Let's Be Frank: A beefy alternative to scary meat

Factory-farmed beef recalls got you meat scared? Fear not at Let's Be Frank. This hot dog cart at the Helms bakery complex in Culver City offers all the frank with none of the hormones, antibiotics, nitrates or other gross stuff in conventional hot dogs.

For $5, you can pick from the Frank Dog -- nitrate-free, grass-fed hot dogs that once were pasture-raised cows at Hearst Ranch in San Simeon, the Brat Dog -- made of 100% family-farmed pork, or the Pup Dog -- a mix of the beef and pork. These huge franks come on soft buns with optional caramelized onions. Even the ketchup and mustard are organic!

Last week I stopped by and bought one -- except I don't eat beef. So I fed it to my friends Hannah and Alex. Verdict: Tasty, and chewier than most hot dogs.

You can also find Let's Be Frank dogs at Food in West L.A. or the Edison in downtown L.A. And according to Jenn Garbee at the L.A. Times, Let's Be Frank's hot dog cart should roll onto the Santa Monica Pier this spring for the outdoor concert and movie series.

Let's Be Frank. In the Helms Bakery Complex on the east side of Helms Ave., between Washington Blvd. and Venice Blvd. Culver City. Tues. - Sun.  11 a.m. - around 3 p.m.

Photos by Siel

Comments

[sheila]

yech! the problem is not meat, we are omnivores and grass-fed meat is very good for us. the problem is GROUND MEAT, which is revolting. full of blood, poop, rats and all the parts of the animal not fit to eat (nostrils, entrails, ears, hooves, etc.).

e. coli does not exist in the actual flesh of the animal - it is "added in" usually at the slaughterhouse, because the meat is contaminated with all these disgusting "extras." anyone who still eats ground meat after all the e.coli reports is loonie. i stopped in 1992 and never looked back.

[Siel]

I def. have nothing against beef from pasture-raised, grass fed cows -- though of course, with everything but especially with beef, moderation's key :)

Ground beef can def. be some of the grossest stuff, but I'm still v. leery of non-ground beef from factory farms....

[John]

Ground (processed) meat ... served on white bread made with processed flower with no nutritional value. Why pay 5 bucks for a hot dog that's not better for you than a hot dog from Wienerschnitzel?