French Fry Diary 780: BurgerFi Appetizer

BurgerFi is one of those places I have been meaning to go to for quite some time. When I saw one nearby on a business roadtrip with The Bride, I had to stop in, while she did other important stuff.

The first thing that struck me about BurgerFi was the prices.  This place doesn't play, it's expensive, or at least more expensive than other comparable places. Any size single order of fries or onion rings border on around five bucks.  I was startled, only happening upon the place by chance and just wanting a snack.  This was an expensive snack.  I settled for the Cry + Fry, being a combo of fries and rings... at $5.47. 

I had been meaning to go to a BurgerFi for some time since one opened in the Philadelphia Convention Center but that never happened while I lived in New Jersey.  I was happy to find one here in Florida.  It was nice with an open-air patio, Coke Freestyle machines, and a pager to take to your table so they can bring your order out.  They also had Mexican Coke in bottles and Boylan Sodas as well. I thought the latter was a bit odd as it's a Pepsi product.

The Cry + Fry was almost exactly as advertised in the pictures in store and online - three gigantic onion rings atop an order of natural cut fries.  They came out fairly quickly and we're very hot, so probably cooked to order.  All things considered, the portion size was very generous so perhaps I shouldn't have bitched so loudly about price. 

The fries were on par with, if not better than, Five Guys, and yeah, that impressed me too.  They were more than a little addictive as I ate more than I intended without realizing it.  The rings were crunchy and juicy and battered with an orange color.  I was expecting a spicy kick based on the color but it wasn't there. 

Both the fries and rings were very good, thumbs up, I'll have come back when I'm hungry for a burger.  Until then, BurgerFi is highly recommended. 

French Fry Diary 737: Robin Goes to Five Guys

Many folks here know my longtime friend and fellow creative Robin Renee, besides being a hell of a writer, and a terrific performer, she's also been a contributor here at French Fry Diary from time to time. She's also a vegetarian, and our collaboration on her current project Blog March 2017 indirectly to her trying Five Guys because of something I posted about President Obama digging the burger chain.

We texted back and forth after she had tried the Eagle Plaza location in Voorhees. She took lots of pictures, found the veggie sandwich just okay, but her fries were "…insanely salty."

I offered her some good advice for ordering fries at other places. Usually Five Guys doesn't count in this as they always cook them to order, but it might have helped in this situation. If you are worried about salt content, always order your French fries at fast food and other chains with no salt. First this will force them to cook a new batch, so they will be fresh and hot, and it also allows you the choice of controlling your salt intake but how much you put on yourself. It's a good tip and useful in these situations.

I of course felt bad and apologized to Robin again for making her go to yet another meat restaurant. I do this all the time without realizing it. The last time, I invited her to a steakhouse (The Pub), which luckily had a fantastic salad bar plus veggie selections. Sorry, Robin, I'm an idiot.

In her own words, "The good thing these days is that there's something veggie just about anywhere now," which is a good thing, because as I mentioned, I'm an idiot.

Please check out the Blog March, it's important. And if you feel so inclined, please join and/or donate to ACLU, vote, or register to vote if you haven't already, support People for the American Way, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, Lambda Legal, and Public Television.

French Fry Diary 734: Blog March – Would You Like Fries With That?

While French Fry Diary is not officially part of Blog March 2017, that doesn't mean there might not be something I can add here.  If you want to read my entry, it's right here, and you can learn about the Blog March here, and see the schedule here.

My entry talked about the differences between Trump and President Obama, and outlined reasons why I could no longer be silent about politics.  I fear for my rights and the rights of my family and friends.  What does this have to do with French fries you're asking, right?  A lot.  I think the preferred fries say a lot about a man.  This isn't a meme you see on Facebook, but just some observations I've had. 

President Obama liked Five Guys, and would treat his staff and guests quite often. Trump appears to have a liking for KFC, and also McDonald's. If I'm being honest, these facts make me want to frequent Five Guys more, and KFC and McDonald's maybe not so much.

I know we can't blame KFC or McDonald's for who buys their product, but this information definitely makes me think twice. Do I want to be seen where Trump goes? And let's take a closer look at that pic of Trump eating KFC – he's using utensils, not a crime, but definitely odd. The thing that is a crime though is the fact that there are no fries. Who goes to KFC (or sends an intern to KFC) and doesn't get those delicious potato wedges?? What kind of monster does that?

In all seriousness, this blog is a fun and silly thing, I do it because it amuses me and I love the favorite fried food, but, the actions (or inactions) of Donald Trump, our current President, and the disputed leader of the free world are very serious business. He must be watched and our freedoms safeguarded, especially our freedom of expression, be it fries or art or protest. Join the March.

If you're not an official stop on the Blog March tour, do it anyway. Speak your mind, write your heart, and get the word out. Link back to us so we can help you spread the word.

Please join and/or donate to ACLU, vote, or register to vote if you haven't already, support People for the American Way, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, Lambda Legal, and Public Television.

Check out the next stop on the Blog March right here tomorrow, and here the next day. A full schedule can be found here. And thank you.

French Fry Diary 723: Presidential Fries

This has been one of the most controversial and brutal Presidential elections in memory, and even though I try not to be political, I couldn't help but make a few observations.

We know where Hillary Clinton stands on French fries from her last bid for the Presidency. She's cool with them, puts ketchup on them, and eats with the people.

Donald Trump may be another story. According to this account the Donald likes McDonald's, but also likes ordering fries at his own fancy restaurants. However, this one time, it didn't go so well. Read about it here.

None of the third party candidates, not Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Evan McMullin, Rocky De La Fuente, Darrell Castle, Gloria Estela La Riva, or Joe Exotic, have any particular French fry preference.

Current US President Barrack Obama however is a big Five Guys fan, which makes him okay in my book, and the First Lady has been quoted as saying, “I do love a good burger and fries. French fries are my favorite food in the whole world. If I could, I'd eat them at every meal - but I can't..."

Hmmm… can we give them another term? They seem like sensible folks, at least when it comes to fries...

No matter how you feel about the candidates, or your fries, please don't forget to vote!

French Fry Diary 421: Jake's Wayback Burgers

This place has been on my to do list for quite some time. The location I had heard about and gotten so many recommendations for was over the bridge in Philly though, on Cottman Avenue, across from the old Roosevelt Mall (there used to be a Gulliver's there that I absolutely loved), so it would take some planning for a road trip. Imagine my surprise when after getting my haircut I found a Jake's Wayback Burgers had opened right store on Route 73 in Voorhees.

The first thing that struck me about Jake's Wayback Burgers was how much like Five Guys the layout of the place was. Granted, the music was more oldies, the menu was bigger, no peanuts, and (boo hiss) they had Pepsi products instead of Coke, - but other than all that, this could have easily been a refurbished Five Guys. The burgers are cooked well done on the griddle however, just like Five Guys, and are very similar except for their bigger size and the softer non-sesame seed bun.

The burgers are wrapped in brown wax paper, printed to look like newspaper but detailing the chain's history, restaurant reviews, and the different burgers they have available. The various sides are also served on and/or in this brown wax paper. It's a nice touch, reminiscent of when fish and chips were wrapped in newspaper. I like it.

Their fries also have something in common with Five Guys, but they're not as good as theirs. They are natural cuts, cooked to order. They're nothing spectacular - not great, not bad, and remember to eat 'em while they're hot. They are also a bit saltier than I would have liked. They do reheat well in the oven later however.

Besides fries as sides, Jake's Wayback Burgers also has onion rings and house made chips. The big deal here is the house made chips, nearly perfect homemade potato chips, not greasy and full of a big crispy crunch. I would have preferred myself a bit more flesh on them, but then they'd be more potato slices than potato chips in that case. These are all crunchy potato chip goodness, and better than any bag of store made chips you can buy. These chips are awesome.

Folks who know me and have been following the blog a while know I'm not fond of beer batter onion rings, but here at Jake's I may have found the exception. These big beer battered onion rings might look greasy but they are not. These big (but not thick) rings are deep-fried to a golden brown crispness with a juicy sweet onion within. They're delicious.

On the second visit, yep, that's right, I went back, the onion rings and the house made potato chips were even better.

So, if you like Five Guys or not, come on out and try Jake's Wayback Burgers. The burgers are good, and the onion rings and the house made potato chips are awesome. The big thick shakes are also highly recommended. Check it out.

French Fry Diary 353: Bassett's Original Memphis BBQ

The Bride and I had our hearts set on Sonic as we headed back across the Walt Whitman Bridge from a day in Philly. We quickly had our hearts broken as we saw no lights or cars at the Sonic. They were closed. Like closed for good. I personally was kinda shocked as this was the same Sonic Drive-In that was blocking traffic when they first opened.

Hungry, we looked around. It was Sunday so no Chick-fil-A, we didn't really feel like Five Guys, so we decided on Bassett's Original Memphis BBQ. They had fries, so good deal.

The Bride got brisket and I ordered chicken tenders and fries. The drink selection was interesting. Besides Stewart's in bottles they had some odd flavors on tap, among them real sugar cane cola, outlaw orange and a diet cola as well - all Bassett's brand microbrews.

The Memphis Fries, as they were called, were standard crinkle cuts and probably frozen and deep-fried, but they were hot and very tasty. They were also perfect for dipping and soaking up the barbecue sauce. I got the mild, but I probably should have gotten the hot. No worries, both are at the table.

The Bride loved her bacon and cheese fries, though she wasn't sure what kind of cheese was used. My chicken tenders were regular breaded tenders but smothered in that terrific barbecue sauce. This was a great meal and a great surprise. Maybe it's a good thing that Sonic was closed, we'll definitely be back.

French Fry Diary 345: Bobby's Burger Palace

Bobby Flay knows French fries, other people's French fries. His own, not so much. Remember those great fries from Balthazar that he talked about on "Best Thing I Ever Ate: Totally Fried"? Well, apparently he knows where to go for good fries, but not how to make them himself.

Bobby's Burger Palace opened up at the classy new Cherry Hill Mall a few months back. It is settled in between Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52, so it's dead center in the valet parking zone. In other words, if you're going to BBP, be prepared for a serious walk cuz you can't park anywhere near it.

This was a night out for The Bride and me, and we invited my buddy Ray to come along. Ray had been to the BBP in Eatontown before and was not impressed. In the words of my friend Ray, "It's not a burger worth waiting in line a half hour for." Well see. He also said the place looked like a 1970s Burger King threw up, and I gotta say, he's absolutely right.

So, stand in line, big menu on the wall, order, sit and wait some more. We sat at the counter, not much choice there. Notably Bobby's Burger Palace has Fresca. They get extra points from The Bride for that. But they also get minus points for the anti-bigger people seating. No chairs in the place are movable, in other words, no chair can be pulled out. I think for a place that sells fast food, gourmet or otherwise, that's a serious faux pas. Condiments included yellow mustard, ketchup, chipotle, jalapeño, and the mysterious burger sauce. Oddly the shakes came first. Isn't that dessert? Weird. The food came quicker than I thought though, but not all at once.

I got just a plain burger as usual, but I got it 'crunchified,' in other words with potato chips on top. Now I applaud the attempt, but I've been putting potato chips on my burgers since I was a little kid. Just piling them on doesn't work. You have to lay them on, cover the whole burger, not just the middle. Also Bobby just uses regular sub-standard store brand potato chips. You need to use flavored chips like barbeque and a quality brand as well. The chips on the burgers done Bobby's way was not a treat and will not bring new folks into the chips-on-burger family. I dumped my chips off after a few bites.

The burger was very good though. Well, mine was at least. Ray had complaints. He got the Bobby Blue Burger, which purports to have blue cheese on it. One would expect, as Ray would, it to have crumbled bleu cheese on the burger, but not the case. It's a bleu cheese sauce, not quite the same thing.

The fries on the other hand, were not good. The Bride suspected they were the last of a batch, very hard and stuck together. They were pretty terrible actually, like at the end of the night at Five Guys. Way too crunchy, overdone, and just bits and pieces. Looking at the fries of others, this seems to be the standard. Now when I asked our waiter if this was the way the fries usually are, he told me yes. Still, the website showed quite tasty looking fries, that bore no resemblance whatsoever to anything I saw in the restaurant the night we went.

The special BBP fry sauce was just some type of salad dressing. Ray had the sweet potato fries and described them as bland. Not good for Bobby so far. We did like what we saw when an order of onion rings went by - gigantic. They looked awesome. Maybe next time, cuz I will be back for the burger, but definitely not the fries.

I remain puzzled. If Bobby Flay thinks the best most perfect fries in the world are from Baltthazar in New York City, why not produce something similar at his own restaurant? Those at Bobby's Burger Palace are not recommended.