Fries

[Double 0]

Dogs and burgers have had their day. How about the #1 side, fries. Where's the best, not just in a burger joint, but from anywhere. Tell us how you like them and why.

[Rosie]

Sammy's in Mendham. I think they are double fried in lard.

Also, Epernay in Montclair as he serves them with a couple of rich, creamy dipping sauces.

[Holly Moore]

Still looking for a great Jersey fry.

My favorite to date:

Dave's Fries at the Englishtown Flea Market - nice and greasy, but not twice fried

and

Curley's Fries on the Boardwalk in North Wildwood - double fried, but crinkle cut like Nathans.

Of the two, Curley's, even if they aren't as greasy.

[rozrapp]

Jessie & David's, the kosher deli in Manalapan, has fabulous fries. They are rather thick, crinkle cut, and made to order so you have to wait for them. When they finally come out of the kitchen, they're piping hot, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

[RockADS21]

McDonalds - bar none!

[Double 0]

McDonalds - bar none!

Can't agree. Maybe before the fat police got to them (they cooked them in beef tallow). Of ff type Wendys has got them beat by a mile.

[jhlurie]

McDonalds - bar none!

If I MUST have fast food fries its gonna be Nathans (and even they can suck in the less meticulous locations).

[201]

McDonalds - bar none!

Can't agree. Maybe before the fat police got to them (they cooked them in beef tallow). Of ff type Wendys has got them beat by a mile.

I haven't had McDonald's fries in a long while, but I have had the fries at three different Wendy's locations in the past year or so. In my experience, Wendy's doesn't cook their fries long enough and they almost seem to have stopped salting them altogether while handing out salt & pepper packets with the fries. So I have no idea what the current McDonald's fries taste like, but I can't see them being worse than Wendy's.

Anyway, as far as fast food fries go, I'd have to agree with Jon and say Nathan's. It's just one of those weird summer cravings I sometimes get where I'll see a Nathan's and have to order just some fries and a lemonade. I can't remember the last time I actually ate a Nathan's hot dog.

Off the top of my head though, I can't really think of any destinations for really good fries in Jersey. The only time I really think, "I want some fries" (aside from my summertime Nathan's craving) would be when I'm in the neighborhood of a Pomme Frites in the city. Have any of those places spread across the Hudson yet?

[pnapoli]

i like the fries at indigo smoke in montclair. specifically with malt vinegar. or dipped in bbq sauce!

oh yeah, epernay's are good too. beware if you order them--you get a lot, and they're pretty addictive.

Edited February 26, 2003 by pnapoli (log)

[Jason Perlow]

I've heard by many that these fries are the bomb:

Boardwalk Fries

6725 Black Horse Pike

Egg Harbor TWP, NJ 08234-3904

Phone: (609) 484-9770

[awbrig]

I've heard by many that these fries are the bomb:

be careful, i read somewhere that if you use frie and bomb in the same sentence that the FBI can track you...Shoot did I just do that! You tricked me!

[pnapoli]

Curley's Fries on the Boardwalk in North Wildwood - double fried, but crinkle cut like Nathans.

hey, is there a curley's on the b-walk in rohoboth by any chance? maybe i am getting my beaches confused, but i could swear that there is and if so, i've had the fries (served in a paper cup??) and they are pretty damn good.

[finker99]

Ted's North in Paramus on the corner of continental and spring valley roads has a long history of seasoned fries; way back in the day it used to be a fresh chicken farm(Komsa's Farm) with amazing seasoned fries, it went through a few incarnations in the 80's and 90's and has become a very good local deli that uses the same recipe, although it seems you need to order them well done to get them cooked right, and personally I go for extra seasoning.

*****BLATENT SELF PLUG BLATENT SELF PLUG*******

Fink's Funky Chicken and Ribs has homemade fries double dipped in peanut oil and seasoned, served in a cardboard chinese food pt or qt container and tossed with salt or or funky bbq seasoning. Fries are cut fresh daily from idaho baking potatoes.

Yes, the memory of the seasoned fries from Komsa's inspired me, and I even serve them the same way (in the cardboard container in a paper bag) When I first started cooking at the Iron Horse (a good fry if you like big fat ones and a great burger) in Westwood I used to experiment at least two nights a week trying to figure out the Komsa's spice mix because in that incarnation it's owners were not making the fries. In the end I know that they were heavy on the celery salt and it may have been that simple or even just a sprinkling of old bay or some other crab boil. Any who, they are worth the try these days, and the sandwiches are good, actually, I am going there for a snack now.

Fink

[howard88]

It has been a while, but I still remember the outstanding fries just off the beach at Rehobeth.

[=Mark]

Ray's Seafood Restaurant in Little Silver does possibly the best steak fry that I know of, and I'm not normally a fan of that type of fry.

As a subset of this topic I'd have to nominate the Navesink Cafe, a seasonal place on the waterfront in Red Bank as the best area battered onion rings. Thick cut rings of spanish onions expertly battered and perfectly fried...

[tommy]

Ted's North in Paramus on the corner of continental and spring valley roads...

i went to ted's north for a sandwich during the summer, for the first time. i think i posted about it, but i can't find the post. although i could of posted in my head, as i often times do.

at any rate, i didn't have any hot foods, but their cold sub was spot on. i'm looking foward to going back.

[Holly Moore]

Fink's Funky Chicken and Ribs has homemade fries double dipped in peanut oil and seasoned, served in a cardboard chinese food pt or qt container and tossed with salt or or funky bbq seasoning.  Fries are cut fresh daily from idaho baking potatoes.

What cut are your fries? (I'm hoping you're not going to say shoestring.)

Also, as I'm assuming cholesterol isn't all that much a priority in your menu, have you considered a lard blend? Really does make a difference.

Edited February 27, 2003 by Holly Moore (log)

[finker99]

not shoe string, about two sizes up, and it isn't the cholesterol, i actually have a good amount of 'no red meat' customers so we went with meatless fat to accomodate them.

Fink

[Jason Perlow]

not shoe string, about two sizes up,  and it isn't the cholesterol, i actually have a good amount of 'no red meat' customers so we went with meatless fat to accomodate them.

Fink

Dude, besides the Portabello sandwich, what the hell else can they order? Chicken?

[Joe H]

McDonald's fries changed in 1967 when they stopped using fresh potatoes sliced in house with the skin left on. The potatoes were blanched and hung in a basket on a rack for hours before being fried in 70% animal fat. Until 1982 you could still get these original fries at the McDonald's in Des Plaines, IL which was McDonald's #1 (after San Bernadino). In '82 they closed this McDonald's, built a new one nearby and never served fries and their Speedee System shakes again.

But there is one place on earth where you can still get the original McDonald's french fries: Dick's Drive In in Spokane, Washington. This is NOT connected to Seattle's Dick's Drive Ins. It is an independent which started in the late '50's and was known originally as Panda Drive In. The owner tried to get a McDonald's franchise for Spokane then and was turned down. He went to southern CA, worked in a McDonald's for a month or so, noted their suppliers and methods, then returned to Spokane and opened his own drive in. This was modelled exactly after McDonald's even down to a building that looks strikingly similar to an original McDonald's (#2 in Downey, CA is still there and looks exactly as it did on the day it opened in the early '50's. On the side of it is a museum dedicated to the original McDonald's that includes photographs of french fries being made prior to '67).

His menu was McDonald's original menu. Everything was made EXACTLY as McDonald's made their hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries and shakes in the '50's ("Forty five cents for a three course meal at McDonald's"). Today, in 2003, it hasn't changed. The shakes and french fries are still made the same way although he has added, as has McDonald's, fish sandwiches and a few others.

At lunchtime the "new" McDonald's two blocks away is almost empty on any given day while Dick's has lines that stretch from its walkup windows to the end of its parking lot in front 30 yards away. Just as McDonald's did in the '50's when lines stretched to the end of the arches.

According to USA Today Dick's in Spokane is the United States second highest grossing independent fast food restaurant behind the Varsity in Atlanta.

Anyway, you can still get McDonald's original french fries there. And, yes, they really are the best on earth. http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southw...ats/socalchains

/

[Rail Paul]

But there is one place on earth where you can still get the original McDonald's french fries:  Dick's Drive In in Spokane, Washington.  This is NOT connected to Seattle's Dick's Drive Ins.  It is an independent which started in the late '50's and was known originally as Panda Drive In.  The owner tried to get a McDonald's franchise for Spokane then and was turned down.  He went to southern CA, worked in a McDonald's for a month or so, noted their suppliers and methods, then returned to Spokane and opened his own drive in.  This was modelled exactly after McDonald's even down to a building that looks strikingly similar to an original McDonald's (#2 in Downey, CA is still there and looks exactly as it did on the day it opened in the early '50's.  On the side of it is a museum dedicated to the original McDonald's that includes photographs of french fries being made prior to '67).

His menu was McDonald's original menu.  Everything was made EXACTLY as McDonald's made their hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries and shakes in the '50's ("Forty five cents for a three course meal at McDonald's").  Today, in 2003, it hasn't changed.  The shakes and french fries are still made the same way although he has added, as has McDonald's, fish sandwiches and a few others.

At lunchtime the "new" McDonald's two blocks away is almost empty on any given day while Dick's has lines that stretch from its walkup windows to the end of its parking lot in front 30 yards away.  Just as McDonald's did in the '50's when lines stretched to the end of the arches.

According to USA Today Dick's in Spokane is the United States second highest grossing independent fast food restaurant behind the Varsity in Atlanta.

Anyway, you can still get McDonald's original french fries there.  And, yes, they really are the best on earth. http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southw...ats/socalchains

/

Somebody mentioned a few days ago that he would never sign a non-compete agreement. This particular example is exactly why employers often sweeten non-competes with enhanced severance, etc. From this description, tguy went in, learned every trade secret and piece of proprietary info he could, then took it for his own use.

Many deals come with two years of full pay when you leave if you agree not to compete against your current employer for a year.

BTW, the old McDonald's on NJ 4 in Fair Lawn was taken down by hand and shipped to Hamburger U, where it was re-assembled. It was an original two window walk-up, with the arches forming the front of the building. Vintage 1960ish...