French Fry Diary 672: Marlton 73 Pizzeria & Bar

For our usual Sunday take-out dinner, The Bride and I decided on Casa Carollo's because we enjoy their food and especially the portion sizes. We got a bit of a surprise when we called, and especially when delivery was made.

Casa Carollo's was no longer Casa Carollo's as they had new owners, a new menu, and new food. The new name is the Marlton 73 Pizzeria & Bar, featuring a new streamlined menu with steak and seafood eliminated. The place has always been pretty good to us, so we were willing to give the new version a chance.

The new food extends of course to the favorite fried food. Whereas lately we had been getting steak fries more often than the batter fries I talked about here, these batter-covered fries, much crunchier and less appetizing than usual, came with my steak sandwich.

The steak sandwich, it barely qualifies as a plain cheesesteak, because of the construction, was very different. The roll was different, with the ends cut off, and with considerably less meat. It was still very good, but nowhere near as good as it used to be. The Bride reported a similar difference in her chicken parm.

It's only one experience, and they're just starting up, but I have to say there's a marked difference. We may have to find a new Sunday night take out place.

French Fry Diary 611: b. good

The South Jersey area has been invaded in the last few years by upscale gourmet burger restaurants like Elevation Burger, Smashburger, Zinburger, and coming soon, Burger Fi. The trend continues with b. good, just opened in the Promenade in Marlton. At first glance it looks like a quick service burger place, but it's much more than that, and costlier.

You order, get your drink and have a seat. The pricing is a bit misleading if you're used to menus and meal deals at fast food restaurants. There are signs that say you can add drink and fries for $5.99, but the deal isn't $5.99, for an additional $5.99 you can get a drink and fries. Add that to the pricy burger and it adds up - this is not a typical quick service burger place though, the service is quick, and the burgers are really good.

The drinks are intriguing. No Coke or Pepsi here. They have cane cola, skinny cane cola, Italian lemon, and Pennsylvania red birch beer (yum), to name just a few. I know I'm a Coca-Cola guy, but I enjoyed trying the different soda flavors, much more than the Lay's potato chip flavors I've had to try of late at least. The cane cola is awesome.

The burger was very good. The meat was local, as is everything at b. good, dry-aged, and house-ground, and it's a loose ground, which makes for a juicy chewy burger. On a softer bun, this would've been an amazing burger, but as is, it was only great. And by great, I mean better than the burgers at most other places.

The natural cut fries, also local, were very good. They were excellent hot, a little soft but still managed to have the right amount of crisp too. There's a subtle seasoning that give them a little kick, nice. I think I got the tail end of a batch as they were many small pieces and stubs. It happens. I saw some awesome sized regular cut fries on the plates of others. I also got a few sweet potato fries with mine, which was a nice surprise. All in all the fries were very good. On a later visit the fires were even better. I guess they just needed to get their groove.

The French fries bags have a lot to say. "These fries are special. They're hand-cut and oven-finished." I like that. Additionally they have the calorie and fat counts of McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King as compared to b. good's. There's also another slogan, "Food made by people not factories." Nice. I really liked b. good a lot, and can't wait to go back, and bring friends and family. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 598: Casa Carollo Bar & Grille

We haven't been to Casa Carollo Bar & Grille in quite some time outside of going to the Comedy Cabaret there. And I'm not sure if that counts because it includes a limited menu for those events. Looking for something different one night when we wanted something delivered, we checked them out.

There is definitely something to be said for portion size. They make 'em big at Casa Carollo. The Bride got chicken Parmesan that was at least three servings, maybe more. That would be lunch for a couple days that week, and the same for my steak sandwich. It was easily more full than any other local steak, and also easily at least two meals. Plus they gave us rolls and garlic knots. This was a haul at a very inexpensive price compared to other places locally for the same stuff.

And you guessed it, I also got fries, else I wouldn't be writing about it here, right? Casa Carollo offers something called Italian Fries. On the menu, these are described as crispy thin fries with Italian herbs. What we got were seasoned regular cuts. I recognized Old Bay, maybe rosemary, but there was definitely more. They were neither crispy nor thin, actually they were kinda soggy, but they were perfection when heated up a bit in the oven.

All in all, we were very pleased with what we got and ordered again the next week. This time I got the onion rings, big thick panko breaded rings, equally good reheated later. I think we've definitely found a new place to go in the area.

French Fry Diary 583: The Mystery of Burger Chef

I've been doing this French Fry Diary in one form or another for over a decade. And even before then I considered myself something of a connoisseur of not only French fries but also fast food. I have always known the ins and outs and even the arcane knowledge of the fast food joints in the area. Imagine my surprise when I found out about a local chain that I not only never heard of, but I had also been inside of, and dined at. This is the mystery of Burger Chef.

AMC's "Mad Men" has brought this specter back to life recently in their final season, as Burger Chef is actually one of their potential clients. The weirdest part for me is that the local Burger Chef was a stone's throw from where I live now. Burger Chef in Marlton NJ was right behind where Kohl's is now. The big store was formerly a Bradlee's, a Jefferson Ward, and at the time of Burger Chef - a Two Guys. Man, the nostalgia is killing me.

Burger Chef started in 1954 in Indiana, and from there expanded throughout the United States until 1982 when General Foods, who owned the chain, sold off all the restaurants to Hardees. They had a very distinctive sign, stylized like McDonald's or In-N-Out Burger, instantly recognizable. They created the first fast food combo meal, and before Roy Rogers did it, they offered a bar where you could dress your own burger. They had their own animated mascot called, what else but the Burger Chef, and his sidekick Jeff. They had a ball at Halloween, and engineered some great promotions with properties like Family Circus, King Kong, and Star Wars, among others.

Apparently blocked out of my memory is the fact that I had actually been to the Marlton location, and perhaps the Hammonton one on the White Horse Pike as well, as a little boy. My big sister and her husband/then-boyfriend used to take me. Even then I was a catastrophically picky eater, and Burger Chef offered a burger called a 'Plain Jane.' It was as you may have expected, a plain hamburger that you could (if you wanted) dress at The Works Bar. I don't remember it at all, but I wish they were still around.

You're waiting to hear about the favorite fried food though, aren't you? Well, it's hard to say, as I don't remember. From fuzzy images online and even fuzzier ones on video, they look to be either shoestrings or regular cuts, and while they look good, who knows? This was several decades ago. Below is a YouTube montage of some of the Burger Chef television commercials, and if you're interested in the Marlton NJ location of Burger Chef, click here for an entire website about it, cool stuff.

French Fry Diary 556: Joe Chips

I go to Whole Foods quite often. Their meat department in Marlton is easily among the best in this area. That said, I stopped looking for potato chips there a while ago. I've reviewed the few I have wanted from their selection, and since they stopped carrying Michael Season's, I have even stopped going down the snack aisle there.

Had the Joe Chips not been at the check out in the 'impulse' section, I never would have seen them. Curious for something new, and in the mood for chips (I know, when am I not in the mood for chips?), I grabbed two bags, the regular and the barbeque of course.

Joe Chips are made the same company as the more recognizable Joe Tea. Why would an iced tea company go in the potato chip business? Well, it makes a little more sense when you know that Joe is the black sheep of the family going into tea. Potatoes are actually his family's business for more than a couple generations.

The Classic chips boast all the good stuff - kettle cooked with sea salt, cholesterol free, gluten free, no transfats, no MSG, lactose, preservatives, artificial anythings, or peanuts. Yeah, no peanuts, they went there. And the story on the back of the bag indicates they are cooked in batches, another gold standard of modern potato chips.

The chips themselves are not bad, very tasty and addictive. I honestly did not expect them to taste as good as they did, because they are cooked in the one negative - vegetable oil. These chips have a nice middle ground between regular chips and thick crunchy kettle chips. And while maintaining the wonderful twisted shapes of kettle chips, they are also quite big as well, a perfect dipping chip.

Off Road Joe's BBQ Chips were the other ones I got. I'm really not sure why these are 'off road,' but we'll see. These chips have the same texture and structure as their plain counterparts but with a subtle sweet and smokey barbecue taste. All in all, I prefer the Classic chips even though these are barbecue.

Notably, Off Road Joe's BBQ Chips were also included as one of the treats in my Christmas package of chips from friends and frequent FFD contributors Dom and Cindy. This was a very pleasant surprise from a tea company, and from my friends Dom and Cindy. I would definitely get Joe Chips again.

French Fry Diary 504: Kobe Grill & Buffet

The sign went up over a month before they opened. Kobe Grill Sushi & Seafood Buffet in big red neon letters. Everyone was talking about the new place opening up in what was currently a dead strip mall, even the K-Mart and SuperFresh had vacated. There was nothing here, nothing but the big red neon sign, and folks working tirelessly inside to renovate and construct. Now, after less than a month open, the sign reads Kobe Grill Sushi & Seafood uffet. That's not a good omen.

When you walk in there is a quite beautiful lobby entrance, fountain, sculpture, and water wall between the lobby and actual restaurant. I should say up front, this place was way fancier than the buffets I have been to, even at the casinos. This place was huge, and despite what it says on Foursquare, it wasn't all that crowded. Maybe the novelty and newness has worn off after a month? I know that the sign maintenance has.

As soon as we were seated, and had our drink order taken, they brought us lobster, two halves of lobster, one for each of us. I guess it was free half-lobster night. I'm not a eating-the-inside-of-a-fish-thing's-scary-armor-skin-type guy, so I passed. They took mine away, and I couldn't help but wonder what they did with it. I hope it didn't end up on someone else's plate. The Bride wasn't too thrilled with hers, and didn't eat much.

The buffet was not large. It was spread out over a large area, but really, not all that much offered, and for catastrophically picky eater me, not all that much either. On my first foray into the buffet (or uffet), I got buttered potatoes and sweet fried plantains. Both were very good, and the potatoes were very soft and well cooked buttered wedges of potato, succulent. These were very good, two thumbs up. I got seconds on those babies. However the French fries were regular cut frozen fries, which seemed to have lived beneath the heat lamps for much longer than I would to think about. Not good.

There was grilled steak available but it didn't seem like anyone was ready cook any new for you. No, scratch that, they seemed unwilling to. We also seemed to have multiple people waiting on us due to the lack of crowd. We couldn't find butter or knives. Is this the TSA? Some of the food was very good, and some really not, and the customer service was also not, despite being plentiful. And when I say really not, I mean really really not good. This was really not a good experience.

French Fry Diary 502: Location Location Location

A couple months back I reviewed the House Made Chips at Arby's. I was delighted, not only by the chips, but also the customer service. Notably, this was at the Arby's in West Berlin NJ.

I had several folks confront me both here and elsewhere about how they did not like the chips at all. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I was a bit taken aback. I thought the chips were great, and even returned to the scene of the crime to try them again, still great.

Today, however, I visited the Marlton Arby's, where I got a bag of the overcooked chip debris you see pictured. Wow, these sucked.

It just goes to show you not every fast food outlet will prepare and cook an item the same way. Even though consistency is what fast food is supposed to be about, it's really about location location location!

French Fry Diary 469: Redstone American Grill

The Redstone American Grill is right in town. It's really a wonder why it's taken me so long to review this place. They've been here a long time. The Bride's family used to come here all the time, and the flatbreads were the specialty and the reason to come. For some reason, once I started actively reviewing places for French Fry Diary, we stopped going mysteriously. I don't now why.

I recently came with my friend Dave for lunch. I got my regular, a plain burger. The burger was gigantic and near perfect. I'm hungry again now, just thinking about it. I also got fries of course. They were different from the last time I was here a few years back. They still had the same natural cut shoestrings, but this time they were in a tin box. The fries were very crispy, deep-fried, and in a good portion size, packed into that tin box pretty well.

It's a box, but not quite a box, more of a frame really. It makes it hard to get to the last of the fries, despite the wax paper they are wrapped in. You will eventually have to dump the whole thing onto your plate anyway. It does however keep the fries separate from the other food notably, preventing what I have started to call pickle fries - fries drenched in pickle juice. So the tin frame serves a good purpose. The fries are pretty much the same as previous visits, only the presentation has changed.

Dave got a pulled pork sandwich that came with thin grizzled onions that he seemed pretty happy with. That said, I wished I had known I could have gotten grizzled onions as well. Maybe next time. All in all Redstone is recommended. A good lunch with a good friend.

French Fry Diary 449: Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries

I know, insanity, but the very same day I blasted the customer service at a local Burger King, we decided on BK for dinner.

Upon arrival at my local Burger King, Marlton, not the infamous store #9865, my friend Jeff and I found ourselves in a non-moving line of one. The shift manager Tom was handling a very picky customer buying the last of the Cinnabon. The transaction was not the easiest, for either of them. But there was more to it than that.

Apparently we had just missed a verbally abusive exchange in the drive-thru. The customer came to straighten it out, and got in line behind the Cinnabon lady. Tom managed to handle the situation, not without drama, providing a bit of pre-dinner theater before my friend Jeff and I got to order.

We were there to try Burger King's new Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries, and that we did. They were a bit thinner than most curly fries. I wasn't sure if it was because they had been overcooked or if it was something to do with them being made from sweet potatoes. They had lost a bit of their sweetness, and were not very good. I wouldn't get them again.

I also got the new Popcorn Chicken, and was similarly unimpressed. At least they still had the Coke Freestyle machine. I should have gotten a burger, or a chicken sandwich (which this store does have). I have to say, I was disappointed on almost all fronts on this trip, save the floorshow of course.

French Fry Diary 448: Cool Dog Cafe 2012

I went by my favorite hot dog place, the Cool Dog Café in Marlton, the other day, on the last night of the Festival of Lights. It was just me, The Bride, and her dad, and we were there for their seasonal specialty, the Hanukkah Dog.

Now special hot dogs at Cool Dog are nothing new. Ira and company usually come up with something new and spectacular every week or so, but this was something extra special, only available during the holiday. Last year they offered those terrific Hanukkah Sliders, if you remember. The Hanukkah Dog is a kosher hot dog (of course!) on a roll with sautéed onions and potato latkes - and that last bit is why you're reading about it here on French Fry Diary.

Also lately Cool Dog has been serving crinkle cut French fries as the base of several variations of specials. While we were there, I tried out a plain order. They are deep fried frozen crinkle cuts, but done perfectly. Pretty simple compared to the process done for Cool Dog's near perfect fresh cut fries, but still cooked with the same care. They were great.

The Hanukkah Dog however was another story. There was only one left. We made the ultimate sacrifice and ordered it to go for The Bride's mom who stayed home, while we ordered different choices from Cool Dog's amazing menu. Dinner was well worth it, and we made a great choice - Mom loved her hot dog, the final Haukkah Dog of the season.

And don't forget to get over to Cool Dog Cafe on Friday, 12-21-2012, for the Mayan End of the World Special - 20% off all hot dogs. What better last meal than hot dogs, right? And don't forget the fries!

French Fry Diary 446: Have It Burger King's Way

Rant warning. It seems there's a reason the slogan "Have it your way." is no longer part of Burger King's advertising reportoire and corporate mission. It simply no longer applies. Burger King used to get this kind of thing right - no matter how you wanted your food, you got it right, and you got it quick. No longer.



I used to love Burger King. There was a time when the only bad thing I could say about them was that they had Pepsi instead of Coke, but that was a long long time ago. Recently when they changed their fries for the worse, I thought that not coming back to BK was no big deal, I wouldn't miss it much at all.

Sometimes in a pinch, of when you just want something different, you go back to old habits. In my case, I still like their chicken sandwiches, and on a Sunday night, where else am I going to go?

Regular readers of this blog and folks who know me, know that I am a catastrophically picky eater. I usually like my burgers and sandwiches plain. In simple language that I always have to use when ordering from fast food places, that's 'nothing on it, plain, just the burger and the bun.' Or chicken, should that be the case. And of course, at McDonalds, you always have to stress 'no cheese.' They never get that right there.


As I said, Burger King used to, now they don't care.  No, strike that, most Burger Kings are pretty good.  The one in Marlton is amazing.  However one particular store locally really doesn't care. The Burger King on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, yeah, Restaurant #9865, I'm talking about you. I've had numerous bad experiences there.

Once I ordered a plain chicken sandwich there and after I re-explained what plain meant, I was told "That's nasty." Manager told me that was the clerk's opinion. No apology, no credit, no excuses. Multiple times there I've been told they were out of onion rings, fries, shakes, even sodas. But the last time I was there, when again they were out of onion rings, I was told something interesting about their Original Chicken Sandwich.

"We don't make them no more." Mind you, it's on the menu board behind his head. When I pointed that out, I was told the menu was wrong. As I was picking up dinner for the family and still wanted something for myself, I went with the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, again plain, stressing it because I was sure I was dealing with someone who didn't care. The first receipt didn't say 'plain,' so made sure it went through again.

Now please understand, I am trying desperately not to be an a-hole, being as polite as possible, because I know the thin line between a special order and someone spitting (or worse) in my food. I did not want the latter so I was all smiles and unicorns. In that regard, I did not check the sandwich before leaving. I guess I should have, apparently making sure my order is correct is my responsibility. Dummy me, I thought that was their job.

When I got home of course the sandwich wasn't plain. Despite the receipt saying it was, and the clerk saying it was, it wasn't. I called them, asked for a manager. She was less than friendly. Although I was unsure who I talked to was a manager as she asked, "What do you want me to do about it? You can come back, but we ain't got no more chicken."

There's a point when you just give up, ya know? The BK in Marlton proper usually gets orders right if I get another hankering for their food, I suppose. But I'm never going back to 9865. And I would advise everyone else to steer clear as well. I'm not alone in my assessment of the location either.


Have it your way is dead.

French Fry Diary 370: T.G.I.Fridays 2012

After a movie with The Bride and her parents recently we went over to the Marlton T.G.I.Fridays to get a late night meal. It wasn't in my mind at all to be writing a review as I had done Fridays at some point last year. I guess I could have ordered and written about the crispy green bean fries, I suppose, but honestly it slipped my mind.

Anyway, I was surprised by new fries on the menu. I've complained about Fridays' ever-changing menu before. I'm a firm believer that if you do something well, keep doing it. Don't change it or do something else. I still miss their steak on a stick. Among the new menu items were sweet potato fries and Parmesan steak fries.

Now as we learned on our last trip to Fridays, what they call steak fries are not actually steak fries but potato wedges. I know I know, semantics, but it's important fry semantics.

These new fries are simply the old potato wedges with Parmesan and parsley on them. Notably there's too much Parm and pars if you don't like that stuff, and not enough if you do. Weird. They were okay when hot, and very potato-ey, although The Bride thought they were kinda dry. They microwaved well when we got home.

I'll save the sweet potato fries, and the crispy green bean fries for a future visit.

French Fry Diary 332: Burger King's New Onion Rings

Much like the hype Burger King had going on for their new French fries, they are doing the same for their 'new' onion rings this Super Bowl weekend. All weekend BK is giving away their new onion rings. Properly enticed, I decided to treat The Bride and her parents to lunch today.

I ran over to the Marlton Burger King with my order for lunch. The place was packed, more so than I've ever seen it. The lady at the counter informed me that the free rings were one per customer, but seeing how I was obviously ordering for at least four people, she let me slide. That said, when I got home, we were missing a Jr. Whopper. This was kinda frustrating, and a two for two for this BK, as the last time we got from there they similarly messed up the order.

Now on to the main event, the 'new' onion rings. I didn't see much of a difference in appearance, or in taste really, so I wonder if I was even served the new ones. They were crispier, just slightly. My mom-in-law also thought they were crispier, and thought they lacked the usual aftertaste. Of course, that could be because of using a different oil. They are cooked in the same oil as the new French fries after all.

As far as 'new' onion rings I'm not impressed. But that said, the old ones are good, but if they are passing them off as new - not so great. Of course, the weekend is still young, you can get over to your local BK and give them a try yourself, a value size order of the new onion rings will be free, one per customer, for the rest of the weekend. Also, props to Marni, for always being on top of fry news for me.

French Fry Diary 256: Skewers 2011

I am always willing to give a place a second chance. I had gone to Skewers quite some time ago and was unimpressed. The mom-in-law had been recently and highly recommended Skewers so I went back - and surprisingly, just by accident, ran into the mom-in-law there. She must really like the fries there! Seriously though she treated me to a nice lunch, and I got to try the fries again.

As opposed to last time where there was much confusion as to what kind of fries Skewers had from one day until the next, things seem to be pretty consistent these days. With a bright new website, a new menu, and a new attitude, Skewers is the place to go. As far as the favorite fried food goes, they have Salt and Pepper Fries and Chickpea Fries. I got the former, catastrophically picky eater that I am.

The fries were natural cuts with sea salt and pepper, and lightly deep-fried. They were definitely different from the crinkle cuts I had last time, which were notably not the ones that had originally been recommended to me. These were good however, and the pepper gave them an extra kick. They were not greasy at all, and almost had a baked texture.

Skewers also offered chickpea fries, also known as panisse. From the devious interwebs, panisse is "a culinary specialty from a region in northern Italy, but it is equally known and appreciated in south-eastern France. It is made from a base of chickpeas, which are fried or baked. It is usually formed into logs, cut, fried in oil, and consumed hot."

I was tentative, but I wanted to give them a try, and tried to on a later visit. I was shocked to find that they were no longer on the menu! Apparently they are a seasonal item. At least being a seasonal item, it means that they might be back. Oh well, I'll try again at some point.

I am so glad I came back after that first time, thanks, Mom. Aces for the fries, good stuff. Check out Skewers in Marlton - for seasonally inspired Mediterranean cuisine.

French Fry Diary 242: Carrabba's Italian Grill

I know, Carrabba's Italian Grill is not the usual kind of place for French Fry Diary, but I found potatoes anyway. I'm good like that. Wonderful atmosphere and great customer service made what is usually not my kind of place into somewhere I might return to.

For appetizers they had hot Italian bread along with a dipping plate of olive oil and various seasonings including Rosemary and red pepper, delicious. We had had something similar to this at a favorite restaurant of friends in Maryland. We have since tried to reproduce it at home with some success, but I'm glad we have found it again so close to home.

Adventurous sort I am, and pasta being far too exotic for this catastrophically picky eater, I ordered the ribeye steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Carrabba's has an open air grill so the steak looked and tasted like it had been on the barbeque. Yum, barbeque steak is just what the doctor ordered for a Father's Day when not actually barbecuing. This was indeed the best steak I have had in quite a while. Perfect.

The mashed potatoes were a bit too watery and creamy for me but had chunks of garlic, turnip and bacon (I think). I couldn't finish, and I think I would gave preferred a thicker mash. Still it was a good pairing for the ribeye. All in all, mashed potatoes aside, this was a wonderful experience, and even though they don't seem to actually have French fries (short of a kids plate), we will return.

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 191: 7-Select Onion Rings

This is a review of 7-Eleven's Onion Rings, honest, it's just going to take a long time to get there. Due to traffic. Bear with me.

Okay, it was Free Slurpee Day 2010, or 7-Eleven's birthday, your choice, and I want to get my free Slurpee, specifically the Coke Slurpee, the granddaddy of Slurpees in my opinion. As opposed to recent years where Free Slurpee Day was all day, the folks at 7-Eleven restricted the celebration to certain hours so my friends and I were on a timetable to get there.

Yes, there's a 7-Eleven right in town, but it's not as easy to get there as one might think. You see, I live in Marlton, and the state of new Jersey has decided that circles, a traffic phenomenon, which has been simplicity for NJ drivers for almost a century, are now too hard to navigate. Why we have to bow to the idiot minds of out of state drivers too dumb to drive in a circle is beyond me, but now, no more circles. So they are eradicating the Marlton Circle for an overpass.

This construction has been going on for years, and quite honestly I see no end in sight. It has effectively divided my town into two towns. I am now, thanks to the construction, which seems busiest and loudest at three in the morning by the way when folks are trying to sleep, cut off from the Main Street of my town - where the 7-Eleven is.

I could walk there, if I wanted to jump multiple barriers and brave crazed and enraged traffic patterns, but that's just nuts. Walking has become a preferred travel option of late with the construction. For instance, it takes me two minutes to walk to the local Shop-Rite, however, if I wanted to go by car, it would take almost twenty-two minutes. Please, tell me how this is easier. The circle was terrific, and easy. And it got me to 7-Eleven quickly. Thank you, state of New Jersey, for ruining yet another good thing.

So after a couple hours, we finally got to 7-Eleven. Lo and behold we were greeted by a sign on the door that said "out of cups, no more free Slurpees." Actually the grammar and spelling were much worse, but that's beside the point. We highly suspected that the clerk was tired of giving out free Slurpees honestly.

Determined to get my Coke Slurpee fix, I bought one, because, really, with the construction, who knew when I would be able to get to 7-Eleven again? Something else caught my eye though, the 7-Select Onion Rings, regular flavor. See? I told you this was a relatively on-topic review.

At first I thought, at seventy-nine cents, that these were simply a cheap store brand of Funyuns. I mean, come on, how can you beat seventy-nine cents, right? These are onion-flavored rings of course, no real onion involved, but that's okay because the portion size is excellent (especially for the price, and there is 0 transfat.

The flavor comes from onion powder but really gives them their kick, and their addictive charm, is the sugar, and the brown sugar. The brown sugar just jumps right out at you in every bite. These are really good, I love 'em. I just wish there was a 7-Eleven closer than the other side of the construction so I could get them more often. Word is they also come in Louisiana Hot flavor as well.

Next time, more favorite fried food, and less bitching about traffic and construction. I promise.