French Fry Diary 740: Swiss Chalet

The Bride and I went up to Toronto this past winter to visit my friend Andy for his birthday party. I didn't get to really try that many fries up there, managed to dodge the dreaded poutine, and remembered the hard way what winter is really all about after several months in Florida. It's damned cold up there, and forget Florida, it makes New Jersey look like a hothouse in the winter.

Anyway, while chatting music and movies, and books and toys, Andy ordered dinner for us from a place native to Canada called ironically enough Swiss Chalet. Knowing what a French fry guy I am, he also got their fries for me.

It's the thought that counts, but I have to say I was not all that impressed with their natural cut fries, and of course that may be because they were delivered, which always cuts down on quality and freshness. I bet they might have been better hot. The chicken however was very good, and they also have ribs and other stuff, including poutine, and any place that has Toblerone for dessert can't be all bad.

Still, as I said, it's the company that counts, and although we were only in Toronto for less than twenty-four hours, we had a great time meeting and hanging out with friends and family, and helping one of my best friends celebrate his birthday. Next time, poutine, and better fries, promise.

French Fry Diary 677: Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom

Way off the beaten path, or at least my beaten path, is the Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom, all the way in Pitman NJ. I went there for a surprise birthday party for good friend, author, and current president of the South Jersey Writers' Group, Amy Holiday, so it was worth it.

Despite the outside appearance of the restaurant as a barbeque place, the food's appearance has more of a very simple Californian cuisine vibe. I got my usual, a cute little burger that was delicious, moist, and incredibly filling. I felt so stuffed after this little morsel. As a side, and also as an appetizer for the whole table, were house cut chips. Very much like the crispy thin slices in an order of fried breakfast potatoes, these were chips with just the right crisp, very good. The appetizer came with melted blue cheese crumbles that everyone loved.

While I didn't have (I know, blasphemy) the regular fries, I did get a chance to try the sweet potato fries, stylized on their menu as "SWEET! Potato Fries," dusted with a cinnamon sugar and served with vanilla cheesecake dip. These were to die for, even cold. These quite possibly some of the best sweet potato fries I've had, and I'm really not all that fond of them.

All in all, it was a great night out with friends, good friends and good discussion, and Amy was surprised, so it was all good. Thumbs up for the Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom.

French Fry Diary 689: Red Robin Birthday

This weekend I turned (choke, gasp) fifty-one years old, and The Bride put together a birthday celebration for me, a dinner at the legendary original home of the bottomless steak fries, Red Robin.

I have to admit being a bit gun shy of having a gathering, especially a large gathering, at a restaurant after putting together an event at a restaurant for the South Jersey Writers a couple weeks ago that resulted in several tables not together and one single check, and let me assure you, writers are not good at math. In contrast, the management and wait staff at the Cherry Hill Red Robin were extremely helpful, and got everything right - huge props!

So many friends, fellow writers, and even some family showed up. Apparently I'm more loved than I think, but more likely I suspect folks were there for the fries. Kidding. The meal started with, as it always does at Red Robin, with the tower of onion rings. Much like the Bloomin' Onion at Outback, how can you not get it?

I ordered my usual, a plain burger, which was fantastic, and a side of the bottomless steak fries. My big sister loved the fact that she could customize her meal online before arriving at the restaurant, so she was ready. The Bride got the garlic herbed fries which were also awesome, and a friend got a poutine fries concoction, seen below.

At one point, I had finished my fries, and was left with a lonely metal ring…

…but that was quickly remedied, Red Robin is after all the home of bottomless steak fries.

I had a terrific birthday, made extra special by friends and family, and the staff of Red Robin. Thanks to all!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #161

Not just birthday fries, but Bottomless Steak Fries from Red Robin. Had a great time Saturday night at the Cherry Hill Red Robin with friends, and thumbs up for their customer service, great folks at this restaurant.

French Fry Diary 613: Birthday Goodies

I have a pretty important landmark birthday coming up later this week, and I wanted to talk about freebies, specifically birthday freebies from fast food and chain restaurants. For the sake of the blog here, I'm on an awful lot of email lists for these restaurants so of course I'm on their birthday list as well. I should add that there's a substantial lack of the favorite fried food for free.

Denny's is the granddaddy of these bad boys with their free Grand Slam breakfast on your birthday. You get two eggs, two pancakes, two sausage links, two slices of bacon - but no breakfast potatoes or hash browns. Sad. IHoP goes one better with a free breakfast that might just include hash browns.

Friendly's will give you a three scoop sundae, Dairy Queen does a Blizzard, Chili's a brownie sundae, and Cold Stone Creamery, Baskin-Robbins, Rita's Water Ice, and Ben and Jerry's all have ice cream in a cone or cup. Also in the cold club are Smashburger and Zinburger with milkshakes, and P.F. Chang and Outback both get you free dessert.

Sonic, Charlie Brown's, Red Lobster, Famous Dave's, Moe's Southwest Grill, Qdoba, and Fuddruckers play it safe and mysterious by saying you're just get a free gift. Maybe it's a watch? Hmmm… all I wanted was fries… Don Pablo's goes right for the wallet with the lazy birthday tact of a gift card.

Red Robin rules with not just a free burger, but also a side of those bottomless fries. Houlihan's gets you a free entrée, Johnny Rockets a free burger, and my friends at Cool Dog Café are good for a free hot dog. Hmmm… I'm thinking Cool Dog for lunch maybe and then Red Robin for dinner…

French Fry Diary 537: Celebration Night at Enchanted Garden

After a night suffering from a thankfully 24-hour bug, and a special thank you to the newlywed couple who helped me out, especially the man who escorted me to the medical center, I was back on track aboard the Disney Fantasy. The kindness of strangers is a wonderful thing, and these two gentlemen were very caring and thoughtful. The next morning I awoke, fever broken, and voracious, diving right for those great roasted potatoes up at Cabanas. I was back.

Our final night on board was a good one, and not just because I was feeling better. First I was feeling good enough to eat. As an appetizer I tried the Grilled Potato with Goat Cheese Napoleon. Wow. The potato part was very good, but I'm not sure why they called that other stuff cheese. Nope, Tiggers do not like goat cheese.

Now all week I had been using the new app for my iPhone that only works on the boat called 'Disney Fantasy Navigator.' It was basically an electronic version of the daily schedule given out everyday on the boat. In the dinner menus for everyday I kept reading about this Golden Chicken Strips with Barbeque Sauce served with Steak Fries. As it turns out this was a kiddie offering, but by the end of seeing it all week, I wanted it, and ordered it. Sadly, they were out of steak fries. I guess the good fries go first.

For dessert, The Bride was sung to for her birthday, and we were both sung to for our anniversary. Combine that with a luscious dessert called Chocolate Decadence, as well as baked Alaska, and this was a very good night.

And remember, French Fry Diary is now on Facebook, come on over and join the fun and the discussion!

French Fry Diary 518: Bullock's Beef House

The brother-in-law and sister-in-law have been asking us to come down and visit for months, but scheduling conflicts made it impossible. Finally, Labor Day weekend, right after my birthday, opened up, so The Bride and I headed to Maryland.

The plan originally was to go to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday dinner, hopefully to get another terrific piece of barbecued chicken and maybe find the nephew something he likes there. We also invited friends Dom and Cindy and their family who cruised with us on the Disney Dream recently.

The problem came when after we arrived at Texas Roadhouse. They told us they would have to seat our party of nine separately. They wanted to seat our birthday party in two different booths. Great. High points to Texas Roadhouse for customer service. Not. After a quick discussion, we decided to eat elsewhere.

We decided to try a place none of us had tried before that we passed in our way to the unaccommodating Texas Roadhouse - Bullock's Beef House. This combination butcher shop/farmers market/deli/bakery/family restaurant was infinitely more friendly than Texas Roadhouse. And you gotta love the black bull on top of the roof.

The place is kinda part Pub and part cafeteria. You get in the cafeteria line, place your order, take your seat, and wait for your number to be called. I got the chopped sirloin and, what else, fries. The in-laws and our friends had met a few times but never really talked, and they hit it off terrifically, talking Disney. Dom and Cindy having just returned, and the in-laws planning a near future trip, found easy common ground.

The steak wasn't all that special but it was chargrilled well, had the proper grill lines, and tasted it. I really enjoyed it. The fries on the other hand were just standard natural cuts. That's okay though, the company more than made up for it, great birthday dinner. Your loss, Texas Roadhouse.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #90

Here's another addition of Somebody Else's Fries with my buddy Terry. This was his homemade birthday dinner. No fries, but holy crap, look at the size of that baked potato. And there's bacon in there too! It must have been a special birthday. Happy Belated, man!

French Fry Diary 435: Red Lobster 2012

We've been doing this over a decade. Longtime friend Marni's birthday gift has always been dinner at Red Lobster, and this year is no different. Of course, the restaurant in Cherry Hill took some getting to, as our dinner fell on the first snowstorm of the year, one week after Hurricane Sandy hit. Not happy weather.

Slow start as we were waiting for The Bride to come from work. Luckily there were the wonderful cheese garlic biscuits to enjoy. I've said it before, and I'll say it again here, the bread things are really the only reason to come to Red Lobster.

I had planned to get onion rings as an appetizer with the peach bourbon BBQ sauce. I had looked at the menu online and was psyched. When it came time to order? All out of onion rings. No onion rings. Really? I waited eleven months for this, and all I got was an empty plate of disappointment. At least I, ahem, we, had bread things.

The fries were pretty much the same as they had been the last few trips here. The natural cut fries, a little over done, very crisp regular cuts with pepper and parsley. They were very good for dipping with the peach bourbon BBQ sauce or the maple glaze from the maple glaze chicken I ordered for my entree.

I might come back sooner but I suppose I'll definitely be back next November. Happy Birthday, Marni, from me and French Fry Diary.

French Fry Diary 399: Ronii's Butt Fries

The wonderful Ronii Grace passed away a couple years ago. I had never met her in person, but she was as good a friend as one could have online. She was a terrific and talented writer, and a giving and generous friend, with a fun and quirky sense of humor. Some time ago when I was on a hiatus from French Fry Diary, because of my own illness, she wrote the following for me. It's perhaps not family-friendly or for the squeamish, so you've been warned.

Hey Glenn…

Just read your French Fry Diary. I see you haven't worked on it for some time. May I make an offering? It is a bit weird and wacky, but you would expect that from me now, wouldn't you? I am feeling a bit cheeky, pun totally intended, so here goes.

Years ago I had a midwifery client whose husband we all called "Chuckie." Chuckie was a gorgeous character with deep chocolate skin and thick matted dreadlocks. Chuckie came to all his wife's prenatal visits faithfully in part, because he thought I, the midwife he had hired to deliver his son, was hysterically funny. He often told me I needed my own cable show with my midwifery partner Lori as my trusty sidekick.

The event that started this whole tack had to do with, you guessed it... French fries. You see, his wife had pregnancy-induced hemorrhoids. I recommended a tried and true remedy for her discomfort. You simply cut some potatoes (without skinning) "home fry style" into thin wedges, freeze them in a Ziploc bag, dip the frozen wonder in a bit of vitamin E oil, and insert it into the offending orifice. "Butt Fries," as we affectionately called them, solved the problem. We even had a handout with nice illustrations.

The wife (and many others) swore by them, "A miracle," she said. Oh, but Chuckie had fears. What if on some summer barbeque Saturday he grabbed the wrong bag and had the butt fries for supper? We allayed his fears reminding him that they were only French fries until put to other uses.

It was the start of a long list of experiences... just thought you, the French fry man, might want to know. They're not just for supper any more!

Blessings, Ronii

This bit of attempted humor is not intended to offer medical advice. If you have a problem, please... see your doctor or other healer.

That's Ronii. I told you about her sense of humor. I had never posted it because she had promised me the illustrations, but she never got around to sending them. And then she passed away suddenly.

She is much missed. Her birthday is Sunday. I hope she sees this wherever she's at and knows how much she's missed. Thank you, Ronii.

French Fry Diary 326: The Aborted Applebee's Attempt

Let's be clear up front. Applebee's neither cares nor has any pride in their French fries. They are not included in their online menu as a side or an appetizer. You have to hunt them down to even see a picture of them on said menu. I guess if you're ordering online, fries just aren't an option.

It's been a long looong time since I've been to Applebee's. This is due to their always consistent customer service, which was bad. The last time I went to Applebee's was for my birthday about six years ago, and even then it had been a while before then we had gone. For my birthday I wanted a certain volcano fudge cake they had so we went, and from the way they seated us, to the food, to the wait time, to the getting orders just outright wrong, they assured us that their customer service was, as I said, consistent.

My memory insists that I have rarely had a good meal at Applebee's. I do remember once getting some really good onion rings, with Panko bread crumbs and shredded cheese mixed in, but I also recall the service that night being Applebee's standard. The fries as I recall are non-impressive salt and pepper natural cuts, nothing to write home about, and as I said before, Applebee's obviously doesn't think so either.

Further and much closer inspection of the online menu revealed that Applebee's also has crispy red potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, crispy onion strings, and fried onions, although I could not find these items alone, much like the fries. Now you're probably asking why wouldn't I just order those items a la carte, right? Well, those of you asking that question have obviously never experienced the fine, fine customer service at Applebee's. Good luck with that.

All that said, my buddy Ray came down for a buddy movie night. We were going to see the Hindu special effects spectacular Ra. One, and the only real restaurant near the theatre is Applebee's. At first I was hesitant, but seeing as Ray had just gotten back on to Weight Watchers, and Applebee's has a special WW menu, we went for it.

When we got there, it was packed, because it was a Friday night, of course. There was a thirty-minute wait. We weighed our options. Go someplace else, or wait a half hour for crappy service? Applebee's aborted this night, maybe another time. We'll try again.

French Fry Diary 317: IHoP Breakfast

As I said the other day, Christmas breakfast was set for the International House of Pancakes, and we met the family there. I would rather have had a home cooked ham breakfast but everyone has gotten old and it's a hassle… so IHOP, being open on Christmas Day, has become the default meeting place for chat and gift exchange.

I spent a lot of the time talking with my big brother Warren because it's his birthday, and I kinda feel sorry for him cuz he's so old. That's not true. I mean, he is old, but I look up to him, he's a good guy, and he gave me a kidney as well. We talked about publishing, blogging, and how he thinks I never mention him on French Fry Diary. Hey, I talk about him on other blogs, but I guess he doesn't read those. ;-)

Now after last night's dinner, I was both a little full and also a bit sick to my stomach. So I wasn't very hungry and didn't order much, just hash browns (of course), and an English muffin. IHOP was hopping (pun unintended) being the only place open, and the service was pretty quick, but my food arrived last. Only my English muffin was hot. The hash browns not so much.

The hash browns were almost cold and they were a little burned, close to how they were last night when I made them for The Bride, burnwise, that is. They were of the shredded variety, and some were raw and greasy too. I only had a couple forkfuls and left the rest. That's how bad they were. These kind of hash browns are not my favorite, but as evidenced the other night, and at places like the Pop Shop, they can be quite good.

Still, the company was excellent, always good to hang out with the family. I really don't see them enough, especially my big brother, but then again, that's what Christmas is for after all - family. Happy belated birthday, Warren, hope you don't mind the ribbing. Still love ya, and you're still not getting your kidney back.

French Fry Diary 296: Zinc Café

This is where we went for The Bride's birthday this year. She had a late night at work and then a Pineland Players meeting so we had to schedule dinner in a tight schedule and also do it somewhere in Medford so we would have time. I got online with Urbanspoon with my iPhone and found the Zinc Café, a place with perfect timing and location that we all agreed on.

The Zinc Café is kinda tucked away on Stokes Road, so if you don't know where it is, you might miss it, but you'll also be missing out on one of the best local restaurants around too. This was a rare find indeed. It's a little small, but you can also eat outside. It's cozy, and a little dim, but it's great atmosphere. Small town meets fancy coffee shop, friendly and cool, I liked it a lot.

The menu has an amazing selection, both healthy and bad for you, both simple and exotic. No Coca-Cola products but they had Boylan instead. My cane cola was a welcome change of pace. They also had appetizers of thin crispy breadsticks that tasted like matzo, very addictive. I could have been happy just with the soda and the sticks.

The Bride and her mom got salads with some amazing add-ins, and we were all surprised by the crisp, fresh and colorful vegetables. The Bride got a grilled cheese sandwich (it's what she wanted for her birthday) with a few cheeses I couldn't pronounce. I got a burger (surprise), which was just terrific, and of course, with the burger were fries.

The French fries were natural cut shoestrings, another sign of high class, at least by this fry guy's estimation. They were very crispy, and had a certain kick we couldn't quite identify, but it was a good kick. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I really think I have found a new favorite restaurant.

French Fry Diary 216: Pop Century Breakfast 2011

The Bride is a very sweet and a very sneaky lady. This installment of Somebody Else's Fries is one that I have featured before on at least two occasions, here and here. These are the breakfast potatoes from Pop Century in Walt Disney World, but this entry is not so much about the fries this time, as it is about how she got to the fries.

My mother-in-law, one of the coolest and sweetest ladies I know outside of The Bride, has her seventieth birthday this year, today in fact, and my wife wanted to make it something special. She spent months planning an elaborate surprise birthday party with family and friends, the theme of which was the dreams my mother-in-law has always had - one of those dreams was to travel the world.

The Bride thought up the scheme of sneaking down to Disney World, going to the World Showcase in EPCOT and getting a special passport stamped and signed in every country for her mom - so that she could say she had 'seen the world.' Mom loved it, and as an added bonus, The Bride also got some breakfast potatoes from Everything Pop.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

P.S. It should be added that the surprise party itself was held at French Fry Diary favorite the Pop Shop, and included those amazing Pop Fries. Special thanks to the folks at the Pop Shop for making the day extra special.

French Fry Diary 195: Red Lobster 2010

Everyone knows the real reason to go to Red Lobster. It's the bread things, the appetizer cheddar biscuits. At least now the folks at RL acknowledge this and are always on top of bringing more when your basket is empty. Unless you say otherwise, your basket will always be filled, and they even are cool about giving you a generous bag of them to take home afterward.

Now if only they would sell them in stores or to go. They could be rich. Bisquick has a biscuit mix that is similar (the Bisquick Complete Cheese Garlic Biscuits) and there are lots of copycats online, but nothing beats the originals. When you go to Red Lobster, don't forget the bread things.

My most recent trip to Red Lobster was for my dear friend Marni's birthday. Her birthday meal at Red Lobster has been a tradition for well over a decade, dating back to when the menu was completely different, except for the bread things. No matter, Marni and I are big fans of the bread things. She even brought me some when I was in the hospital after my kidney transplant - now that's a true friend.

Anyway, after emptying a couple baskets of bread things, like bringing a knife to a gunfight, I ordered a steak at a seafood restaurant. I ordered the steak mostly because of previous experience here (especially since they changed the menu). The RL folks find it impossible to deliver the maple chicken without the rice pilaf. It's like ordering a plain hamburger at Checkers - good luck.

Marni had told me about two items here she thought I would really like - the onion straws and the peach bourbon barbeque sauce. I got some onion straws on my steak. They were thin, lightly battered, and very good, just might have been better a bit crispier. It's too bad they are not officially on the menu as they are very good.

The current French fries at Red Lobster are natural cut shoestrings, a rarity but also very good when you can find them. I got a double order as I didn't want broccoli. I think it was a good choice. These were very good fries. I wish I could say the same about my raw steak, sooo not medium well. You can say I could have sent it back, but I'm paranoid and think it might have returned medium well, but also with an extra special seasoning as well.

The steak was saved however by the aforementioned peach bourbon barbeque sauce that came with Marni's scallops. This sauce had a very interesting taste, sweet and heavy on the peach, and managed to make the steak edible. Excellent for dipping with the fries as well. It should be noted it's also not on the menu. Maybe Red Lobster is working on its own secret menu a la In-N-Out Burger.

I was really kinda having a good time until the waitress spilled hot butter on my legs. I've been accused of being many things, but never a dead lobster. Hey, at least she didn't stand by while I choked like Winnie the Pooh did. Happy Birthday, Marni!

French Fry Diary 90: The Thanksgiving Surprise

A recent invite to my aunt’s surprise 95th birthday party put this memory back in my mind. Perhaps it’s a tale of enabling, but in my book it’s a great memory of a wonderful aunt.

When I was eight years old my mom spent a Thanksgiving in the hospital. She was okay, just bad timing with stomach trouble, but my immediate family was left without a proper Thanksgiving dinner that year. My Aunt Hazel came to the rescue and invited us to her house for the holiday.

We had visited about a week before and at that time, knowing that even then I was a catastrophically picky eater, she pulled me aside and asked me what my favorite food was. Three guesses what my answer was, and the first two don’t count.

Imagine my surprise a week later when Thanksgiving dinner was served, and there with all the regular holiday dishes like turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc., was a bowl of crinkle cut French fries. Yeah, my aunt is one cool lady, happy birthday!

French Fry Diary 63: Nodding Head

I had the chance recently to go to the Nodding Head on Sansom Street in Philadelphia when celebrating a friend’s birthday. This brewery/bar/restaurant has quite a reputation and I’ve wanted to go for a while. The birthday gave me a chance to finally try their famous Spanish fries.

For the uninitiated, Spanish fries are fries that are specifically deep-fried using olive oil, always an interesting touch. Those at the Nodding Head were very good. Hot crispy versions of Five Guys fries, they were natural regular cuts tossed with parsley and served with a honey mustard dipping sauce. These were crispy good with soft hot potato-ey goodness inside and a spicy kick outside. It was a big helping and hard to finish, and this is a good thing.

The Bride ordered a steak salad, basically a salad with hot peppercorn steak strips over top – and a side of fries. That’s right, a salad that came with fries. Does it get much better than that? Thumbs up for Nodding Head, and Happy Birthday, Andrea!

French Fry Diary 38: Bottomless Birthday Fries

Just a quick one today, folks, but one with lots of pictures. Last night I celebrated my birthday with friends at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, the home of the infamous "Bottomless Fries."

This isn't really a review, so I'll be brief. We had three servings, one in lieu of cake while being sung "Happy Birthday," of the sometimes hot and tasty, sometimes not, Red Robin steak fries. And they do mean bottomless. They will keep coming.

What made the night, other than good friends, good conversation and good fries, was the magic 8 ball coaster on the table -shown here- that kept prompting us (and by us, I mean me) to get more fries.

Good times. :-)