothers--Mike, John, George and Chris Manoukian--run the Wienery with their parents, Jake and Rosemary Manoukian.

“You can have a spicy quarter-pound Polish hot dog, a New York- or Chicago-style hot dog, or pretty much any kind of hot dog you can think up--with mustard, with relish, onions, cheese, cabbage and cheese, coleslaw and cheese, a Vienna beef dog--just tell us and we’ll put it together for you,” says Chris Manoukian, the baby of the family.

“We used to serve just hot dogs,” he adds, “but about eight months ago we remodeled the place, and now we do everything from hot dogs to hamburgers.

“We make big sandwiches, Italian sausage sandwiches, patty melts, cheese sandwiches, tacos, burritos--the burritos are really good--chicken sandwiches, steak sandwiches, and everything is homemade.”

The remodeling expanded the kitchen in the front of the restaurant and added seating space in the back, for two rooms seating 80 in all.

And if the menu is longer than it used to be, its prices don’t come close to those in any fancy restaurant. The Vienna beef dog, for example, goes for $2.50 loaded, a single hamburger for $2.19 and a double for $3.29. No matter what you get, you’ll walk out with most of your week’s wages still in your wallet.

The Wienery is at 21028 Ventura Blvd., just west of DeSoto Avenue in Woodland Hills, (818) 704-5556. Come the first of March, it will stay open until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 6 p.m. Sundays.

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Rama Crystal, a Canoga Park musician whose love for Thai cooking has been noted in this space, has a new hangout these days--the Thai West Siamese Kitchen in Chatsworth.

“People have got to try this place,” says Crystal, who has sampled the fare in most of the San Fernando Valley’s Thai restaurants.

“It’s got some of the best Thai cooking you can find, and at the right prices.”

Among Crystal’s favorite dishes: the vegetarian spring rolls, the restaurant’s many curries and seafood dishes, and an item not on the menu, chicken namsud, made with ground chicken, chili powder, lemon juice and ginger.

Wanna Apichatwoot and Manat Anthali, who opened Thai West seven years ago, offer more than 100 noodle, chicken, pork, beef and seafood dishes in all, plus soups, curries and no fewer than 20 vegetarian dishes.

They serve lunch and dinner every day but Sunday. The restaurant is at 9839 Topanga Canyon Blvd., near Lassen Street in Chatsworth, (818) 718-8548.

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Mardi Gras ended two days ago--the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, known as “Fat Tuesday” in New Orleans and elsewhere around the Caribbean--but if you still want to celebrate, JB Torchon offers a special Cajun menu through Saturday this week at his Wine Bistro in Studio City. Reservations are a must. The Wine Bistro is at 11915 Ventura Blvd., just east of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City, (818) 766-6233.

* Juan Hovey writes about the restaurant scene in the San Fernando Valley and outlying points. He may be reached at (805) 492-7909 or fax (805) 492-5139 or via e-mail at jhovey@gte.net.