French Fry Diary 782: Wise Finger Lick'n Ribs Potato Chips

I love Florida, and I'm glad we moved down here from South Jersey.  Florida has many awesome things going for it like Disney, sunshine, and grilling - but it's not all good.  There are also alligators, sand hill cranes, Trump supporters, and a seriously sad variety of potato chips.

I was very surprised by that last one.  Tom's is a company we didn't have in NJ, and generally Wise chips are easier to find - except for that elusive potato chip grail, the Wise BBQ Ridgies - but other than that, it's pretty pitiful.  It's so bad that sometimes on a late night snack run, you'll just skip the chips.  Yes, it's that bad. 

These chips, the Wise Finger Lick'n Ribs BBQ Flavored Potato Chips (crazily not even shown on the Wise website), were found in a Dollar Tree.  A dollar for a 4.5 ounce bag of BBQ meat chips?  What could I lose?  I could only gain a review for the blog, right?  The bag promised no preservatives, gluten, MSG, or transfat, awesome. 

Upon opening the bag there was a faint BBQ aroma, but nothing as pleasant or strong as the Wise BBQ or Honey BBQ.  The chips are good and thick, but not as darkly seasoned as the two mentioned above, if anything they appeared sparsely seasoned, maybe a dozen flecks per chip. 

There is that meat flavor, but not overwhelming or unpleasant like some meat flavored chips.  This is more barbecue than ribs, but it's good, and if I'm being honest, a bit addictive.  And that's kinda the problem, in that the more you eat, the more cumulative the ribs taste is.  Still, I would definitely get these again, good chips. 

French Fry Diary 741: Lay's Wavy Hickory BBQ Potato Chips

This one was written a while ago, but the chips still rock, so there you go...

I had picked these chips up for this year's Super Bowl, not realizing I hadn't written about them before.  Our Super Bowl celebration this year, our first in Florida, was just the two of us, and late in the evening.  Yes, it was quite a game, even though we watched most of it in fast forward, only hitting play for the mostly mediocre commercials, and of course the truly stunning and amazing halftime show. Lady Gaga definitely won this year's Super Bowl. 

Speaking of bowls, I got the Lay's Wavy Hickory BBQ Flavored Potato Chips mainly because the Lay's Wavy are thick and perfectly ruffled for dipping.  The dip in question was slightly melted vanilla ice cream, 'cause that's just how I roll. 

Unlike other Lay's BBQ chips, the Hickory flavor isn't overseasoned, doesn't burn, or have a hot after taste.  These are sweet and tangy to which the ice cream gives an excellent contrast.  Now that I have written about them, I'll remember how much I like them and get them again.  These are darned good BBQ chips. 

French Fry Diary 730: Lay's Wavy Hickory BBQ Potato Chips

I've talked about Lay's Wavy Potato Chips before, and was rather impressed, and whereas I've seen chocolate, truffle, and even mango salsa versions of the Wavy chips, I have never seen my favorite flavor, BBQ, until now.

I found a bag of Lay's Wavy Hickory BBQ Potato Chips and I was pretty happy. Hickory BBQ flavor is a bit tricky, it's smoky, one would suppose from hickory wood, but mostly it has a molasses and maybe honey taste. Sounds good. Before opening the bag, I checked out the ingredients, and that was no help - "Hickory BBQ Seasoning" - just like the mystery ingredients of the Do Us A Flavor chips.

When I opened the bag the aroma was rich and sweet, I couldn't wait to dig in. Like the other Wavy Lay's, they are thick cut and excellent for dipping, especially cold stuff because of the heat of the flavor. It's a sweetness with a bit of a kick, and addictive, like all good potato chips. Thumbs up.

French Fry Diary 717: Manny's Original Chophouse

This is my new favorite restaurant. No ifs, ands, or buts, Manny's Original Chophouse is it. Recommended by our realtor Rusty on our first house hunting foray into Lakeland Florida, I fell in love quickly. We had been looking for a place comparable to The Pub (that's what we were in the mood for), but soon realized how much better Manny's was than The Pub. Welcome to Florida.

There's 'call ahead,' and we did, but we were seated right away on our first visit (as with our second and third as well). The waitress wrote her name in crayon, along with her manager's name, on the paper tablecloth on top of the real tablecloth so we wouldn't forget it if we needed it.

First came the bread. Fresh baked hamburger rolls are what they looked like with buttered tops and they were hot and wonderful. We could have eaten them like that and been happy, but they came with ramekins of both regular butter and sugar cinnamon butter. Adding the butters made these better than any sticky bun I have ever had, wow, melt in my mouth wonderful.

And the appetizers did not end there, then came the onion rings. We got the half-order, which was enormous. I can't imagine what the full order is like. These were super-thick sweet onions, lightly breaded with crushed fine Panko, a heavenly onion ring. Truly, these were the best onion rings I have ever had, ever. And on all three visits, the bread and the rings were superior every time. Consistent perfection. Even before the entrees came, we were full, and Manny's was our new favorite restaurant.

I got the grilled chicken smothered in Manny's BBQ sauce on rice, with hot natural cut fries. The fries were okay, and delicious in the sauce, but the second and third times I opted for the baked potato, which was huge and mouthwatering with butter. I found my potato target there, as well as the amazing onion rings. The Bride has tried the steak pieces and the fajitas and the garlic smashed potatoes. On future visits I can't wait to try the steaks and the teriyaki chicken.

Manny's family is from Greece, and they have several restaurants in the central Florida area. We've tried two of them and look forward to eating at the rest. I cannot recommend this place enough. For friends and family, when you come visit us in our new home, we'll be taking you to Manny's so you can see, and taste, for yourselves. This place is that good.

French Fry Diary 714: Burger 21

Burger 21, a chain with most of their restaurants in the Florida area, is now in New Jersey. They currently occupy the same place as The Doghouse in the Voorhees Town Center, opening there about two years back. Burger 21 offers a gluten free menu featuring burgers, shakes, and fries with a variety of dipping sauces, including sweet stuff for their sweet potato fries. All of their fries are cooked in soybean oil. I had been to the NJ location a few times and the quality of the food and service were wildly inconsistent so I was hesitant to write a review that would be on target.

Upon visiting Lakeland Florida house hunting, The Bride and I went to a Burger 21 there, and found it to be quite a pleasant experience. It was nice to see a familiar place in Florida where many things are much different, a good sign especially in the ninety-degree heat. I got a great thick burger on a grilled buttered roll and it was delicious. But it was the fries that were the stars.

The fries were frozen shoestrings deep fried, and were very good hot, but got cold fairly quickly. Not to worry, they were eaten quickly. As I said, the ones in New Jersey were inconsistent both in size and style, but these were near perfect. The Bride got cheese and ale as a side, and many other sauces were available at their amazing sauce bar, such as ranch, ketchup (both Thai and regular), ragin' Cajun, barbeque, mustard (regular and honey), chipotle mayo, apple cider, and toasted marshmallow.

To top it all off, the waitress who took our order was very friendly, and we found we had "Doctor Who" in common. She made a joke about our house hunting and to look for a home that was bigger on the inside. We took it as a good omen for that day of looking at homes. And we'd definitely come back to Burger 21, in Florida.

French Fry Diary 702: Wise Potato Chips

There was a time, decades ago in the late sixties and early seventies, with their see-through bags and friendly owl mascot, Peppy, when Wise potato chips were not so great. I recall them being too thin and just a bit greasy. The big exception was their BBQ chips, which were and are the best of that flavor and style. I've reviewed those right here.

In recent years it seems that Wise has improved their chips. They are thicker and nowhere near as greasy as I remember. They're quite good, almost as if they've switched places with Herr's, whose quality has dropped as Wise has gotten better. These days, if given a choice, in most cases if choose Wise.

Wise chips come in a variety of flavors, including the various BBQ that you already know about, Salt & Vinegar, and Onion & Garlic, another favorite. They also have Unsalted and Lightly Salted, Ridgies, Kettle, and Deli chips. Some of those are available in Reduced Fat as well.

I have tried tracking a few of them down using the 'Find a Store' function on their website, but so far it has not been accurate. Rather than waste more gas, I have just given up. Yes, I could try calling ahead, but I have found the customer service of some grocery stores even less accurate.

Either way, Wise makes darn good potato chips, and if I could ever find Barbecue Ridgies, I would not only buy them, I'd eat 'em and review 'em too. Thumbs up to Wise.

French Fry Diary 699: Ruffles All Dressed

All Dressed? Seriously, what flavor is this? It appears at first glance to be barbecue, but that couldn't be because I doubt that BBQ Ruffles even exist. I've never seen them, they're a myth.

According to the hype on the package, All Dressed is the #1 flavor in Canada. Honestly when it comes to potato products, I thought that would be poutine, but apparently it's All Dressed. It's been described as vaguely like German potato salad or ketchup, vinegar, and BBQ all mixed together. Hmmm... I don't know... Listed in the ingredients is a mystery substance called 'All Dressed Seasoning,' surely the FDA has some rule about this kind of stuff.

I have to say, when I opened the bag, the aroma wasn't pleasant. They looked just Ruffles in shape at least, but it was the flavor I was hesitant about. I tasted the vinegar right away and a bit of smokiness, and something else I couldn't quite identify. They weren't bad but they weren't barbecue either.

And I still don't know what All Dressed means...

French Fry Diary 698: Herr's Kettle Cooked Mesquite BBQ Potato Chips

As much as I hate to say this, mostly because I really used to enjoy Herr's chips, but in recent years, maybe just over the last decade, their potato chips have decreased in quality and taste. They are much thinner, and greasier. There was a time when I would have said they were the best, but no longer.

That said, Herr's can make kettle cooked potato chips. They have the thickness and the crunch their regular chips used to have, well, maybe just a little crunchier. All of the varieties of kettle I've tried from Herr's are quite good, I just wish the flavors were consistent across the board.

These mesquite BBQ chips are great but this is the only chip you can get that flavor on. Just like the tangy BBQ on the popped chips or the honey BBQ on the regular. How about a baby back rib baked chip? Or a honey BBQ lattice cut?

Anyway, these chips are awesome, a little hot, a little sweet, and just right for dipping with their kettle twists. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 679: Greektown Gyro Potato Chips

Unlike other years that I have done this, I was able to find two of the 2015 Do Us A Flavor finalists just scant days after they were announced. Usually there is an extensive hunting process but I found the Gyro and Truffle ones at the local Walgreens, so yay to Walgreens and props to the Lay's distribution department. Now if they could just get some BBQ Ruffles to the South Jersey area (hint HINT), I would really be happy.

Do Us A Flavor 2015 Taste Test #1 - Greektown Gyro flavored potato chips, kettle cooked style, submitted by James Wagner:

As a catastrophically picky eater, I have to be up front about this. I am not even sure what a gyro is, let alone what it tastes like, so this one was difficult from the get go. I know it's Greek, and I know how to pronounce it (see, being a Nia Vardalos fan pays off), but beyond that, I am lost. One source I found online indicated it was meat, onions, tomato, French fries (!), and tzatziki sauce rolled into a pita. Fries, eh? Now you have my attention.

Now tzatziki sauce, made from yogurt and cucumbers (I think) doesn't sound all that appetizing to me, and the 'meat' part could be just about anything - beef, pork, chicken, veal, or mutton. I'm getting less excited. The kicker is the picture on the chip bag itself, not a fry to be found. I guess Lay's and James Wagner don't read Wikipedia.

The ingredients list, among other things, and besides potatoes, sour cream, gum Arabic, and the vague and mysterious "gyro seasoning." I am getting less and less excited, but enough procrastination. Oh well, let's do this.

As I've learned in previous years' Do Us A Flavor contests, it's always best to let The Bride try one of the chips first. When I opened the bag, it was a good smell, but I knew I was not going to want any of these. We kinda talked about this on the most recent episode of The GAR! Podcast - just because it smells good doesn't mean you want to eat it.

The Bride said she could taste the sour cream and she could taste the lettuce, and it did remind her of a gyro - but "a potato chip should not taste like that." I tried one tentatively, and thought it too weird and spicy with a bad aftertaste. Some folks might dig this one, but I did not like it. Greektown Gyro would not get my vote.

Tomorrow: Truffle Fries!

French Fry Diary 665: Pringles Rewind

The Bride recently picked up a can of Pringles Potato Crisps at the store and I noticed the can was a bit smaller than usual. On closer inspection I found the words 'rewind edition' on the can, and that it was a smaller can than usual, 4.41 oz. vs. the usual 5.96 oz. After a bit of internet research I'd found that the 'rewind edition' referred to both a return to the original logo but also the original size can.

Taking a closer look at the can and mentally putting three tennis balls in it, I thought, yeah, that's about right. I guess since I was a kid, Pringles cans had gotten bigger. Back in the mid-1970s, amongst Marathon Bars, Evel Knievel Stunt Sets, and Wacky Packs, potato chips in tennis cans showed up. Pringles called themselves the 'newfangled potato chip,' but that's what we all thought of them as, because the packaging was identical to the cans tennis balls came in.

The charm wore off rather quickly once we all figured out how bland Pringles tasted. I came back to them when they started adding flavors, mostly the BBQ, as you can see from my reviews here.

On closer examination of the rewind can, a thought occurred to me. They should go back to this size. One, the price would be lower, and two, you can reach the bottom of the can easier with these smaller cans. There's a comfort issue with the cans that Pringles should pounce on. This is a good thing.

French Fry Diary 664: Ore-Ida Bold & Crispy BBQ Oven Chips

Folks who are regular readers of FFD know that I'm a barbeque guy, both the grilling and the flavoring. If I find a new potato chip and BBQ is available I will always lean toward that flavor, so when I heard that Ore-Ida's new Bold & Crispy line had a BBQ French fry, I was all in.

When you open the bag there is a wonderful aroma, almost that of good barbeque potato chips. The 'fries' are rather thin for this type of disc-shaped fry, rippled like Ruffles, and heavily seasoned to a bright orange. They were not yet even cooked and I had very high hopes for these 'chips.'

Okay, first things first, the directions are more like suggestions. About half of what I got were cooked perfectly, and the rest were black burnt. So keep an eye on the oven while cooking and use your best guess. The burnt chips were inedible but the others were very good, like a very thick potato chip with a soft hot inside. There's a bit of heat, but it's good heat, and hot enough to have a beverage handy.

I liked these Oven Chips quite a bit, so far the best of the Bold & Crispy bunch, highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 656: Passover Potato Chips

A strange thing happens around this time every year. Shop-Rite starts carrying lots of off-brand potato chips (and potato sticks), one that even I, regarded as a chip expert by some, have never heard of. It's because of Passover, and like the sweeter tasting yellow cap Coca-Cola, there is extra need for kosher potato chips.

Herr's and other major brands offer kosher or parve potato chips, but as I said, Shop-Rite brings in more specialty items during this time of year. They are usually placed in one special section of the store, the Shop-Rite I visited in Cherry Hill had a larger than usual area. I plucked a couple samples from the display to try, and review of appropriate.

First up is Kettle Chips BBQ from Manischewitz, the king of kosher products, best known for their wine, matzo, and even potato latkes. These chips are pretty good on the healthy scale, with no transfats, no cholesterol, no preservatives, and no artificial flavors. The chips are thin with a nice crunch, heavy seasoned but with a mild smoke flavor.

Bloom's is a company that specializes in kosher products. They "search the globe to bring you the best," including cakes, candies, chocolate syrup, potato stix, potato chips, and potato snack fries. I chose one of the last bunch, Bloom's Bar-B-Q Fries.

After tasting these flat French fry shaped potato strips, I'm glad I opted for the barbecue flavor, because otherwise these flat (in more ways than one) things would have been flavorless. I did not like these. At all.

Next up are the Diddles, no seriously, that's what they're called. These potato snacks made from potato flakes are imported from Israel and distributed by the Paskesz Candy Co. I picked up the Diddles B-B-Q Potato Snacks. Yes, they're called Diddles. These are hollow cylinders similar in texture to flavorless cheese puffs and not in a good way. They did not smell good when I opened the bag and did not taste much better. Ick. Seriously if you told me these were made of styrofoam, I'd be inclined to believe you.

Lastly I tried the Lieber's offering. After Diddles, I was hopeful that this last bag would be more, oh I don't know, conventional. Referred to as simply Lieber's Ripple Potato Chips and being made from only potatoes, cottonseed oil, and salt, these looked like exactly what I needed.

These chips were quite nicely thick with good ridges, perfect dipping chips. There were a bit salty however, and while I like salt, especially on potato chips, this was a bit much. Also, there were a lot of black spots and burnt edges, things you don't usually see anymore in the big brand names. All in all, a decent chip, except for the salt.

So we have a weak two out of four for this selection of Passover potato snacks. Perhaps I selected badly. Any recommendations for next time?

French Fry Diary 649: Lay's Stax Korean BBQ

As far as potato chips in a can go, I'm a big fan of Lay's Stax over Pringles. Other than Pringles having easier access to the chips, Stax is the overall winner in my book. The BBQ Stax in some cases are better than the standard BBQ chips - thick, tasty, and uniform, always good for dipping.

Now while I am a fan of meat on the street on a stick, I have never actually had real Korean BBQ. So this flavor - Korean BBQ Stax - was an adventure for me. When I opened the can, there was a distinct meat chip aroma. Checking the ingredients, I found beef fat among the chemicals, and notably MSG. I would still try these.

These are close to the regular mesquite BBQ that Stax has but with a bit of a kick to them. Not unpleasant and not too much of an aftertaste either. These are pretty good and with their thickness they are excellent for dipping, with the dip cutting any heat. I liked these quite a bit.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #186

Here's another from friend, fellow writer, world traveler, and FFD contributor Sarah H. Miduski. On a recent trip to WDW, she went to Tamu Tamu in Animal Kingdom and took a pic of her lunch including some amazing homemade BBQ potato chips. You can read her complete adventure, including the chips, here.

French Fry Diary 629: Carioca's - TCM Cruise Day Two

Another of the renovations of the 're-imagined' Disney Magic is the replacement of Parrot Cay, always one of my favorite restaurants on board with Carioca's. It has roughly the same flavor, only now with an animated mascot. 

By name, Jose Carioca was one of the original Three Caballeros, with Donald Duck and Panchito, from the film of the same name, Saludos Amigos, and other features and shorts. Jose is unfortunately one of those characters forgotten to the mists of time, but thankfully, and hopefully on his way to a comeback. I'll miss Parrot Cay, but still this isn't bad.

There has been really only slight remodeling and repainting. They have added lots of Chinese lanterns a la Tangled hanging from the ceiling, but really not much else. The restaurant still a tropical flavor, all it's really had is a name change,

some new lighting, and a brisk rebranding.

On the surface however, one thing that hasn't changed much is the menu. This may as well have been Parrot Cay. I got the Roasted Honey BBQ Chicken Breast, and it was very good, and the sauce was also very good. If there was any crushed sweet potato, as advertized, on the plate, I couldn't find it, or rather, taste it. I probably should have gotten a side order of fries like I did the previous night if I wanted to appease my tater jones.

French Fry Diary 623: Utz Wavy Baby Back Ribs Chips

I've talked before how much I love Herr's Baby Back Rib Potato Chips, or pig chips as I like to call them, before. So when I saw these - Utz Wavy Baby Back Ribs flavored crisp all natural Potato Chips (another contender for longest chip name ever), I just had to get them.

I can only really compare them to the Herr's version. These chips are thinner, and their ridges are ever so slightly smaller. The thinness, usually a Lay's trait, makes them a little less functional as dipping chips.

I have to say the flavor isn't as strong as Herr's, but I think that's a good thing. The baby back ribs seasoning flavor is still there, just very subtle. I like it. So much so that if I have a choice between pig chips - Herr's or Utz, I think I'm going for the Utz.

French Fry Diary 620: Wild Ophelia BBQ Potato Chips Chocolate Bar

This was one of the treats I was looking forward to in my Christmas present from friends Dom and Cindy this year. As you might recall, they gave me the gift of some very odd potato chips variations. One I was eager to try was this - Wild Ophelia All Natural Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chips Dark Chocolate Bar.

There are a few companies involved here in this unusual flavor combination - Wild Ophelia, Vosges, and The Billy Goat Chip Company. Supposedly it's all about connecting American farmers with chocolate. To that end we have here 70% cacao dark chocolate and Russet Burbank Potatoes mixed up in this all natural, gluten free, with no preservatives, treat.

It came in a slim fancy hard paper sleeve and was sealed in foil inside. Once opened, there was an overwhelming but good dark chocolate aroma. It's a rich dark chocolate, perhaps too rich, and like most potato chip candy bars, the chips are crushed up into tiny pieces and mixed into the chocolate.

Quite honestly the chip to chocolate ratio is quite low, but when you do bite a crunch you do get that spicy slow burn smokehouse barbecue flavor. That said, I wish there was more chip, and quite possibly a milk chocolate instead. I think this dark stuff might be too rich for my blood.

This was a nice treat, not as good as others of this type I've had, but pretty good. I'd have this again. Thank you, Dom and Cindy!

French Fry Diary 612: One Potato Two Potato Sweet Onion Potato Chips

One of my favorite local grocery stores, Gennuardi's, closed recently. While they are much missed, in their place a new place opened - Rastelli Market Fresh. This grocery store is kinda like Whole Foods meets Shop-Rite plus beer and wine. Nice selection, I like it, and the best part is that they have Charles Chips. They also have One Potato Two Potato chips too.

I've reviewed a One Potato Two Potato selection before, the Hawaiian BBQ. This time I picked out the Sweet Onion Kettle Potato Chips. These chips are cooked in small batches in expeller-pressed sunflower oil, with no gluten, no MSG, no GMO, no artificial flavors, and no preservatives. What do they have? The ingredients include potatoes, sugar, salt, and garlic and onion powders. The bag also has fun tater trivia too.

When I opened the bag there was a pleasant sweet Vidalia onion aroma inside. It reminded me a bit of the sugary onion ring snacks I sometimes get, and as mentioned above, they do have sugar. They are indeed sweet and oniony, and yummy. As a bonus, they are also in those cool crunchy twisted shapes that come from kettle cooking, so they are great for dipping.

These are good chips, recommended, another thumbs up for One Potato Two Potato.

French Fry Diary 590: Eatrageous

Promoted as 'the new spin on chips,' Eatrageous potato snacks are indeed something different. They're not fried, they're not baked, as a matter of fact, they're not even technically potatoes. Made from potato flour, yellow pea flour, rice, sunflower oil, and sea salt... Eatrageous is at best a potato-ish snack.

Created through 'clean cooking technology' (a 'thermal flash process') and shaped as tubes, they certainly are different. They are all natural, vegan, kosher, with no cholesterol, no saturated fats, no transfats, no GMO, gluten free, and less than 100 calories per serving - so one would think they're relatively healthy for a snack.

The space age silver bag opened easily, which was something quite unexpected. The percentage of healthier snacks that are easy to open (especially those from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's) is extremely low. Now these snacks are much smaller than one might think from the image on the bag, and the aroma from the Original Sea Salt flavor at least was similar to that you get from a bag of Bugles.

The 'chip' itself is a solid piece with points at the end supposedly to optimize dipping, but personally I think they're just a bit too small for that. Maybe if they were 25% bigger it might be a different story. They have a shiny shellac like surface that gives a hearty snap of a crunch, but quite honestly, very little flavor.

This is of course could be alleviated by the aforementioned dipping into something flavorful, or you could try one of the other available (and unique) Eatrageous styles like Wasabi Ranch, Crunchy Mac 'N Cheese, or the one I should have looked for and gotten, Sweet & Smokey BBQ. I'll withhold a full opinion until I try that last one, but until then, Eatrageous are definitely worth trying. Make your own decision on this 'new spin.'

French Fry Diary 582: One Potato Two Potato Hawaiian BBQ Kettle Potato Chips

This is another odd potato chips snack that comes to me from my friend Bob by way of his partner Marni. Both are always on the lookout for potato-ey (and sometimes not so potato-ey snacks, I will get even with her for those disgusting chicken skin chips though) snacks and it's very appreciated.

This time Bob was out in the wilds of Pennsylvania, prime chip making country, and picked up these chips - One Potato Two Potato Hawaiian BBQ Kettle Potato Chips. They come from a company called One Potato Snacks in Womelsdorf, PA. It seems pretty cool, with intriguing flavors, and tater trivia on their packaging and website.

These chips have a good kettle crunch, good size, and not too much twist. They have a nice barbecue flavor with a spicy but sweet kick. These are all natural, gluten-free, MSG free, and cooked in sunflower oil. Recommended. I would definitely try these again. Thanks, Marni and Bob!