Los Perros Locos

Earlier this year (this post has languished in drafts for so long), M was reading Eater when she came across the sad news that Los Perros Locos, a Colombian hot dog joint down on the Lower East Side, had closed. We only made it down there once during their 20 month tenure but were hoping to go again to try more in connection with our Colombian WorldEats quest. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen since the shop is gone (even though it may return in other forms according to the post), but to say goodbye, it's probably a good time to finish off our post on our first (and only) visit.

We had been wanting to try Los Perros Locos since we heard of their opening, since (a) we love hot dogs, (b) we like Colombian food, and (c) we really enjoy trying out fast food from other cultures. At some point, we picked up a voucher for a really sweet deal, so we used that on our only visit there. With our voucher, we got 3 beef hot dogs, 1 salchipapas populares, and 2 cervezas for just $18!

We started out with our cervezas. A went for a Presidente as he drank many of them in the past when out with coworkers. It's a clean pilsner with little in the way of bitter hoppiness, but it's a refreshing beer overall. M had never heard of Aguila beer, but chose it anyway, solely because it was a Colombian beer. From what she remembers, she liked it, but it's been a while and she's not very good at describing beer anyway, so sorry, no other details on the Aguila here.

We were very excited about the salchipapas (fries) and it was our favorite part of the meal. We got the salchipapas populares (waffle fries with hot dogs, salsa rosada, and salsa verde). These are everything you would imagine them to be. Crisp exterior with a soft potato interior on the waffle fries paired up with melted cheese, cut up hot dogs, and two creamy salsas. Heavenly.

We got 3 hot dogs with our voucher so we picked:

Amero-Perro (their version of a chili dog - beer and cocoa infused beef chili, shredded Vermont cheddar, chipotle kraut, crushed Fritos, ChipZana [chipotle + apple] sauce)

The crushed Fritos were a little odd, and neither of us really were sure what to make of them. Yes, they added texture and that heavy corn flavor the chips are known for, but they didn't fully mesh with the rest of the hot dog. It was odd, though, since this was essentially a chili cheese dog which should go well with Fritos considering that's what goes into Frito Pies. The chili cheese dog part of it was good though.

Mexi-Max (sriracha pico de gallo, chipotle kraut, ChipZana sauce, salsa verde, queso cotija, crushed Fritos)

Again with the crushed Fritos, although they seemed to work better here. This hot dog was similar to the Amero-Perro in that it had the chipotle kraut, ChipZana sauce, and crushed Fritos, but the differences certainly stood out. We're big fans of salsa verde and queso cotija so we knew we'd really like the flavors on this dog. The sriracha pico de gallo was really refreshing and offered just the right amount of heat.

Chimi-Churi-Chori (chorizo, grilled Provoleta, homemade chimichurri, aji panca aioli, crushed potato chips)

This was our favorite, and we figured it would be. We're both really big fans of chorizo because of its distinct and powerful flavor, but adding in the grilled Provoleta, chimichurri, and aioli enhanced the flavors so much. The crushed potato chips didn't add as much flavor as the crushed Fritos from the previous two hot dogs, but they added that same unique texture.

Overall, we had a good meal at Los Perros Locos with lots of tasty things that we hadn't had before. The voucher meant we basically got our meal for half price and it was a great deal. We definitely wanted to return, but sadly that will not be happening now. It was pretty packed the night we went so we were surprised to hear the news of their shuttering. Hopefully Colombian hot dogs will pop up elsewhere soon!