Crif Dogs

In 1999, Brian Shebairo and childhood pal Chris Antista hashed out a plan to serve hotdogs in the alley behind Lansky Lounge, a (now closed) speakeasy that Chris operated in Manhattan's Lower East Side. They grew up in New Jersey eating at Johnny & Hanges, Callahan's, Hiram's, Rutt's Hut, Nathan's and Walter's. On October 6, 2001, after two years of research and development (riding their motorcycles throughout the northeast to sample hot dogs as far as the Windmill in South Jersey and the Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield, CN) Brian and Chris opened Crif Dogs, a name they came up with when Brian tried to say his former partner's name with a hot dog in his mouth.