Crif Dogs with optional PDT

Crif Dogs brings a playful hot-dog stop to St Marks Place. The East Village business has been serving signature dogs, burgers and tots since 2001, making it a useful choice when you want an informal meal with more room for toppings and combinations than a simple frank at a counter.

Choose the hot dog that appeals from the current menu and build the order around that. Tots can turn a snack into a fuller stop, but the attraction remains the dog and its combination of toppings. This works with a Village evening when a long restaurant sitting would get in the way of the rest of the plan.

Please Don’t Tell is a separate cocktail experience reached through the phone-booth entrance inside. The connection makes the address memorable, but buying food at Crif Dogs does not include a place at PDT. Decide whether you want a hot-dog visit or a bar visit as well, then arrange the latter on its own terms.

The combination suits adults planning an East Village evening around casual food and cocktails. Crif Dogs also stands on its own as a food stop; there is no need to add the bar to make the visit worthwhile.