French Fry Diary 450: Allen's Clam Bar

Allen's Clam Bar, on Route 9 in New Gretna, New Jersey used to be my late father's favorite restaurant. Now, keep in mind, my father was a man who did not go out to restaurants. Once he was retired, he went to McDonald's in the morning for coffee and gossip with the other old men, and would grudgingly accompany the family out when my sister from Nebraska would swoop in once a year - but other than that, he was not a restaurant guy.

My father was a woodsman and a hunter, a farmer and a country boy. I could see how this place in the middle of nowhere would appeal to him. And as I accompanied him on many instructional and fun walks and rides in the woods, I can easily see how he would enjoy the one to two hour drive through the Pine Barrens to get to Allen's.

He and my mom would go there on summer weekends to enjoy the air, and the ride - and I suppose also the food and the ambiance. I had the opportunity to go to Allen's twice. The first time I think was my dad trying to show me what he thought a 'real' restaurant was like, and second was the truly painful experience of the parents taking me and a girlfriend to a 'real' restaurant. I miss my parents a lot now that they're gone, but even in hindsight, this latter trip holds no joy.

Allen's Clam Bar is a place out of time. If I recall correctly, and this is going back nearly three decades, the place had a dirt parking lot and a wood floor porch. The inside was more of a small but empty general store out of the 1920s that someone had awkwardly set up tables and chairs in. Cramped and dusty, although not on the tables, I was greeted by a very simple menu, printed on the placemat. As I recall, the waitresses also exude a rustic Piney charm - take that any way you want to.

The menu consisted of a variety of seafood items, most of them fried, that all came with two sides, the only one of which this catastrophically picky eater would eat was the favorite fried food. On both trips I got the fried scallops and two sides of French fries.

Each of my orders - the scallops, the fries, and the fries - came on a big paper plate, so I had three piled high paper plates. I remember that the scallops may as well have been Mrs. Paul's (nothing wrong with that, I love Mrs. Paul's scallops) were it not for their large size. The fries were definitely from the grocer's freezer (regular or crinkle cut, although pics online may indicate they're now natural cuts) and deep fried in the same oil as everything else, so they had that unique fishy tinge - not necessarily a bad thing.

Allen's Clam Bar is still there, but I haven't been back. I understand why my dad liked it, and I'm sure my folks had good times there. I found some pics of the place online. It doesn't seem like it's changed much. I don't remember the shark though. Maybe I'll get back there someday, and have some fries for my dad.

French Fry Diary 333: York Steak House

I have another flashback for you all today. The York Steak House was a chain restaurant back in the 1970s and 80s, primarily in mall locations, and that eventually closed its doors in 1989.

The York Steak House that I remember most was the one in the Echelon Mall. It stood out among other mall restaurants in that pre-food court age in that it was open past regular mall hours. So if you wanted a late dinner after 9:30 PM or just regular dinner on a Sunday after five, and didn't (or couldn't) leave the mall, York was your choice.

York was a cut above fast food, and a sit-down restaurant, so for a high schooler with a mall job, a dinner there was a 'dress nice' date. It ran cafeteria style, similar to the Rustler Steak House of the time, or the later Ponderosa. You picked your meal and paid at the cash register at the end of the line, and a waitress brought out your hot food.

For potato offerings, you could get a baked potato, for which York would charge you extra for butter or sour cream, or you could get steak fries. Both had the vibe of being under heat lamps a bit too long. The steaks as I recall weren't bad.

Does anyone else out there remember the York Steak House?

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 204: Red Robin Burger 2003

Here's a French Fry Diary flashback. Red Robin Burger was the first official French Fry Diary road trip. We were lured to the restaurant, quite a distance away at the Oxford Valley Mall, by their website that promised 'legendary bottomless steak fries.' There was a .gif of a moving image with constantly falling fries that said b.s.f. and nothing else. Bottomless Steak Fries? Oh, come on, you knew I had to investigate.

So we selected a night, and my friends Marni, Ken and Laurie came with on the trek to the closest Red Robin Burger location just outside the mall. It was a nice trip if a long one, but with friends, it goes by fast, and besides there were fries waiting at the end of this journey.

The onion rings were crispy and tasty. The shakes were good as were the sundaes. The burgers were big and juicy. The main event - baskets of steak fries with the skin on, were not very hot, but at least warm, slightly greasy, and if you ask, the waitstaff will refill the basket.

It's no wonder they're bottomless, you can only eat so many of these sub-par fries.
Maybe we went on a bad day but I've a hunch not. I probably won't be going back.

Now the above was my impression of eight years ago. I have gone back, and I have been impressed, as you can see from subsequent reviews... to be featured this week...

French Fry Diary 196: Red Lobster Flashback

The following are my thoughts on the fries, among other things, at Red Lobster from around the year 2001. It's interesting how some things have changed, and some have stayed the same at Red Lobster as compared to my recent review.

Bread things... oh yeah, baby, the bread things.

That's the reason to go to Red Lobster. It is hands down the best thing to get at Red Lobster. The cheddar biscuits are amazing, and the best thing about these bread thing appetizers is that they are free. If you go into Red Lobster and order something to drink, get a few baskets of bread things, and then decide you really don't want to have dinner at RL, you don't have to pay for them, just the drinks. Cool or what? And if you show up for a late dinner, and are there when they are starting to close, you can get the waitress to give you the extra bread things to take home with you.

Ahem, anyway, this blog is about the favorite fried food, and not cheddar biscuits, no matter how good they are. Still, it must be stressed what the real draw at Red Lobster really is.

The fries at Red Lobster are long natural cuts with a light batter covering, crispy, but not spicy despite their orange coloring. I always get them as a side with my chicken. Yeah, I know, like bringing a knife to a gunfight, I always get chicken at seafood restaurants. The chicken is quite good, it should be noted, but the real treat is the sweet and sour barbeque sauce for dipping. This is so good, some of the best I have ever tasted, and if you ask nicely, your waitress will even give you some to take home so you can use it for your fries at home.

Including the extras - the bread things and the sweet and sour barbeque sauce - Red Lobster fries are highly recommended. Remember, come for the fries, but stay from the sauce and especially the bread things!

And that's the way it was. Check out yesterday's entry for how it is now at Red Lobster...

French Fry Diary 173: Gino's Flashback

Gino's was my first fast food experience. It was first restaurant to move in nearby, even though we all knew there was a McDonalds several miles up the White Horse Pike, Gino's was five minutes away, and right next to the Acme where just everyone did their grocery shopping. How could you miss it?

One visit after a long grocery trip to bring home lunch and I was indoctrinated at a very tender age. I remember loving the fries even then, surely an early sign of the mental illness that troubles me even now.

Gino's was huge then. Even the sign, that of a cartoon football player holding aloft a gigantic bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, was huge and one of the highest points in Berlin NJ. The home of the Gino's Giant, the later Sirloiner, and of course the Colonel's chicken held a prominent place in my childhood years.

I remember one traumatic moment when I was five or six when I was given a soda to carry as we left the counter with our take out, and me being a dumb and clumsy kid, I dropped it. I remember it went everywhere when it hit the floor, and I was horrified. Another fond Gino's memory was when a friend had her birthday party 'catered' by Gino's with Kentucky Fried Chicken her parents brought home. That party was the envy of the neighborhood.

The fries at Gino's were long shoestrings, maybe a bit greasy, but always a treat. The novelty of fast food was still a new thing for us hicks back then. The Berlin Gino's eventually closed and later became an Arby's then a Roy Rogers and now it's a Jersey diner, but it has retained its distinctive Gino's structure through the years. Later, when I was in college I noticed they had changed their fries to regular cuts similar to Roy Rogers, not surprising as they had been purchased by Marriott. And then they vanished altogether.

Gino's is still missed, and despite what the new Gino's is trying to do, it's not the same. But I still have my memories. Check out the memories of others here.