Crif Dogs

While I have been gallivanting around town trying to satiate my cravings for raw meat, tripe, intestines, sea urchin, and angler liver.  Frank has made it a point to satisfy his craving for deep fried bacon covered hot dogs. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, that does exist.  Frank's favorite eatery in all of Manhattan is Crif Dogs in the East Village.  This place serves only hot dogs and tater tots. Our favorites include the "Jon-Jon Deragon", which is a hot dog served with a smear of cream cheese, scallions, and everything bagel seeds; and the "Chihuahua," a deep fried bacon wrapped hot dog served with sour cream and avocado.

Crif Dogs also houses one of NYC's "secret" bars.  In the space itself, there is a telephone booth, you go in, pick up the phone, and it connects you to the host at Please Don't Tell.  You ask the host if there is room to accommodate you, and if so the back wall of the phone booth opens up, and you enter into a dark bar adorned with deer heads and random taxidermy. The bar itself is a mixology bar so the cocktails you get here are not your everyday average cocktails.  You can get anything from a Old Fashioned made with bacon infused bourbon and maple syrup to a Scotch based drink doused with smoked cardamon syrup and fresh pineapple juice.  It's a nice bar to check out, though you wouldn't want to frequent it as a cocktail costs $14, but if you've never had a mixologist-concocted beverage, it's well worth a try.