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Hot Dog Hideaway: PDT is a Tasty Oasis

AUGUST 28, 2009

East Village hot dog spot Crif Dogs hides a cozy lounge serving cocktails you can sink your teeth into.

It's hard to imagine anything staying secret for long in Manhattan. So when East Village hot dog heaven Crif Dogs opened a back-room "speakeasy" on the DL, they expected that only the name would remain that way. PDT (for Please Don't Tell) requires that patrons duck through the establishment's phone booth, but once inside they'll find a space that's more upscale than gin-joint.

Modeled after the Milk + Honey mixology method, cocktails created by Jim Meehan (formerly of Gramercy Tavern and Pegu Club) get exotic with bacon-flavored bourbon and maple syrup and buttered-popcorn rum–though classic cocktails are in full force, too. The Crif Dogs kitchen serves the space, and calorie-carefree visitors rave about waffle fries, deep fried dogs, bowling-alley style burgers. Since PDT has been in business for a couple of years, the buzz has died down a bit, so the crowds, though still in evidence, have subsided. It's a great place for a date, assuming you're not on a PBR-and-pizza budget.

PDT
113 St. Marks Place (between 1st Avenue and Avenue A)
Reservations: 212-624-0386
www.pdtnyc.com