French Fry Diary 562: Rustler Steakhouse

From 1968 to about 1985, Gino's had an upscale restaurant partner called the Rustler Steakhouse. It's a thing of the past now, but where they had a Gino's, somewhere pretty close by there'd be a Rustler Steakhouse. That was the case in the 1970s during my childhood, the local Gino's by the Lindenwold Speedline had a Rustler about a hundred feet away.

I remember going, twice. I confess, I didn't really grow up in a normal family. We hardly ever went out to eat, ever. When I was eight or nine, I spent a few weeks of the summer with my cousins, and got a taste of a semi-non-dysfunctional home. One night they went out to dinner at the Rustler Steakhouse, and they took me with.

Rustler was very similar to other steakhouse restaurants of the day like Bonanza, Sizzler, Ponderosa, and even the fondly remembered York. Classier than a fast food place, it was run cafeteria style, you ordered your entree then picked up your side items and then your steak was brought out to your table.



I don't recall what kind of fries they had, but I know they had killer baked potatoes. I especially remember the chocolate pudding for dessert. Anyway, once I was home, I must have raved about the Rustler Steakhouse so much that my parents took me. I remember my dad hating it so much we never went back.



When Marriott bought Gino's in the 1980s, they didn't do the same for Rustler, and they slowly faded away. Anyone else out there remember the Rustler?

French Fry Diary 221: Elevation Burger, Moorestown Mall NJ

As I've mentioned before, I get a lot of recommendations for French fries to review. Some, like Whataburger and In-N-Out Burger, are just too far away for me to get to. Some, I have just been waiting for them to open a restaurant nearby - such is the case with Elevation Burger at the Moorestown Mall. I was so excited when I saw they were coming, I even made a blog entry of just the 'coming soon' sign.

Finally, finally after many delays, Elevation Burger finally opened just before Groundhog's Day this year. I was there the day after that. They were a bit slow, and there were more folks behind the counter than in the seating area, but that was just fine. I've been there several times since and things have definitely picked up.

The first excursion I got my regular - plain burger, fries and a soda. The soda selection, fountain style, also offered Mr. Pibbs Xtra and Wild Bill's Root Beer, besides the regular run of Coca-Cola products. Always nice to have new stuff to try, so I tried the root beer and then went back to my normal Coke selection. I'm a catastrophically picky eater, remember?

The ordering is similar to the new Gino's and the meal is brought to your table. It came on a unique metal tray, with the burger in a paper sleeve and a sizable serving of fries, all steaming hot. The fries were fresh cut natural cut shoestrings that didn't seem quite done and needed seasoning. The burger was delicious, also needing a bit of seasoning so I put some fries on it and it rocked.

The customer service at Elevation Burger this first trip and all following trips was top notch. The first time, five different employees asked how my meal was as I ate, and they seemed genuinely concerned. It's the little things that count, ya know?

The fries are supposed to have been cooked in olive oil, and while I don't doubt that, they didn't have the usual taste other Spanish fries I've tried have had. The Elevation fries had a cleaner, less greasy (if at all) taste. Still they needed an extra kick.

Now these weren't great fries, but the burger was fantastic so I had to go back. Addict that I am, I also got fries too - because not-so-good fries are better than no fries at all. Now here's the problem, and the reason this review has taken so long to be posted - I have been conflicted. The fries on trip two were amazing. Further visits proved only one thing, Elevation Burger's fries are at best inconsistent. Sometimes they are meh, and sometimes they are terrific. This much is sure, the longer they cook, the better they are. So a blurry decision from me on the fries but a definite thumbs up on the burgers.

All things considered, the burgers, the fries, the absolutely incredible shakes, and the customer service - I really really like Elevation Burger. Highly recommended when the fries are done right.

French Fry Diary 188: Roy Rogers

To quote Tommy Kiefer and Cinderella, the local glam metal band of that sadly lost era, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone," and that's kinda how I feel about Roy Rogers restaurants and their fries.

They used to be everywhere, and I enjoyed them a lot, but then a few decades back, they all disappeared, except for on the turnpikes and on the way to Baltimore and Washington DC. Founded by the singing cowboy actor of the same name, Roy Rogers used to be the number three fast food place behind McDonalds and Burger King, a slot now held by the fry-switching folks at Wendy's.

I have fond memories of Roy Rogers, believe it or not. I played Dungeons & Dragons there. I read my comics there after picking them up on payday. I took dates there, yeah, I know, I was a cheap bastard. It was where I went with friends after the funeral of another dear friend. And the local Berlin Roy Rogers was once a Gino's where I got one of my first jobs. Roy's was a mainstay of my youth.

Roy's also has a special place in my heart if for only one non-favorite fried food reason - they serve their hamburgers plain. Being a catastrophically picky eater I like my burgers plain, 'regular grill' as some fast food places call it, just the burger and the bun as I have to stress whenever I go through a drive-thru or even go inside. As anyone who has asked for a special order at a fast food place will tell you - I might as well be robbing them at gunpoint, they don't want to hear it.

McDonalds is a major offender for getting orders wrong, White Castle is almost impossible, and despite what their ads say about 'having it your way,' Burger King has a shoddy record as well. And Checkers, just don't even bother, it ain't happening. Roy Rogers is the plain hamburger godsend in an apparently incompetent world.

Roy Rogers Restaurants have some of my favorite fast food French fries. They are golden brown regular cuts, crispy on the outside, and soft and hot on the inside. They're good for sandwiching, dipping and especially for running through a drive-thru for a quickie snack. Don't forget to get some of the bbq sauce from Roy's Fixin's Bar for dipping, some of the best.

These fries reheat well at home either in the microwave or the conventional oven, same for the burgers, I might add. They're terrific sandwiched in your burger and Roy Rogers bbq sauce is the best for dipping. And best of all, in true western tradition, the fries come in a holster. Now really, how cool is that?

In recent years, Roy Rogers has also gotten into the curly fry business with standard natural cut curly fries covered with that also standard spicy orange seasoning. Nothing special here, but I don't care as long I can still get their regular fries.

Come back to South Jersey, Roy Rogers, and I don't mean to the turnpike, back to somewhere we can actually get to when we want to, and with a drive-thru too. We miss you, come back!

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.

Gino's Grand Opening

Just a reminder, folks, the recently reviewed Gino's Burgers & Chicken is having their official Grand Opening tomorrow - Sunday, November 14th at their King of Prussia PA location.

Come on down between noon and three in the afternoon and get the new Gino Giant at 1970s prices (that's fifty-nine cents!), limit one per customer. And there's a ribbon cutting at 1:30 PM. Check it out!

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 163: Gino's Is Back!

When folks think of the first fast food restaurant they were exposed to, the answer is usually McDonald's, but for me, and I suspect quite a few folks my age in the vicinity of Berlin NJ, the answer would be Gino's.

Gino's is long gone -until just a few days ago- but that building in Berlin, next to the old now also gone Acme, that was since been an Arby's, a Roy Rogers and now just a regular Jersey diner, will to some folks be forever known as Gino's. It was the first place we all got fast food. It was where most of us had our first fast food hamburger - the Gino's Giant, not the Big Mac or the Whopper. It was the place we first had Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was where we went for lunch after grocery shopping at the Acme on Saturday mornings. It was where the food came from for birthday parties when we were little. And for some of us, it was where we had our first part-time jobs. Gino's left that Berlin location in the seventies, but there was still one or two around, but they all closed in the early eighties.

Imagine my surprise to find that a new Gino's had opened just a week ago in King of Prussia. Opened and looking to franchise by founder Gino Marchetti and his partners the new Gino's is known as Gino's Burgers and Chicken, and you can check them out here at their website, or here at their blog, and shortly I'll be reviewing their fries right here at French Fry Diary. And don't forget to 'like' them on Facebook. Welcome back, Gino's!

And just for the sake of nostalgia, here's one of their commercials from the swinging seventies...