Crif Dog's NYC (updated with PICS!)

I was out late last night around St. Mark's Place and thought about getting some falafel at Mamoun's, but realized that Crif Dogs was just two blocks away, so I stopped in to finally try their "Spicy Redneck" dog that I had been hearing a lot about. That place was packed at 2:30 am! Lots of hipsters and people getting out of the local bars and feeding their jones for some grease and grub. I ordered a Spicy Redneck and a Stewart's root beer. The redneck is a house dog (smoked, possibly even deep fried given the crusty exterior and excellent snap) wrapped in bacon, topped with chili, coleslaw and jalapenos. Very, very good and satisfied a craving I was having. I have a hot dog magnet on my fridge now that says "EAT ME" and a happy memory of a great dog. I wasn't planning on going out last night so , sorry, no pics of this one.

Hey Billy Boy ,

I'm showing some out of towners around tommorrow and one of the possible stops is crifs Dogs .
We will be down by Ground Zero and it will be around 1 or 2 pm .
Will let you know how it turns out .

Benzee

Benzee,

Crif Dogs began as a knockoff of Rutt's Hut. One of the original owners admitted this to me. Two Jersey guys opened Crif Dogs with the intention of bringing the North Jersey deep fried hot dog concept to New York. And I would have to say that they do a good job. Knowing that this dog might be an aquired tatse (being pork based and milder in flavor) and knowing that most New Yorkers are used to an all beef dog, they also offer a grilled all beef dog that they call the New Yorker. This is a high quality Thumanns all beef dog. Their regular dog is the Thumanns deep fryer which is served at Rutt's Hutt, Hirams, Libby's, Goffle Grill, Johnny & Hanges, and a slew of others. I would try both dogs. But be sure to ask for the regular dog (deep fried) well done.

happy Saturday night, guys!

I hit Crif Dogs during last year. I espescially like the neat little street it was on. (very hip..) I like that east village, even better than the west village/NYU area
I think I may even have some pics of that hot dog in one of my NYC trip reports. (of course you are welcome to hijack my pic, and throw it on this thread).

The place reminded me of a little cave; reasonably priced dogs, as well.
I think I even washed it all down with a falafel after from that Mamoun's across the street.

p.s. now I'm envious of you , Billyboy, cause I could go for a good NYC hot dog now, and I'm really craving a Carnegie Deli pastrami , espescially after reading Tonybads trip report)

Hello all ,

Great that Ellen and John chimed in on this .
As you know John I love Rutts so this will be a fine experience for me .
I hope the others like it too.

Benzee

Hey Ellen.

I thought of your Crif Dog trip as I was posting this the other night. Let me know next time you're in town and I might be able to join you for some good eats. I hit Five Guys on 55th Street not too long ago and it was pretty good.

Hello all ,

We visited Crifs Dogs today , fantastic little place . Great dogs were had by all.
All of us enjoyed them
I had one Crif Dog and a New Yorker
The New yorker was a grilled all beef Thumanns . Excellent Dog !!
The Crif Dog was the Thumanns deep fryer . Asked for it well done as per John Foxs suggestion and it tasted just like Rutts !!! Fantastic !!
One friend Mrs Linarcos as she will probably be called when she does sign up upon her return to Illinois had the corn dog she loved .
Friends from Jersey had the New Yorkers with onions and they enjoyed it also .
Parking is not easy around that area and although I was able to find a spot , this could become a hazard or detriment for those trying .

After a nice visit to Crifs we drove the two blocks over to Pomme Frites . Parking again an interesting side story . Found a spot though .
All of us had the regulars at $4.00 .
Enough fries to last the day for sure .
I had the especial sauce of frite sauce , mayo and onions
Everyone else stayed with ketchup.
Very small place , long lines all day I'm told . We got lucky with only three in front of us but as we were leaving the line was out the door.
Tourists were taking pictures also ( hey we did not feel out of place)

Passed Katzs , did not stop , hey this wasn't the Jersey Hot Dog Tour crew after all . And it was off for the rest of the day .

I would highly recommend Crifs and Pomme Frites and will be returning to both places soon

Benzee

Hi Benzee,
Glad your day in NYC worked out so nicely! Sounds like you were a real nice tour guide!

And you found a parking spot in NYC ?!? WOW !

I ended up going to a belgian fries place down the street from Katz's Deli last time, (just happened to stumble on it) as the lines were too long in the place you went to.

I can never decide what dipping sauces to get with those fries, so I usually end up getting 3 or 4 of them ; (I consider myself a "big dipper") ... you were the only adventurous one, as the rest just had ketchup, huh?!? (ketchup does'nt do much for me, I'll have the frite sauce with YOU)

Update: I had to take the cat to the vet today and his office just happens to be right across from Crif Dogs and I hadn't had lunch yet, so... I poked my head in to see if it was okay for me to bring in her inside with the carrier and the counter girl couldn't have been nicer. We got talking about out pets after I put in my order for a chili dog and a side of tater tots to go. She said the "Crif Dog" is used in a lot of their dog selections and it's a smoked hot dog that is deep fried. Here are some pics:

The menu. As you can see, they cater to those who are members of the "counter-culture". I had to throw a small post-it nub over some potentially offending language on the menu so I could post it here. Check out the "Stoner Packs". The menu really does give a sense of their variety and attitude. They also offer RC Cola, Red Birch Beer and Stewarts Root Beer. Very nice.

Another shot of the menu that highlights their attitude.

A magnet that they gave me.

My tater tots. These were really good. They weren't crispy (probably because of the travel to the apartment), but they were delicious and all stuck together like some kind of starchy, potatoey "strufoli". There was some grease, but just at the bottom and I loved these, no ketchup needed.

My chili dog with onions, mustard and chili. I think they make their own chili there and it gad a great meaty flavor to it.

Another shot of my chili dog with the dog exposed. Can you see the gnarled sexiness of the deep fried dog? It looks like the ones I've seen in the Rutt's Hut photos (a "ripper") here on the site.


I really love this place!

I was going to post that $4.00 is pricy for 1 chili dog, but taking into account that it's pretty good (I've only had it once, but I remember liking it), it's in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, and the chili dog at Ben's in DC is $3.45 ($4.80 for a chili half smoke), I can't call it a rip off. Still wish it was a bit less, though. $9.50 (maybe more if they add tax) is a lot to spend on 2 chili dogs and a soda.

Great account and photos. Do I read correctly that they offer Pork Slap Beer for $4.00? (Pork Slap???)

Oh man thats a fine looking chili dog... Thanks for sharing! (And you have to love that menu)..

Hey Billy Boy ,
Counter culture is a good word for this place .
Great pictures .
I'm cherishing my magnet also

Benzee

Yeah, I hear ya. That is a bit expensive and I don't eat them very often (except my two recent trips there). I go maybe once a year as it definitely scratches a cetain itch for something wrong that tastes so right. I saw the Porkslap Ale listed on the Butternuts Beer and Ale website. If you Google Porkslap beer, it'll come up.

quote:

Originally posted by BigAl72

I was going to post that $4.00 is pricy for 1 chili dog, but taking into account that it's pretty good (I've only had it once, but I remember liking it), it's in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, and the chili dog at Ben's in DC is $3.45 ($4.80 for a chili half smoke), I can't call it a rip off. Still wish it was a bit less, though. $9.50 (maybe more if they add tax) is a lot to spend on 2 chili dogs and a soda.

I thought I'd reserect this thread to write about a recent trip to Crif Dogs. I was in NYC last Saturday (Feb 21) taking a food writing class and I turned it into a day of eating but I'll post the entire day in the trip reports section. I did however stop at Crif Dogs (and Pomme Frites..thanks Benzee!). Definitely a counter culture atmosphere. I collect menus and saw Billyboy's menu pic and noticed that the menu design changed. The "stoner packs" are now referred to as "Crif Paks" and I believe they are now BYOB. I ordered the spicy redneck without jalepenos and was plesantly surprised. The reason being that I'm not a huge fan of Rutt's Hutt or beef/pork dogs but the combination of deep fried dog, chili and slaw was delicious with red birch beer. it was definitely a very cool place and I'd go back.

Dave