The Tail o' the Pup is officially reopening Wednesday in West Hollywood -- just in time for National Hot Dog Day.
The 18-foot-long, hot-dog-shaped food stand was founded in 1946 and closed in 2005.
Dennis Goodine, a West Hollywood resident, said she remembers passing by the iconic stand shaped like a hotdog and bun and lathered with mustard.
"I used to live in Orange County, and we would come up and drive by it all the time coming into West Hollywood," Goodine said.
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Bobby Green, Tail o' the Pup's new owner, calls the hot dog a "mascot of Los Angeles."
"I remember it mostly from the '80s, and all the movies and TV shows it was in and all the celebrities that were always hanging out there," Green said, referring to the food stand.
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The stand stayed in a storage unit in Torrance until the new owners bought it.
Green is part of 1933 Group, an organization working to preserve and protect historic venues across the LA area. Recent venues include the Highland Park Bowl, Idle Hour in North Hollywood, Formosa Café in West Hollywood and Bigfoot Lodge in Atwater Village.
"It's my job to save them and keep them in the city," Green said. "In a city that's full of flux and change, having those icons really grounds you, and when you lose icons like that, you really feel lost. And this is not Lost Angeles. This is Los Angeles."
So if you felt like the Tail o' the Pup was lost, it's now found.
"We need this bright shiny bun of happiness in our lives again," Green said.
