If you had to put a price on happiness, how much would it be:  $100,000?  $1,000,000?

What if I told you that you could be happy once a week for $11, would you do it?

If so, head on over to Larry’s Chili Dogs on Burbank Blvd. in Burbank and for $11 you can get the best breakfast burrito in Burbank, maybe even the San Fernando Valley.

In every bite, your tastebuds are stimulated with potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, and if you are brave, hot salsa.  It will make you so happy that the extended smile on your face will hurt.

And for this joyful five-minute (or three if you have no patience) taste explosion at the princely sum of $11. 

I’ve had breakfast burritos that are good but often have one or more failings to their recipe:  too eggy, too much salt, not enough protein, uncooked potatoes or bacon, not the right kind of cheese.  Sometimes the ingredients burn through the tortilla making it impossible to eat with your hands.  Did I mention too much salt?

Here’s the best part:  the breakfast burrito isn’t even what Larry’s is known for.

Their signature dish is a chili cheese dog—mustard, onion, chili—and a cherry coke.  Not a pre-mixed one in a can, but a coke with cherry syrup pumped (hopefully several pumps) into it.

The chili recipe is mild and complements the snap of the high-quality hot dog.  This isn’t anything you’d find at Wienerschnitzel (do those still exist?).  And unlike a more famous chili dog in the L.A. area, Pink’s, this one tastes better and you don’t have to wait in line for 45 minutes.

John, the proprietor, whose last name I am embarrassed to admit I still don’t know, has run this Burbank tradition for over 20 years.  He is one of the nicest men I know.  He works very hard, six days a week, and loves his job.  He opens, closes, cooks, cleans, and answers the phone though he does have help from family members.

Larry’s opened in 1952 and John is only the third owner as far as I know.  Neither of the other men were named Larry.  According to John, “Larry” is the nickname of the original owner’s girlfriend.  If anyone out there can verify this, please let me know.

I first went to Larry’s when I was a teenager in high school.  Then it was located at 3111 W. Burbank Blvd. about across the street where it is today. It was an unusual space, steps from the sidewalk leading up to a landing where you would place your order; picnic tables spread around.  The space was so large that today a two-story office building has replaced it.

Larry’s is a reminder of Burbank’s past that isn’t a museum, but a thriving eatery, year after year after year.

I don’t know a businessman who works as hard as John does in a line of work that brings so much joy to so many regulars

I daresay that what John provides to the City of Burbank is worthy of recognition, do you hear that Chamber of Commerce?

More than that tasty diner-style food, the memories Larry’s evokes is worth the price of admission . . . and an extra inch in one’s waist size.