Rollin' Around Cupid's Hot Dog Carhop
Co-owner Morgan Walsh skating to serve a drink by carhop on March 18, 2021, at Cupid’s Hot Dogs Winnetka, Calif. (Willow Sando McCall | The Corsair)
In a packed parking lot, sisters Morgan and Kelly Walsh and their friend Adrianna Gaxiola, roller skate on the smooth pavement and serve customers in their cars at Cupid's Hot Dogs. Customers enjoy the ambiance as they eat their hot dogs in their cars while Morgan Walsh blasts oldies on her speaker. There is a feeling of nostalgia with outside tables painted in a 70s style, retro-looking murals, a classic menu, and of course, their huge vintage-looking Cupid’s heart sign.
Cupid’s Hot Dogs has been around for 75 years and continues to be family-owned. Passed on from grandparents, Richard and Bernice Walsh, to their father Rick, and now onto Morgan and Kelly. The sisters have been running the two locations in Los Angeles for about 12 years now. The name Cupid’s comes from the original owner Bernice’s nickname, “Cupid”. The sisters maintain a simple menu of just hot dogs, chips, chili, and soda as their grandparents wanted, but keep it fresh by adding a vegan option.
The two started doing the roller skating carhop at their Winnetka location on Valentine’s Day weekend 2021, and decided to continue it every Thursday. Cupid’s carhop gained popularity on TikTok the sisters uploaded a video that went viral. The video, which as of March 30 has 7.5 million views, shows the sisters skating and serving a customer by carhop to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and text that gives background on the business.
“When we decided to do carhop I had a feeling people were really gonna like it because roller skating is making a comeback but I didn’t think we were gonna go viral on the first weekend,” said Morgan. She started skating three years ago. Her sister grew up playing ice hockey which helped her pick up rollerskating more easily.
Even with COVID-19 restrictions, it’s still a very personable experience at Cupid’s. Regulars continue to visit to eat and chat with the owners. Although they never met their grandparents, regulars love to tell stories about them. “A lot of our customers have been coming here since the 50s and 60s so we learn a lot about our grandparents through them,” said Morgan, “and people have a lot of really special memories about growing up with Cupid’s so it's really nice to be a part of that and get to hear their stories.”
Though the carhop team is small, consisting of just the two Walsh sisters and Gaxiola, regulars come to skate in the parking lot too. During the last carhop, Gaxiola even taught a young roller skater a trick called “downtown”, so don’t be afraid to come practice with your skates.
The carhop occurs every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at their Winnetka location and they plan to continue the event even after COVID-19 restrictions begin to lift. There is a second Cupid’s Hot Dogs location in Simi Valley, but the carhop is exclusive to their Winnetka location. There is still a walk-up counter and outdoor seating available. They also do car shows the last Saturday of the month at their Winnetka location.
