Crif Dogs: Cheap Late Night Eats on Another Level
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
Posted in Crif Dogs, EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN
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August 4th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Lawrence,
Lovin’ the Crif, man! My vet is across the street, so I pop in occasionally for a dog and a birch beer. I took some friends there when we did our NYC Hot Dog Tour in April and they loved it! Big fan of the Spicy Redneck! Liked the Chihuahua much more than I had expected. Not a huge fan of the Tsunami. The tots are right on point too. I half expected the school lunch lady to be wheeling around her cart of Little Debbie cakes shortly thereafter!
August 4th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Phil loves tots!!!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Please allow me to comment YET AGAIN on this public health menace. Though it may not matter since over 25% of all NYC residents have infectious herpes. Or so I’m told.
That burger looks like a great deal of intestinal trouble. And my wife agrees with me. She is many years my junior, if that interests you.
I came down with a rather debilitating bout of salmonella poisoning last year. We kept no filthy turtles in our home, though I did have a rather impressive collection of anoles (which I named after Food Network personalities), as well as my beloved housecat, Mr. Wiggles.
My doctor ruled out Mr. Wiggles and told me that the cause was likely the anoles, my daily sunny-side up egg or the never-ending salad bowl at the Olive Garden, which I used to patronize several times a week.
After what I went through (I will not get into the details here), I humanely disposed of the anoles and vowed never to eat eggs or restaurant salads again.
Although I am NOT a nutritionist, I AM a PhD and my wife is a respected health professional. Eating a runny egg with a deep fried hot dog and jalapeno peppers (themselves a potent source of salmonella!) is playing Russian Roulette with your health. Only an uneducated know-nothing would do that.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
You haven’t reviewed any Chinese or Asian restaurants in a long while. You should mix it up every now and then. Last weekend I was at the Excellent Dumpling House, 111 Lafayette St., Chinatown. The Dumplings were excellent and so was the eggplant with garlic sauce. I think you would really enjoy it.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I think its more that he posts slowly. He did that asian buffet place, what, two months ago? I dunno.
I can dig it though, there are only so many whole pigs a person can consume a week.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:33 am
DocChuck,
That egg doesn’t appear to be runny. It looks fried all the way thru.
And the…. “Only an uneducated know-nothing would do that”… comment seems harsh.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Hey Food Guy, I’ve been meaning to check out cirff dogs, looks and sounds delicious. Nice write up.
How’ve things been? Having a good summer? You ever in the W.Village/Soho area, I’ve been looking for someone to grab lunch with lately.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Doc Chuck is a Dr. like Indiana Jones is a Dr…
August 9th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I’m a vegetarian and I still love Crif Dogs – I usually get the veggie special, which is a veggie dog topped with guac and fresh salsa.
Although I think that PDT sucks (they act like they’re SOOO cool & the drinks are overpriced, very small, and weak), the dogs you can get there are totally worth trying to get yourself in there. I had the Wylie dog last week – grilled hot dog (usually all-beef, but I got the veggie dog) topped with tomato molasses, shredded lettuce, dehydrated onion, and the best part, a stick of breaded and deep fried mayo (something only Wylie would do). It was hot dog nirvana at the low price of $5. (Although I paid $24 for two tiny and weak cocktails…sigh…I should’ve gone with the overpriced half-pint of beer for $5)
August 11th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
doc chuck you are such a huge d-bag its unbelievable. i bet your alleged “wife” has a schlong
August 13th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Hey, d-bag,
Let’s not be too hard on DocChuck. After all, he IS a PhD and his wife is a “health care professional” (nurse? clinical psychologist?) who is “many years [his] junior). That, and him having a cat named “Mr. Wiggles” and a collection of anoles (yes, I had to look it up). I am in awe. I want to BE DocChuck.
numnuts
August 13th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Add some ranch dressing to the bacon wrapped deep fried dog covered in melted cheddar, chili and jalapenos…Even if u die from cardiac arrest, you will die a happy man with a giant deliciousness induced boner
August 13th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I noticed NYCFG posts about once every two weeks and we just talk amongst ourselves. Is the blog over? Should I un-bookmark?
October 15th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
NYCFG, I finally went to Crif Dogs today. Awesome place. Had the Chihuahua, loved every morsel. The service was friendly and excellent.
Learned about it from your blog. Keep the hits coming……
October 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
FN,
YES! Another convert! Crif dogs really is amazing. Your photo came out pretty solid too, that fried bacon looks awesome. Did you get tater tots? They’re delicious. Especially the chili cheese variety.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
NYCFG, you put me onto Crif Dogs and I appreciate that. Now, return the favor and go check out Dogmatic in Flatiron. I am interested in your take on it.
I went today and put up some photos, check it out.
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
FN – FMF here. What kind of restaurant is that, korean?
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
FMF – it’s a hot dog cart i believe:
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/44518863/new_york_ny/dogmatic.html
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Filth & Phil,
Dogmatic started as a cart but has since become an actual store on 17th street b/t 5th avenue and union square. They’re known for their special method of hollowing out a baguette and filling it with tasty meats and sauces.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
that sounds incredible. Have you been? Better than criffs?
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Different from Crifs. Both are excellent. Check it out:
pufflist.blogspot.com
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Wow that place looks amazing! Excellent review FN. May I suggest switching to NYCFG’s platform though? It really makes the commenting a lot easier when you don’t have to log in and stuff like that.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:27 am
[…] It was unlike anything I’d ever tasted on top of a hot dog, and this from a man who swears by Crif Dogs. It was alternately sweet and sour; a flavor which varying reports credit to a mustard base […]
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:46 am
[…] Tuck Shop, the East Village’s home for authentic Australian street food (meat pies, sausage rolls) and desserts (Tim Tams, vanilla slice, lamingtons), will soft open a new 2nd location this Wednesday (June 24) at 115 St. Mark’s Place, just a few doors down from Crif Dogs. […]
January 18th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
I love nycfg! Thank you for posting and helping me find great places! I can’t wait to try the chihuahua!