Crif Dogs and why I love my friends

I base 95% of my friendships on food. No, actually that's probably phrasing it incorrectly, but 95% of my friends accommodate to my quirks when it comes to food, whether it be going to new restaurants to try random things, or walking 20 blocks to get fried chicken with me at 3 am. Needless to say, I'm going to be sad that I'm moving away from such a great group of people next year. Why is the intro to this post so uber depressing? Well, on one occasion where I didn't go downtown with them, Wayne remembered that I had wanted to go to Crif Dog for more than a while, so I got a surprise phone call, and a delivery back to the dorm. About an hour later, my Tsunami dog (above) and an order of cheese tater tots arrived.



First off, I'd like to apologize for the photography. The 45 minute train ride back probably doesn't do anything to make the dogs look any more appetizing, and I'm pretty sure the sogginess that I portrayed is doing just wonders for their image. In any case, The Tsunami is described as "a house dog, bacon wrapped, with teriyaki, pineapple & green onions." While it truly looks nothing like the image on the website, it was as described. A nice and semi-crispy wiener wrapped in bacon, with a thick pineapple and teriyaki sauce. The combination of sweet and savory was balanced pretty well, with nothing coming through as overwhelming. A pleasant surprise, and something I'd definitely order again. Which... was not true for the chili dog. It wasn't mine, but I ended up with a bite of it anyway. Maybe it was a single hit or miss thing, but the chili was relatively pasty, with an overwhelming textural consistency equivalent to that of canned beans (at least to me). I'm not in love with beans (unless they're on top of ice and covered with condensed milk), so I didn't really enjoy this one. To each their own, I know for a fact that other people name this as their favorite. Meh.



Argh! Tater tots... with cheese. Disclaimer, I'm sure these are absolutely phenomenal when they first come out of the fryer. The time in transit however, didn't treat these kindly. The cheese ended up being a solid chunk of gelatinous blob, and the tots themselves were kind of mushy from the humidity. If I were at Crif Dog in person, I would probably complement my hot dog with a side order of these, but pass if you're not going to eat immediately.