Crif Dogs: Cheap Late Night Eats on Another Level

Date August 2, 2008

Bacon wrapped deep fried hot dogs with all the toppings your imagination can conjure. Crif Dogs, on St Mark’s near Avenue A, is the cheap late night eats (open till 2AM Thursday, 4AM Friday & Saturday) spot that dreams are made of.

Above you’re looking at the Good Morning ($4.50), a bacon wrapped deep fried dog resting on top of a slice of American cheese and a fried egg and a bacon wrapped deep fried dog covered in melted cheddar, chili and jalapenos ($6.23), a creation of Lil’ NYC Food Guy aka my brother.

The Good Morning is awesome although the Chihuahua is still my favorite. Read on for more madness.

Temptee Dog

If you’ve ever dreamed of combining cream cheese with a hot dog, you’re in luck. The Temptee Dog, a hot dog schmeared with cream cheese ($4.15), is a regular on the menu. Unfortunately not even adding bacon for $1 made this a truly delicious dog. It was a mediocre combination.

Tater Tots

Crif Dogs is like a grown up kid’s basement playroom. Action figures on the wall, a standup AND a sitdown Miss PacMan machine and an Arkinoid/Centipide machine. It’s only fitting that their side orders are served from the elmentary school lunch line as well: Tater tots ($2.71 small, $3.79 large), perfectly crisp, wafer-like gobs of fried potato goodness. If you hate your arteries, get them chili cheese style ($3.79 small, $4.88 large).

Stoner Packs & P.D.T. (The secret bar)

If you’re lazy or just plain crazy, you can order a Stoner Pack customized for 1 to 4 people. It’s a mystery grab bag of Crif Dog eats. They won’t tell you what you’re getting but how bad can it really be?

No one likes secrets but secret bars are a whole ‘nother story. In this case, P.D.T. (short for Please Don’t Tell) is a unique cocktail bar which can only be reached by passing through a phone booth inside Crif Dogs. I’ve never been, I’m a beer guy, but I’ve heard about two off-menu dogs inspired by David Chang (Momofuku) and Wylie Dufresne (WD-50) Dog, one of which has fried mayo on it.

Conclusion

I love this place and you will too. It gets better everytime though the occasional fatty piece of bacon can spoil the party. This is just the first of many posts which will chronicle everything on Crif Dogs maniacal menu.

Crif Dogs

113 St. Marks Pl. near Avenue A
New York, NY 10009
212-614-2728