Falling in Love With Cupid’s Hot Dogs?

 Cupid's Hot Dogs

106 North Harbor Blvd. 

Fullerton, CA 92832

Hot dogs need to have their moment in the spotlight. Hot chicken sandwiches, bacon on everything, poke, frozen yogurt, and even kale were a thing for a hot minute a while back. What we need now are more hot dog restaurants in OC. With a few exceptions, restaurants usually relegate hot dogs to the kid's menu, or they offer one at the bottom of their regular menu, as kind of a throw-in. Hot dogs should be front and center more often. Luckily, the people of North OC now have a new option for hot dogs, and it's called Cupid's. 

If Cupid's Hot Dogs sounds familiar to you, you must have grown up in the Valley. They have been serving hot dogs up there since 1946 and are now being run by the third generation of the Walsh family. I did not grow up in the Valley but had heard of them when I visited PCH Dogs in Orange. Owner Scott Browning grew up there and when he moved to OC he missed their hot dogs so much it inspired him to open his own place. See, the power of the hot dog is a powerful thing. 

A new family has brought Cupid's to OC, but they have been working with the Walsh family to ensure that the consistency is the same here. The menu is similar to the ones in the Valley, with the differences being that the Fullerton spot offers fries, but they don't sell soft-serve ice cream. In the six months that they have been opened, they have amassed a perfect five-star rating on Yelp, which along with my love of hot dogs was enough for me to make a lunch date with my parents recently. 

There was plenty of parking in the back of the storefront, but the entrance is located on the Harbor Boulevard side. When I was growing up this was a baseball card shop, and more recently it was a jewelry store. The long narrow space is sparsely decorated with their logo on their white walls. There's a couple of tables and a four-seat counter facing one of the walls. Not really too much seating, so you might want to avoid mealtimes, or plan ahead and order to go, as we saw a number of people do during our visit. 

The menu is really very simple here. They have five hot dogs to choose from and the sixth is a build your own option. Sides include fries, chili, and chips. For those that care, there's no fountain drink service here, as they only have beverages in bottles.  With such a limited menu, we quickly made our selections and took the one unoccupied table to wait for our food. 

Let's start out with the Chili Fries ($4.75). With the exception that Cupid's uses crinkle-cut fries, I thought these really resembled Tommy's chili cheese fries. The chili had the same taste and texture but needed a bit more cheese to help balance things out. This was layered well, so I was not just left with a bunch of fries at the end. The fries pretty much stayed crispy throughout my whole time eating this. 

This Reuben Dog ($5.80) kind of missed the mark for me. The hot dog had a wonderful snap to it, but the sauerkraut really overpowered here, so I could not taste the mustard or cheese. I think this hot dog is misnamed, as a true Reuben has Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, not mustard and cheddar cheese. It was fine, but I'd skip this in favor of the two hot dogs still to come. 

My mom is pretty basic when it comes to what she likes on her hot dogs, so it was no surprise to me that she opted for the Make It Your Way Hot Dog ($4.85). With this option, you can choose any toppings that you wish. Not sure if this includes chili or if there are any limitations, the menu is a bit vague about this. My mom went with mustard and light relish on her hot dog. She loved the all-beef hot dog and the pillowy soft bun, which was spongy and held its shape well. Way better than her beloved Weinerschnitzel hot dogs that she has monthly. 

One of the better, if not the best chili cheese dog I have had in OC. Their namesake Cupid Hot Dog ($5.35) comes topped with plenty of chili, onion, mustard, and shredded cheddar cheese. What made this so good? It starts with the all-beef Vienna hot dog that they use here. Its casing really snaps when bitten into and you can taste the high quality of the hot dog in every bite. The bun held up nicely to the meaty chili. I do wish there were more onions involved here, or maybe place them on top of the chili to get them more involved in each bite. Still a very good chili cheese dog. 

Just based on my chili cheese dog, I can see why people up in the Valley are so passionate about Cupid's. Yes, their menu is pretty limited as far as options, but if you are craving a hot dog, this place will certainly satisfy those cravings. Service was pretty straightforward, and the price point for some of you might be a bit higher than what you are used to paying at your local Wienerschnitzel, but these are far superior hot dogs and worth the extra dollar or so. I have my doubts, but I'm still hoping that this might get the ball rolling so that hot dog spots start popping up all over just so I don't have to drive 45 minutes to visit Cupid's every time my hot dog cravings hit.  

Out of five leftovers, (because when Cupid's opened in 1946, it was also the same year that Tupperware was invented, which helped keep leftovers fresher longer), five being best to zero being worst, Cupid's Hot Dogs gets 3.5 leftovers. 

For more information about Cupid's Hot Dogs, head to their website here: https://www.cupidsoc.com/