Daym Drops on Five Guys Burgers and Fries

My buddy Ray hipped me to this guy. Daym Drops is obviously a brother from another mother. He knows his food, and he knows his fries. All that, and my man has got crazy mad charazma all up in there too. Love it. Check it out.

French Fry Diary 335: Burgers in Paradise

We have a special treat for folks this week. While I'm busy running the Virtual Book Tour for THE HUNGRY HEART STORIES by my friend author Fran Metzman, another good friend of mine, Terry Willitts will be guest blogging here at French Fry Diary this week.

First up, Burgers in Paradise...

BURGERS IN PARADISE - SEMINOLE TOWNE CENTER MALL, SANFORD, FL

Burgers in Paradise is a relatively new addition to the Food Court in the Seminole Towne Center Mall in Sanford, FL. On a whim, I thought I'd pop in and try it out - I had not heard anything about it, so this was a completely blind date. It was December 12, mid afternoon, so the mall was packed with people doing their Christmas shopping, but I was just there to grab something to eat. I had planned to walk the mall, but one of my sandals blew out, and I still had a grocery run to make, so I stayed in the Food Court instead.

From the menu, it seemed they were a basic burger joint, with a little more variety than a Five Guys, but not the convoluted menu of a fast food restaurant. There was a line, but the wait wasn't that long, and the order taker (her name was Terri, which I only remember as my name is Terry) was very polite and in the Christmas spirit. The drink menu included fountain drinks (Coke products, iced tea) and bottled/canned drinks (water, flavoured water, Pepsi products), giving a decent variety. I ordered a Bacon Burger with cheese (strangely the Bacon Cheeseburger wasn't on the menu, had to get a Bacon Burger and pay for cheese to be added.) The food was cooked quickly enough (but fresh to the order, so it took a few minutes) on a black top. My burger, an order of fries and a large soda came to over nine dollars - pretty much what you can expect to pay for a combo for a good burger.

Sadly, this was not a good burger. It wasn't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't good. When I sat down and got my burger out, I could hear the little old lady from the Wendy's commercial demanding to know where the beef was. The patty was VERY thin, I'm sure it was a frozen burger (not that I have any particular problem with that, but for $9+ for a burger and combo, it'd better be a thick frozen patty), and the bun was obviously something they bought at the local grocery store - just a run of the mill burger bun, not toasted, not buttered and heated on the black top, nothing.

But you're here for the fries, so maybe that was the saving grace of this blind date? No. Sadly, the fries were cheap frozen crinkle fries that weren't particularly noteworthy at all. Plus, I have to say that a good third of the order were the tiny crunchy, over-cooked ones that hardly have any potato inside. There is no way I should have paid more than $5 for the entire meal.

Sadly, this was not remotely a good experience and I won't ever return there.

Thanks, Terry! If you'd like more of Terry online, check out his regular blog here, his daily year long journey through "Doctor Who" from the very beginning here, and his eBay page here.

French Fry Diary 324: 25 Burgers

Like Smashburger, 25 Burgers is mostly a North Jersey phenomenon, but with one location in my area, in Woodbury. The claim to fame of 25 Burgers is that you have at least twenty-five choices, including angus beef burgers, chicken breast burgers, and other specialty burgers. They've been around since 2009, and have expanded their franchise since.

The day after New Year's Day was a day off for most folks, so The Bride and her folks decided we'd make a road trip to 25 Burgers, as I had wanted to for some time. Over the last couple years I have gotten several recommendations for their fries, so I was looking forward to it.

25 Burgers, other than Boardwalk Fries, also offers cheese fries, chili cheese fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings, and potato pancakes as sides as well. For this trip, I ordered the rather inexpensive Boardwalk Fries, along with my usual plain burger. Notably, this is a Pepsi place, no Coca-Cola products, but they did have Orange Crush on tap. Bonus points.

The restaurant itself reminded me of Five Guys in color scheme, very red and white and checkered. The overhead music was oldies and the walls were covered with pics of Marilyn, Sinatra, Elvis, and other icons of the 1950s and 60s. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

The burgers can be huge, depending on what you order. Mine was small, others were big, and all were (no choice) well done. And like Tony Luke says, it's all about the roll - and the rolls are fabulous. The burger, other than being a bit more than well done, was fairly good. The Bride got the Maui Burger, which she liked, but found unwieldy to eat. It might be better without the roll, and with a knife and fork.

The fries, very golden brown, were regular natural cuts, and very spicy. I found them similar to the fries at Checker's, spicy with the crunchy coating. The difference though is the size, these are shorter than Checker's fries, which are pretty long. That said, we might have just gotten to the end of a batch. Quite addictive, but have a drink close by as they have time delay heat. The mother-in-law liked them a lot.

All around, it was a good lunch with the family. I don't know if we'll be rushing back any time soon, but it was pretty good.

French Fry Diary 239: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Marlton NJ

A couple months ago, the devil came to town. They announced they were opening a Five Guys Burgers and Fries right across the street. Previously Five Guys had been a once in a while treat, now with a restaurant so close, how would I be able to resist. It's worse for The Bride. This store opened up two doors down from her Jenny Craig. Why would a Five Guys open up next to a Jenny Craig? That's just eeevil.

I cruised by on Monday, their first day open, and it was packed. I felt kinda bad as the Pat's down at the end of the shopping center was ominously empty. The father-in-law and I went to the new place on the second day open, and it was very crowded for dinner.

I was surprised to see fourteen people behind the counter, and about the same number of customers. It very loud, at once from the overhead satellite radio, the yelling from the kitchen, and the satisfied murmuring of the customers eating. With so many in the kitchen however, you'd think the food would come faster - it still took about ten minutes. But it was so worth the wait.

We ate at the restaurant, mostly for the free refills soda fountain. Extra points for having Pibb Xtra at the soda fountain. It seems to be popping up around here more and more. They had it at the local Elevation Burger and also at the Rave Theater.

There was a little confusion ordering but it was easily fixed. We got a regular order of fries with that extra scoop thrown on top for those always-wonderful Five Guys fries. They were very hot very crispy very good. Five Guys fries are crisp natural cuts and always consistent in their quality. It's going to be very tempting having them so close to my home.

We made a second trip today, Friday night, and they were just as crowded, both behind the counter and in the dining area. I had a chance to chat with one of the managers who was so proud and confident about Five Guys fries that he even compared them to Thrasher's in Maryland - now that's confidence. I've had a lot of folks recommend Thrasher's as being the best.

As I walked out of Five Guys this evening, looking at the people eating outside, the folks on their way into the restaurant, and then, the people going in and out of Jenny Craig - I had just one thought. Oh yeah, this is going to kill a whole lot of diets. Welcome to Marlton, Five Guys!

French Fry Diary 228: Cool Dog Café

This place had been taunting me for weeks since their sign outside went up, long before the Cool Dog Cafe even opened up. It teased me with two words - "Belgian Frites." Oh yeah, so I had to get here sooner or later. It has since become one of my favorite local restaurants.

Their take home menu says that their Belgian Frites are "Simply the best fries you've ever had... crispy on the outside, moist & tender on the inside. You'll never return to France." On a later visit, one of the owners, so proud and passionate about his fries, told me that my fries actually started cooking the day before - a par-fry after cutting, soaking and drying, and then a shock-fry when ordered. Yeah, that's the way to do it.

I made it in to the Cool Dog Cafe for the first time a few days after they had opened. I got a hot dog, a nice extra long dog on a regular bun which came on a plate but my large order of Belgian Frites came in a big brown bag.... Hmmm... What's up with that? The large paper bag was full of fries, and this was indeed a large order. Hot and tasty, I found them to be natural cuts, and very very good. And just for the record, the dog was good too.

I could complain about the bag o' fries, as the grease slowly soaked through the bag, and they weren't especially Belgian nor frites. But I won't. While they might not be exactly what fry freaks like me think of when we think of Beligian frites - these are damned good fries.

Aside from the unorthodox way they were served these were essentially the same natural cuts that could be had at Pat's or Five Guys. They have a bit more crunch and there is much to be said about the portion size - they aren't Belgian frites, but really, who cares? These fries are contenders, and better (yeah, I said it) than either Pat's or Five Guys.

I was the only one there for lunch when I was there for the first time, with Sirius radio blasting as was the heat, and news and women's basketball were on the two big screen TVs. It did start to fill up as I was getting ready to go so that's good. I have been back, many times (I told you I liked this place), and now it is usually hopping.

Malt vinegar is on the table, along with ketchup and mustard, so their heart is in the right place when it comes to fries. And they also had Coca-Cola products, and free refills at the fountain, always a plus in my book. Also on the condiment bright side is the killer Jack Daniels glaze that is available for burgers or dogs, but is perfect for the fries as well. They also have the first sweet potato fries that this catastrophically picky eater has wanted to eat more than one of. In fact, I like them almost as much as the regular fries.

Check them out at their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Check for their specials. I recommend the sliders, the dogs, the toppings, and especially the fries. They are probably not what I would have expected when I first saw that "Belgian Frites" sign, but man, are they good - highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 167: The New Gino's

After hearing about Gino's reopening in King of Prussia PA, I quickly put together a French Fry Diary road trip. The Bride's folks, her aunt and her friend came along, and after seemingly endless hours on the horrendously packed and unmoving Schuylkill Expressway we finally made it.

The new Gino's is an oasis of nostalgia, between the giant photos on the walls of days gone by and the vintage WFIL-style oldies (interspersed with newer oldies and old Gino's commercials) on the overhead sound system. There was a steady stream of folks coming in and out, but it was not crowded by any means. Busy, yes, packed, no. The atmosphere was very upbeat and happy, the staff pleasant, quick and helpful. The kitchen, as advertised, was open, but you really couldn't actually see anyone cooking.

The counter area was set up as a line, starting at a wall with a simplistic menu, like the fries visually at least, very similar to the simple menu at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Honestly, not a bad successful business to emulate, but shouldn't Gino's be trying to rebuild or build their own brand? There was always a bottleneck at this menu before the line went to the 'order' and 'pick-up' stations.

We were eating in, so we took a number to our table and waited for our food to be brought to us. Take-out fries were served in cups (also like Five Guys) but eat-in orders were poured into a basket with your sandwich. But there's no way to really know whose fries are whose in this concept. It was almost like eating family style despite the fries all being ordered individually. Imagine my frustration when my burger arrived alone in a basket with no fries.

My burger was very, very good, better than Five Guys, and not conjure their specter again, it had two patties, just like they do. The two hand-formed beef patties on the sesame seed bun made for perhaps the best burger I have had in quite a while. Coke products were offered as was locally produced Hank's root beers and sodas.

The fries were not great at all. My Aunt Ellen nailed how I felt about the fries with her initial assessment of them - greasy, but at least you can taste the potato. These thick natural regular cuts were unimpressive, and tasted of peanuts, possibly from the oil, but if that was so, where were the warnings for those allergic?

The Bride liked that the cheese for the cheese fries was Cheez Whiz. My mom-in-law was surprised (as was I) by the lack of coffee or tea on the menu. We didn't try the chicken, or the milkshakes made with Edy's ice cream, and unfortunately the fries don't have enough pull to bring me back.

The fries were less than satisfying, but all in all, it was a great fun day out with the family, and a successful French Fry Diary road trip.

French Fry Diary 152: Five Guys Cajun Fries

I love Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The burgers are better than most fast food places as are the fries, as a matter of fact, they are some of the consistently best franchise fries out there. One of the best things about Five Guys is the simplicity of the menu, including the fries - two sizes and two kinds - and I'd never tried the Cajun Fries, yet.

As friends and family converged on Five Guys for an August Saturday lunch, I felt brave and decided to try the Cajun Fries for the first time. We ended up with two orders as friends and family were game to help with the French Fry Diary experiment. The consensus was pretty unanimous.

The Cajun Fries at Five Guys are the same as the regular fries, natural cuts, but dusted heavily with Cajun seasoning. The seasoning includes, according to the manager on duty, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, white pepper, and 'spice.' These are hot, oh so hot. So hot I think I burned the tip of my tongue and the roof of my mouth, yow. I had to suck on ice cubes to cool off.

Thankfully we also got the regular style fries as well for those of us with milder dispositions. And as always, the peanuts and the burgers were terrific, but I doubt I'll be getting the Cajun Fries any time soon. They weren't bad just very hot. There's a time for that, and folks who love that, just not me. I still love Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

More Wendy's Madness

This is from PotatoPro, a website that services and reports on the potato industry:

"Wendy’s Skin-On Fries Part of Healthy Fast Food Push

"United States, August 26, 2010

"Wendy’s/Arby’s Group is taking the Wendy’s restaurant slogan “Quality is Our Recipe” to a new level – this time, with all-natural French fries in test markets.

"And interestingly, the new recipe comes at a time when Wendy’s French fries are already popular. A recent Zagat survey ranked Wendy’s fries fourth best, behind McDonald’s, Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger.

"So why would Wendy’s make the change to an already successful snack? Simple: The move comes amid a flurry of other menu changes at fast-food restaurants that push for higher quality, healthful and natural ingredients.

"Here are the details on the natural fries, and which Wendy’s test markets are offering them:

"The snack consists of skin-on strips of real potato, cooked in special oil and are topped with sea salt. The oil is used specifically for cooking these new fries, and Wendy’s has even passed up table salt for the more natural evaporated sea salt. Wendy’s is currently testing the fries, in Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana."

The full article appears here. Sounds like the Health Nazis are at it again...

Zagat Names Best French Fries

The Zagat Guide released their list for the best in fast food. According to The Consumerist: "Earlier this year, the burgers at quickly growing fast foodatrorium Five Guys made the Center for Science in the Public Interest's list of most calorie-filled meals in the country. Perhaps that's why the voters at the Zagat Guide recently chose Five Guys as the best burger in the country.

"In a survey of 6,500 fast food fans, Five Guys beat out all other burger chains for top honors, followed by In-N-Out -- last year's winner -- in second place. Rounding out the top five were, in order, Wendy's, Burger King then McDonald's.

"Among full-service chain restaurants, Red Robin reigned supreme. The rest of the top five were Stake 'n Shake, Cheesecake Factory, Ruby Tuesday and Chili's.

"Of course, what good are burgers without fries? And while Five Guys might be noted for drowning your burger in a sea of fresh-cut french fries, it still wasn't enough to be out McDonald's for the fry crown.

"The Golden Arches also took home gold medals in Best Value, Best Value Menu, Best Breakfast Sandwiches. And yet Wendy's was still voted Top Overall and Top Food among "Mega Chain" (over 5,000 location) eateries.

"The full results can be found here."

Also according to The Consumerist, as a possible result of this vote, Wendy's is now testing natural cut fries in Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana. They have been apparently getting rave reviews, but quite honestly in my opinion, there was nothing wrong with Wendy's old fries.

Two things - I'd better get to Wendy's and review their fries before they make a big mistake and change them, and In-N-Out Burger better open some east coast restaurants.

French Fry Diary 123: Pat’s Family Restaurant III

This is my third review of Pat’s. Twice I hit them for the fries. The first time they weren’t so hot, but numerous visits afterward revealed that first time to be a glitch. More often than not, Pat’s has terrific fries. But that’s not why I’m here tonight. This is about Pat’s onion rings.

They are breaded deep-fried whole rings of onions of varying sizes. These aren’t pieces, chunks or chopped onions, these are the real deal. These rings are very crispy and juicy, and much like their potatoey counterparts, the onion rings at Pat’s are recommended.

On the French fry front I was going to comment on how the last half-dozen or so times I had been to Pat’s it seemed like they were skimping on the fries. This time, as if they knew what I might write, there were a lot. I guess it depends on who’s cooking and the time of day.

Always a quality fry at Pat’s, just as good as Five Guys, and that’s saying a lot.

Biggie Fries

What exactly is it about “Apologize” by One Republic and Timbaland that makes folks think of French fries?

French Fry Diary 95: Worst Fries in America

Friends Ray, Domenic, Joe and a host of other friends, acquaintances and strangers sent this link to me:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/46018/americas-worst-french-fries-and-what-you-should-eat-instead/

Thanks, folks!

The folks at Eat This, Not That are fond of putting down the favorite fried food as bad for you, in fact they’ve made quite a career of it.

What really amazes me is how they are quick to attack Arby’s Curly Fries, Jack in the Box’s Bacon Cheddar Wedges, and Five Guys’ Fries (!) among others, they follow it all up with recommending McDonald’s Fries as being the best fast food fries. Something seems askew here. They’re recommending Mickey D’s but then they leave In-N-Out Burger’s Animal Style Fries off their worst list? I mean, come on, guys, if you’re going to be Health Nazis, at least be consistent!

And for the record, I have nothing against McDonalds Fries, it’s just that I know there are better – including, most significantly, Five Guys’ Fries. And nothing against the Animal Style either, as I haven’t had the chance to try In-N-Out Burger yet, but I will as soon as they open one out here on the East Coast.

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!

Move Over, Republicans

Apparently it's not just the Republicans and the right wing conservatives that have a problem with President Obama. Now those nasty Health Nazis are taking aim at the President for his fondness for Five Guys and burgers and fries...

French Fry Diary 46: Nifty Fifty’s

The first thing that strikes one about the French fries at Nifty Fifty’s is the variety. Their fries come in cheese, spicy, spicy cheese, chili cheese, spicy chili, BBQ beef, BBQ beef cheese. I’m guessing you see a pattern here and I know there could be more if they tried, just based on the listed combos. Their chicken nuggets have similar varieties. On first impressions it might seem like they are trying to cover something up with these elaborate toppings – and they are.

The fries are natural regular cuts, nothing spectacular, while similar to Five Guys in appearance they are nowhere, I repeat, nowhere near as good. I got just regular fries with none of the toppings but there was still a hint of seasoning, maybe just bad preparation. The fries were lukewarm and soggy, from both grease and condensation. These were just really bad fries. No wonder they offer so many toppings to cover the fact up.

Nifty Fifty’s also has onion rings. These are big thick chunks of onion rings, obviously ‘home-made’ as advertised and evidenced by the haphazard way they have been battered – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. These were more onion than batter and had a pleasant Italian seasoning to them.

The rings were cold when I got them home (less than ten minutes in a closed bag), much as the fries had been just moments after I ordered them. One just assumes food should be hot when you order at drive-thru. I’ll give NF the benefit of the doubt and say the rings had time to cool. Onion rings rarely nuke well so I put them (seven of them in the one order) in the oven for a few minutes. They’re pretty good, not great. In all honesty I think I could make ‘em better myself at home.

So the rings are okay, and the fries bad, and the chicken nuggets questionable. If any of those are on your stomach’s agenda, I suggest you steer clear of Nifty Fifty’s.

Fries on Twitter

In a delirious brainstorm after reading far too much Texts from Last Night (which I absolutely love, but not as much as French fries), I decided to record the state of the fries community on Twitter. Here’s just a sampling...

isabelmusic gonna try my home made fries again...maybe a bit thicker this time, I don't know...

wkdkmom Mmmm..Five Guys burger and fries. If I had a Rita's gelati, it would be the perfect meal. :)

starprincesss Guess what I found at the gas station? Ketchup flavored fries! Naaasty! http://twitpic.com/cqxpl

nuriati Seaweed shaker fries.. Fav seh!!! http://mypict.me/hoLp

captainpj "You going to eat all of that?" he asked, while staring at my fries om-nom-nominously...

YoRitaSouthSide criadillas de carnero tonight. if you don't know about lamb fries... now ya know!

Clumsy21 i want an in n out combo with the fries mmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!! and the double double ugh!!!! I LOVE IN N OUT

benjiharding @Jmarc803 Five Guys is amazing...best fries ever.

manlyeats MANLYCOMIC of the day: "batter dipped, deep fried french fries" titled fryfry-fry-fry-fried-fries -- http://bit.ly/ACSPw

Just a ‘taste’... we’ll do this again. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m here. And I can see I’m going to have to do a bit of research on shaker fries and lamb fries, among other things...

Mmmm... fries...

French Fry Diary 33: The Winner

The very clear winner of our “What Are Your Favorite Fast Food French Fries?” poll is McDonalds. Twenty-nine out of ninety-three votes went to Mickey D’s golden fries. Granted they are very consistent, very tasty and very very famous, as well as convenient (where isn’t there a McDonalds nearby?)

I’d really like to hear from the folks who voted for McD in this poll. Let me know why you voted the way you did. Contact me here. Remember, curiosity killed the cat, not the French fry fan. That was cholesterol ;-) but we’ll let the Health Nazis take care of that diatribe.

Second place with eight votes belongs to Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and most deservedly should. Their fresh and hot natural regular cuts are always terrific. Check out my review of their fries here.

Also with eight votes is the ‘someplace else’ category. Obviously I couldn’t list every fast food place in the country so I just went with a handful. Eight folks chose ‘none of the above,’ and just like above here in this article, I’d like y’all to please contact me and let me know who does actually have the best fast food French fries. You’ve got me curious, let me know! ☺

Now on the other end of the spectrum, it should be noted that Sonic (whose fries are not the best), White Castle, Jack in the Box, Nathan’s and Stewart’s received zero votes. I’d love to know why on that point as well. Are those fries really that terrible? I would take serious issue with Nathan’s unique thick crinkle cuts getting no votes as I think those are pretty special. Not the best, mind you, but up there pretty high.

In-N-Out Burger, which I’ve never had, and those spicy long fries at Checkers and Rallys both got seven votes each for third place. Bringing up a tie for fourth place were Burger King, Wendy’s and those tasty waffle fries from Chick-fil-A. Fifth place with four votes belongs to Popeyes which leads me to believe that a lot more folks like those long and spicy battered fries than I thought. Me, I can only have them once in a while. Too much aftertaste.

Sixth place, Fatburger, was what I personally voted for. Whether you get the Skinny Fries or the Fat Fries, I think they are the best of the fast food fries, followed by probably by Nathan’s, Five Guys, Chick-fil-A and maybe Roy Rogers. But what do I know… about French fries?

Whataburger took two votes for the distant seventh place, and Arby’s, KFC, Carl’s Jr., Hardees, Roy Rogers, Dairy Queen and Long John Silver all received one vote each. We’ll do this again at some point and see how folks’ minds may change (or not). Please feel free to comment below, or contact me directly. Until then, mmmm... fries...

Obama at Five Guys

Apparently the President is a Five Guys fan too…



To quote his associate, “Fries, yes, sir, thank you for caring.”


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Have You Voted Yet?

The poll (found to your immediate left) to find out what your favorite fast food French fries will be coming to a close at the end of the month - have you voted yet?

McDonald's seems to have a very clear lead, but still the battle rages on for second. A tie between Five Guys, In-N-Out Burger and Burger King needs to be broken. Or perhaps there's another fry that should be in the lead? Where are the fans of Sonic? Or Checkers? Or my favorite, Fatburger? Come on out and vote!

As for the folks who have voted for the 'someplace other' option - why not send me a note and let me know where to find your favorite fries? I can be contacted here. Looking forward to hearing from you!

And don't forget to vote!


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