Two of Manhattan’s highest-minded low-end food purveyors will soon be selling upscale tacos and hot dogs in Williamsburg.
By the end of the summer, Crif Dogs, known for its deep fried beef and pork hot dogs wrapped in bacon, will christen a storefront on Driggs Avenue near N. Seventh Street, while the owners of Soho-based Calexico are looking to open another second Brooklyn branch on Manhattan Avenue near Bedford Avenue.
Calexico owners Jesse Vendley and Peter Oleyer have had their eye on opening a restaurant in Greenpoint, less than a year removed from opening their first Brooklyn outpost of their popular Mexican truck food joint on Union Street in the Columbia Street Waterfront District.
Vendley and Oleyer moved quickly after learning that the owner of La Brique, a Manhattan Avenue Spanish restaurant, wanted to close. Community Board 1 voted on Thursday to recommend the transfer of the liquor license to the location’s new operators.
The plan is to open the restaurant, with a new canopy covering the backyard, in August — and the same menu, more or less (make that more).
“We’re going to expand the menu, but all of the items on our current menu will be there,” said Oleyer.
That means carne asada tacos with hanger steak, chipotle pork burritos, and pollo asado rolled quesadillas with fresh guacamole, black beans, and chips and salsa.
The model for Crif Dogs is a little different.
“We’re going to open a heavy metal wine bar with fires in the back and no sound dampening,” said Crif Dogs’ Brian Shapiro. (Before you call 311, folks, he’s kidding!)
The storefront shop on Williamsburg’s northside will consist of six tables, 12 chairs and 10 stools and the focus will be on bacon and beef.
The East Village icon has long been a popular late-night stop between parties for throngs of New York University college students, and it should fit right in on the N. Seventh corridor.
It is a little more expensive than the traditional Nathan’s or Gray’s Papaya dogs, but well worth it. When it opens, expect long waits for beef and pork hot dogs wrapped in bacon and deep-fried, with avocado and sour cream (known as the chihuahua) or with chili, cole slaw, and jalapenos (the spicy redneck) and other creative toppings.
Fast food in the burg just got a lot more interesting.
