Frank's Hotdogs, Corner of Harden & Greene Streets: early 2000s 14 comments
This corner building, now the site of The Pour House was the long-time location of Frank's Hotdogs, yet another of the many Columbia restaurants I was going to "get around to" and never did before it was too late.
From what I could gather in years of walking and driving past, the place was open late-nights and had a diner-like setup with a serving counter and tables around the walls. It appeared that the owner took a certain pride in the "basic" nature of his setup, and for many years, a window slogan proclaimed "No Reservations Required". Curiously, given how uncommon non-Sandy's hotdog places are, Frank's was just down the street from Lum's Hotdogs. I don't know if their years of operation overlapped at all though.
14 Responses to 'Frank's Hotdogs, Corner of Harden & Greene Streets: early 2000s'
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Alex
6 Dec 08 at 11:21 pm
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After Frank's closed it became a rather shady place that was eventually closed down when it was busted for drug dealing. After that two friends of mine bought the place and turned it into Minglewood Bar and the Five Points Diner. The bar was a great place to see friends and sometimes catch a live band. The diner (a fantastic greasy spoon) was open all night and served the best hamburgers in town. After owning the place for several years, my friends decided they wanted to start keeping "normal" hours and maybe have some kids. So, they sold the place. I think this was sometime in 2005. Unfortunately the owners of what's now called The Pour House totally killed the atmoshphere of the bar. I have no idea if they serve food anymore.
aqua-girl
11 Dec 08 at 7:19 pm
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If you want some pictures of it as Frank's, you could rip them from the dvd of the following documentary which features Frank's:
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/A_Hot_Dog_Program/70025860?trkid=504326
Nobody
12 Dec 08 at 10:52 am
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Looks interesting, but I can't just lift copyrighted pix and put them here..
ted
12 Dec 08 at 2:34 pm
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Well, it was a documentary made for PBS. It's one of many by Rick Sebak, who made it for the affiliate WQED. I found his e-mail on their webpage: magsebak@wqed.org. Considering that he is a documentary film maker, and his specific style of film making, it's highly likely he'd give you the okay. Even if not, it's worth watching, and I wanted to at least let you know about it.
Nobody
12 Dec 08 at 10:13 pm
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Sure, and thanks!
ted
13 Dec 08 at 12:32 am
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Frank's Hot Dogs was named after it's owner, Frank Barco. Frank also owned the bar across Harden Street, The Bar Co. Quite the play on words. Frank's had a great breakfast menu too.
15 Jan 09 at 9:51 pm
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A storm blew out the sign Frank's Hot Dogs one day, possibly the major storm of June '89, three months before Hugo.
The sign just said "Franks" with a logo that was presumably resembled a banner unfurling,but with the business name, had a somewhat suggestive appearance. Too bad no surving pictures of it.
badger
16 Jan 09 at 12:10 pm
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Ted (and readers), I was thinking about Frank Barco tonight and decided to look for some photos. I discovered that he had passed on August 16, 2012.
I used to eat at Frank's Hot Dogs while I was a USC student in the mid to late 70s and returned when I was visiting the area in the 80s. They had the best hot dogs in my opinion. Their claim to fame was the natural casing hot dog.
Here's the article I discovered. There are a couple of archived articles in the sidebar.
http://www.thestate.com/2012/08/21/2407221/the-grumpy-old-man-we-all-loved.html
Becky Pittman
23 Aug 12 at 12:49 am
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Well, that's a shame to hear..
Interesting articles though, thanks!
ted
23 Aug 12 at 1:21 am
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aqua girl- The Diner did have the best burgers in town in the early 00s
chris
23 Aug 12 at 8:10 pm
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As good as the hot dogs were, the chili was even better. Loved that place.
JOHN
18 Dec 12 at 11:54 am
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Franks...another place besides the Golden Spur with cheap beer. I remember they had nickle beer. Seems like it was on Wednesdays.
And the best pinball machines around. All the machines that are classic now.
JHT
21 Mar 13 at 9:26 pm
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I remember Franks Hot Dogs from my school days at USE in the early 70s. The hot dogs were very different and very good. My friends and I would make a trip to Five Points--going to the Joyful Alternative for our hippie shopping and to Franks for a good hot dog
Scoe
24 Mar 13 at 8:21 pm
Franks ran an outside hot dog stand across Harden St at the intersection of Greene. It was extremely popular in the 90's for anyone in 5 points. I used to think it was the best food ever, but when you're drunk at 2 am anything tastes good. I think they closed down the stand my last year at USC (1997). A sad moment for 5 points, 2nd only to Rockafellas shutting down.