Crif Dogs 04-26-2009

Location: 113 St. Marks Pl.
Time: 7pm
People: JLam from MeSoHungry, Sassy MGru, ALev, TrishP, JodyB, ChristaM, RB and myself

Feelings: Happy Pigs in a Blanket Day! (4/26) To celebrate this amazing yet underappreciated holiday, we headed out to a quintessential New York hot dog joint, Crif Dogs. This East Village eatery offers varieties of hot dogs such as vegetarian, "Tsunami" (bacon wrapped dog with Teriyaki sauce, pineapple & green onions), "Spicy Redneck" (bacon wrapped dog with with chili, cole slaw, and jalapenos) and a simpler dog like the "New Yorker," which is classic grilled all-beef Frankfurter. We all enjoyed our dogs although I thought the buns were a bit on stale side, but what do I know about hot dogs? I, the ovo-pescatarian, have probably only had total of four hot dogs in my life, and they were all veggie dogs. If the meat eaters loved their dogs, they must have been glorious.

Another good thing about this place was it was BYOB, so we enjoyed washing down our dogs with cheap Pabst and Tall Boys we grabbed from a deli around the corner. That's the way to celebrate true Pigs in a Blanket Day!

People always found it unusual that I have never tried Tater Tots. (I was raised by quite health conscious parents.) I have been looking to try one, but I have never had the opportunity until now. I finally got to try these amazingly cute and sexy sounding dish at Crif Dogs. Wow! I almost hate my parents for not letting me try them when I was little. These tiny croquettes were so crunchy yet moist and mushy inside and perfectly seasoned. They were a perfect little amusement for one's mouth.

The celebration continued to a Karaoke party at Toto Music Studio in K-Town until 2am. The tots and dogs did not follow us, but plenty of Tall Boys did.