French Fry Diary 157: Big John's 2010

I've reviewed Big John's CheeseSteaks & More in Cherry Hill before and was sorely disappointed with their French fry selection. This was mostly because they had changed it.

As noted in my previous review, Big John's Famous Fries (they are even still called that on some of their menus) were indeed famous. When I would ask folks where the best fries were, they would say Big John's. They used to have delicious, crispy pixie crinkle-cut shoestring fries, in generous portions to go along with their terrific steak sandwiches and equally famous pickle bar. The last few times I have visited the restaurant however I have been confronted with sad substitutes.

This time, instead of the fries expected I got even crappier fries than before. And I thought only Burger King was capable of lowering the standards on their French fries. These were deep fried natural cuts, very hard, not crispy, overdone in the worst way possible. This was epic fail, guys, these were really bad French fries. Do you have any idea how bad the fries have to be for me not to want them?

Big John's - the steak sandwiches are still aces, but avoid the fries at all costs.

French Fry Diary 74: Big John’s CheeseSteaks & More, Cherry Hill NJ

Big John’s has been a Cherry Hill NJ icon for three decades, I’ve been aware of them for at least two. Even then, their pixie crinkle-cut French fries were the stuff of legend. Long before I started this French Fry Diary thing, folks who knew I loved fries always asked – Have you tried Big John’s?

For the record, they are also famous for their cheesesteaks and pickle bar, but that’s for someone else’s blog. It is worth mentioning though that when folks talk about cheesesteaks, this place ranks up there with the biggies, and it’s outside of Philadelphia. Yeah, they’re that good.

It’s been a while since I’d been to Big John’s, so when old friends chose it as our holiday meeting place to catch up this year, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and review the fries there as I haven’t yet. I hate to say it, but I was disappointed by what I found.

Oh no, don’t get me wrong, the cheesesteaks are still fantastic, and the fries were good, but they certainly were not Big John’s Famous Fries. What I got was standard regular cuts, deep fried, and very good – similar to diner fries only without the Invisicoat. But they were not the famous pixie crinkle cuts that I remember.

The old fries used to be some of the best around, crunchy on the outside and soft and hot on the inside, and served in large portions. I was quite disappointed to find them gone. One less reason to go to Big John’s. What a shame.