French Fry Diary 439: Popeyes, Delaware House

It's been quite a while since I've been to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (or as they are colloquially known, Popeyes Chicken), not since they started to replace local area KFCs at least, and I've never been to the Delaware House rest stop on I-95 despite passing it perhaps hundreds of times, so why not kill two birds (or chickens) with one stone?

Delaware House, recently renovated a few years back, is a more likely stop on I-95 now that personal favorite Maryland House is now itself being renovated. Oddly enough, the first time I had ever been to a Popeyes was also at a rest stop, this one somewhere between Chicago and Milwaukee back in 1992. I remember two things about the visit - the biscuits were good, and there was a 'gentleman' giving out business cards at the rest stop declaring himself a 'procurer of companionship.' Uh huh.

That didn't happen this time. Delaware House is actually rather nice, and has a loungey food court vibe. Originally The Bride was going to get pizza at Famous Farmiglia, but once she smelled what Popeyes was cooking, to paraphrase The Rock, she joined me in line there. Despite what seemed a long line on a busy Friday night, we were quickly taken care of with a friendly smile. A-plusses for customer service and appreciation.

The Bride and I shared some spicy chicken tenders, and I got a biscuit and some fries of course. The biscuits are still just as good as I remembered. The Cajun Fries were crispy and battered natural cut shoestrings, as opposed to the regular cuts I had gotten the last few times I'd been to Popeyes. I wonder if that's a franchise-wide change or unique to this location.

The fries came in an old style fast food paper pocket, but overflowed into their own mini-box, which was a nice touch. Some of the fries were stuck together in batches due to the batter in the deep frying - nothing wrong with that, just interesting. The Cajun spices and cracked black pepper gives the fries a good zing, not unlike those at Checkers. Good stuff.

Good relaxing stop and dinner break, and best of all, no pimps. ;-)

French Fry Diary 415: Krunchers! Mesquite Bar-B-Que

This is another snack pack of potato chips I picked up at a rest stop while road tripping. I'd never heard of Krunchers before, so I picked up a bag, specifically choosing the Mesquite Bar-B-Que kettle cooked potato chips. I saved them for later, in this case, almost a week later after I got home.

Upon checking out their website, I was surprised to find they were made by Snyder's of Hanover. It shouldn't have surprised me though, as I don't see them in my area any more either. And that's a shame as Snyder's makes good chips.

The chips themselves, besides having 0 transfats, are thick cut and very crunchy. Much crunchier than many kettle chips out there, and not greasy at all. Kettle cooked, so their shapes are excellent for dipping. The seasoning colors them a bright orange but they are not very hot at all. Very tasty. I would get these again, if I could find them.

French Fry Diary 301: The Molly Pitcher Travel Plaza, Yes, Again

Three strikes and you're out is the baseball metaphor. This is my third trip to the Molly Pitcher Travel Plaza, a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike in North Jersey. It has a Roy Rogers, a Nathan's, an Arthur Treacher's, and a Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill, among other shops and food stops. The last one in that list has never been open when I've been there.

This trip I arrived just after nine PM on a busy Saturday night. Like last time, there were employees in there at Dick Clark's, but none would talk to me, let alone look at me. I think at this point, this must be some sort if scam, and the AB Grill is never open. It's a mirage obviously.

The Arthur Treacher's was open and doing a brisk business, but as noted on the last visit, I only could have gotten Nathan's fries there. Do I have to visit Ohio to get real Arthur Treacher's chips?

Oh well. Instead I got Roy Rogers fries, some milk and Cinnabon for the road, and made my way back home. Perhaps tonight I will dream of a day when the AB Grill will be open or I can get Arthur Treacher's chips at an Arthur Treacher's...

Random Tater Pic of the Day #22

This is the legendary Nathan's Famous without fries at the Thomas Edison Service Plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike. If you want the favorite fried food here, you have to go to Burger King or Popeye's. That's just wrong.

French Fry Diary 281: Worst. McDonald's. Ever.

On a recent trip to North Jersey we stopped at the Vauxhall Plaza McDonald's in Union NJ on the Garden State Parkway. We were hungry, needed gas, and this was convenient. This was also a big mistake.

First, because I am currently addicted to Foursquare, I had to check in, and I was rather shocked at the comments about the place, especially bad were the ones about the drive-thru - which unfortunately we were already in line. Slow, rude, sassy and belligerent were the kindest of the descriptions for the drive-thru lady. I believe however more in actual experience over word of mouth - sometimes that doesn't work out for me.

After ordering, we slowly moved up to the pay window. There was a statue of Officer Big Mac, a forgotten McDonaldland character behind bars on the passenger side. On the driver side was what could only be the woman described in the Foursquare comments. She was yelling through our car at someone we assumed was her boyfriend a hundred feet away in the parking lot. She had quite a mouth on her, and I'm talking both volume and heat, good things there were no children in the car. Luckily she didn't hit us with any spit.

We paid and got away from her as quick as possible, and soon found that order accuracy was also one of her customer service skills. Although I'm sure the rest of the staff helped in the ineptitude. We got Chicken McNuggets in lieu of a cheeseburger, frozen chocolate milk, and the fries were especially crappy, seeming much smaller than usual as if they had been refried.

To their credit, they fixed the cheeseburger mix-up when The Bride went inside, and even gave us more of those crappy fries. Wow. Still, never again, no matter how hungry we are or how much gas we need. It's no wonder Officer Big Mac is in jail. He's ashamed.