French Fry Diary 783: Shake Shack Plushies

Now this sort of thing doesn't happen very often, but believe it or not, it does happen. Stuffed French fries, and no, I don't mean being stuffed with fries, I mean stuffed animal-ish things in the style of potato-ey products. One such occurrence included the tater tot superheroes at Sonic some years back.

Recently, a couple weeks ago at the New York Comic Con, a new plushy arrived that was just as cool - Shake Shack Plushes from Yummy World and Kidrobot. They have burgers, and fries, and they are adorbs. While I have yet to actually get to a Shake Shack, at least I can play with them. Seriously they are awesome.

Special thanks to friend Pixie for the signal boost and kind words when I was looking for images of these goodies, and to her friend Karina Hamalainen for the second pic seen here, thank you! You rock!

Happy National Onion Ring Day

Today is National Onion Ring Day, or depending on how many you eat, National Onion Rings Day. So get out there and celebrate by having some of the second favorite fried side, onion rings!

Some of the best I've tried are at Red Robin, Manny's, Sonic, Bahama Breeze, Zaxby's, Red Lobster, Square 1, Long John Silver's, and the much-missed Little Shanty. Where will you be celebrating?

French Fry Diary 576: Long John Silver's Onion Rings

Never let it be said that advertising doesn't work. For weeks now my television viewing has been bombarded by commercials for Long John Silver's and their family sized chicken meal (I'm pretty sure it's over now). I finally broke down, went to the weird Taco Bell and LJS hybrid in West Berlin and got one.

The family meal, on special for $10.99, contains ten pieces of chicken, eight hush puppies, and two sides (I think the offer is over now). Me, being who I am, got fries and onion rings as sides. I've already talked about LJS' fries, both old and new (I do wonder however why it seems I get different fries every time I go there - this past time they were similar to Wendy's new fries), but man oh man, those onion rings.

I'll just say it. These are probably the best fast food onion rings I've had recently, even better than Sonic. If anything they are most similar to those at Raglan Road, only without that spicy kick. These are tender onions, deep-fried, so they are a bit greasy, but with a delicious crispy and crunchy batter.

The best part, mostly because the portions are so big, all of LJS' food reheats well in the oven and in the microwave. The boxes even have instructions. I love these onion rings, recommended.

And remember, French Fry Diary is now on Facebook, come on over and join the fun and the discussion!

French Fry Diary 528: Steak 'n Shake

I was more than curious about Steak 'n Shake. Over the years, I had gotten a few recommendations to try them. And when I asked you folks where I should try in the Orlando area, even more recs flooded in, twenty total. So many recommendations, but all of a certain type - you have to go, you have to try these fries, they will be great to write about. Eerily no one said they were good. No one until someone The Bride was doing charity work with on the day of our adventure, who said they were good. That's one out of twenty. Hmmm…

As we planned our vacation, and set our schedule, it was getting harder and harder to get to S'nS before we went to Port Canaveral, we might have to postpone that FFD road trip in definitely. The Bride however noticed that not only was there a Steak 'n Shake near our hotel, but they were open 24/7, maybe we could do it after all. So we snuck out in the middle of the night for a late night snack. Yep, an adventure.

I was very surprised that this was a sit down place, although they also have take out. What I expected was more in line with a Sonic Drive-In type place, but got something quite different. I was reminded of Johnny Rockets in atmosphere, very bright, but without the singing and dancing. We were greeted as we entered and had to wait to be seated - like I said, not what I expected at all. The clientele at two in the morning was a young, happy, and lively late night crowd.

I came for the fries, but they also had new seasoned fries - Parmesan cheese 'n herbs, salt 'n vinegar, and sea salt 'n cracked pepper. Yeah, S'nS is really enamored of the apostrophe and letter N thing. We went purist and just got the fries, and onion rings. As we had just had Hamburger Mary's just a few hours before, we decided on trying one of the famous steakburgers 'next time.' On the table was Steak 'n Shake's Fry 'n Steakburger Seasoning, a mixture of salt, onion, garlic, paprika, and sugar. A good peppery paprika kick when we put then on the fries.

The fries were smaller shoestrings, not quite matchstick fries, and a little overdone, so maybe a bit too crunchy. They were still pretty good. And they were even better with the above-mentioned seasoning. They were a bit addictive after that. I just wish they weren't overcooked. And the seasoning was so good we bought some to go home. Can't wait to try it at home, and not just on fries. I think it could really jazz up chicken.

When we had discussed S'nS earlier with friend Terry at Hamburger Mary's, he expressed a preference toward steak fries and their thicker cousins, which I tend to agree with. He wasn't fond of S'nS, they just weren't 'his thing.' However, I think if these fries were cooked better they could be pretty good too, thick or not. I would like to give them a second chance.

The onion rings were okay deep fried beer batter ones, that The Bride liked, but I wasn't thrilled by. To wash it all down she got a Salted Caramel Pretzel shake and I got a chocolate one. The shakes were awwwesome. They alone would worth the trip back down to Florida. Steak 'n Shake was not what I expected at all, but it was a pleasant surprise. I'd come back. Thank you all, for the unique recommendations.

French Fry Diary 455: Smashburger 2013

Here it is, the report from the annual trip to Smashburger on New Year's Day. I had anticipated this year getting together a whole expedition to go from folks at the NYE party the night before, but it didn't work out. Hangovers do that. And the couple we had wanted to come with us passed because of vegan issues.

I countered with the argument that Smashburger had a wide variety of vegan and/or vegetarian offerings, including a veggie burger and several flash-fried veggies as sides. I was told that just going to Smashburger, and giving them their business, would be like saying what they do is okay, and for them - it's not.

I understand completely. No harm, no foul. We're cool. But it did get me thinking. I suppose there are a lot of folks who feel that way, and it made me wonder. Are the fast food burger outlets just wasting their time by making vegan/vegetarian offerings available, when those folks won't be coming in any way? I would love to hear the thoughts of folks out there in the foodie blogosphere.

Now, on to the regularly scheduled annual Smashburger visit. Unlike the last two years we had been here to the Riverside Square Mall location, the place was packed, and hopping for New Year's Day lunch. After placing our order and sitting down, The Bride and I busied ourselves on our iPhones playing the BurgerSmasher game. You can test your skills here making burgers the Smashburger way.

Our shakes came to the table first. I got a big thick chocolate shake, as thick as McDonald's used to have, and Sonic still does. The Bride thought her Oreo shake was very good. They come in a glass, with more in the mixing cup so you know they did it right. In hindsight, this was the best part of the meal right there.

After the last two trips here, I elected to skip the Smashfries this time, in favor of the delicious Haystack Onions. These thinly sliced and deep-fried onions are a bit greasy, but very good. I ordered my Smashburger plain, as usual, but piled some of those onions on top of the patty. Both the burger and the onions were awesome. The burgers are always good.

Of course, the burger and onions only brought to mind the lunch of the previous day, and I have to say, Smashburger paled in comparison to Little Shanty in nearby Warren NJ. Now I hope to get there sooner, but I think next year we'll have a new tradition, lunch at Little Shanty both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Sorry, Smashburger.

French Fry Diary 361: Checkers

Checkers and Rally's are the same place, and essentially the same food, but here in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, we only have Checkers.

Checkers is predominantly a drive-thru and/or walk-up restaurant, even though there are a few tables outside, I don't think they get much use - its not Sonic. The lunchtime I visited the place was dead, no drive-thru traffic even - which is a shame because the food is pretty good. And notably, the customer service is also very quick, and usually pretty accurate too.

The burgers are big and tasty, although this time it did take some effort to get a plain burger. Speaking of Sonic, I think the shakes at Checkers are thicker and better, and excellent for fry-dipping. They also have the usual fare of chicken, fish, and hot dogs as well, but it's the favorite fried food we're here to talk about.

The French fries at Checkers are long (sometimes very long) regular natural cuts with a thick crispy batter coating, salted and black peppered. This orange colored spicy skin gives them an extra zing and crunch that contrasts the soft hot potatoey insides. These are darn good fries, but make sure you have a beverage handy to balance the heat. It's a good heat though. They're also great for sandwiching and, as I said, shake dipping, which will also cool some of that spicy fire.

The Checkers fries also nuke well in microwave once you get home, at least twice, sometimes three times, making them an excellent drive-thru fry that can be had later. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 354: The Sonic Justice League of Tater Tots

I had wanted to write about this ever since I found out about this, but as was mentioned earlier, most of the Sonic Drive-Ins in the South Jersey area have suddenly closed up. Why, I don't know, but there went my opportunity to collect some of my favorite super-heroes in the shape of some of my favorite fried food.

Luckily my friend Marni managed to pick me up a Wonder Woman Tater Tot. Sonic has been including in the kids meals, officially called Wacky Pack kids meals, plush tater tots dressed like DC Comics characters. What is most interesting about these 'super-tots' is the selection of characters included. Here's the rundown: Clark Kent (!), Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter (!), The Flash, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Supergirl, Bizarro (!), Plastic Man (!), and Superman.

Of course this doesn't make Sonic Tater Tots taste any better, or reopen closed Sonics in the area, but it sure is pretty cool. More kids meal toys need to be this cool.

French Fry Diary 353: Bassett's Original Memphis BBQ

The Bride and I had our hearts set on Sonic as we headed back across the Walt Whitman Bridge from a day in Philly. We quickly had our hearts broken as we saw no lights or cars at the Sonic. They were closed. Like closed for good. I personally was kinda shocked as this was the same Sonic Drive-In that was blocking traffic when they first opened.

Hungry, we looked around. It was Sunday so no Chick-fil-A, we didn't really feel like Five Guys, so we decided on Bassett's Original Memphis BBQ. They had fries, so good deal.

The Bride got brisket and I ordered chicken tenders and fries. The drink selection was interesting. Besides Stewart's in bottles they had some odd flavors on tap, among them real sugar cane cola, outlaw orange and a diet cola as well - all Bassett's brand microbrews.

The Memphis Fries, as they were called, were standard crinkle cuts and probably frozen and deep-fried, but they were hot and very tasty. They were also perfect for dipping and soaking up the barbecue sauce. I got the mild, but I probably should have gotten the hot. No worries, both are at the table.

The Bride loved her bacon and cheese fries, though she wasn't sure what kind of cheese was used. My chicken tenders were regular breaded tenders but smothered in that terrific barbecue sauce. This was a great meal and a great surprise. Maybe it's a good thing that Sonic was closed, we'll definitely be back.

French Fry Diary 139: Wendy's

With all the hubbub of Wendy's changing their French fries due to low standings in the Zagat survey, I figured I had better review the old ones before they replace them with natural cuts.

Wendy's French fries (for now) are regular cuts, a little more golden brown in appearance than may be desirable - while some of them may look burnt - they're not. They are best when hot, but as with most fast food places - that's the luck of the draw. In fact, they get cold rather quickly and do not reheat well.

These fries are excellent for putting on your burger. Being a purist, I prefer a plain burger to get the full effect and taste of the fries. But the best way to enjoy Wendy's fries is in your Frosty. I've talked about this before here. Others do this too, so I'm not the only weird one here.

Frostys have just the right thickness (so do the shakes at Sonic) and consistency for this. If you really want to live dangerously, dip the fry-covered burger in your Frosty. Kids, don't try this at home, and everyone else, do so at your own risk.

Wendy's also has some pretty cool alternate dipping possibilities in the sauces for their boneless wings. These include the honey bbq, sweet and spicy Asian and spicy chipotle. I've also talked about this before, at the risk of repeating myself. My vote goes to the honey bbq.

As far as the fries go, there's nothing wrong with these fries really, and unless the new natural cuts are really really good, I think this will be a step down. Don't do it, and if you do, be careful. Hopefully we'll still have the old fries in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area for a while.

French Fry Diary 120: National Onion Rings Day

Today, June 22nd, is National Onion Rings Day.

Yeah, I know this is French Fry Diary, but onion rings run a close second to fries when it comes to most loved side dishes, and the rings get more popular every day. Now they will never surpass the favorite fried food, but they are still a favorite.

Some of the best onion rings in my opinion can be found in some odd places. Cheeburger Cheeburger has excellent rings, so does Sonic and Red Robin Burger. The Bloomin' Onion at Outback is amazing and the Potato Onion Web at Orlando's Rising Star has to be seen to be believed. Props also go to Arby's onion peels, Alexia's frozen rings and especially to Bahama Breeze's coconut breaded onion rings. And of course, once you learn the secret to making them at home, nothing beats that.

So what are your favorite onion rings?

Details' Most Fulfilling Drive-Thru Stuff

Deatails Magazine has recently presented this article proclaiming the "The Best Fast Food in America: The 25 Most Fulfilling Things to Order at the Drive-Thru."

Among them, of course, are quite a few varieties of the favorite fried food. There are the seasoned curly fries at Jack in the Box, the onion rings at Carl Jr.'s, McDonald's French fries, Sonic's tots, and in sixth place - Chick-fil-A's waffle fries. Mmmm... fries...

French Fry Diary 39: Sonic Hysteria

I knew there was something weird when I drove past the site of the new Audubon Sonic Drive-In a month ago and people had their hands on the chainlink fences just staring at the nearly built structure. I think the folks at Sonic have put something in the water in this area of New Jersey…

Now they are open, and it’s dinner time in early September, and traffic is lined up around the place, past the Chick-fil-A next door and into the intersection of the Black Horse Pike. There are at least three police cars in attendance, and everyone, and I mean everyone, wants to get into Sonic.

I’m not sure about why this particular site is getting so popular. Yes, Sonic is fairly new to this area, but there are others. There’s been one in Vineland for a while, one just opened in Mount Holly and I’ve even reviewed the one across the river near Philadelphia Park. But somehow, this Audubon location is driving folks to hysteria.

As I turn into the Sonic, an employee tells me all the stalls are filled, would I like drive-thru or patio. When I say drive-thru, she checks via headset if that’s doable. Two more employee checkpoints along the trip to the drive-thru do the same. It’s like crossing over into Canada, but a much smoother operation.

Yep, Sonic is prepared for this as if it’s some well-planned invasion. Someone should check the water. I think we’re under attack. Now if they could only bring this military precision and quality control to their less than stellar fries…

French Fry Diary 33: The Winner

The very clear winner of our “What Are Your Favorite Fast Food French Fries?” poll is McDonalds. Twenty-nine out of ninety-three votes went to Mickey D’s golden fries. Granted they are very consistent, very tasty and very very famous, as well as convenient (where isn’t there a McDonalds nearby?)

I’d really like to hear from the folks who voted for McD in this poll. Let me know why you voted the way you did. Contact me here. Remember, curiosity killed the cat, not the French fry fan. That was cholesterol ;-) but we’ll let the Health Nazis take care of that diatribe.

Second place with eight votes belongs to Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and most deservedly should. Their fresh and hot natural regular cuts are always terrific. Check out my review of their fries here.

Also with eight votes is the ‘someplace else’ category. Obviously I couldn’t list every fast food place in the country so I just went with a handful. Eight folks chose ‘none of the above,’ and just like above here in this article, I’d like y’all to please contact me and let me know who does actually have the best fast food French fries. You’ve got me curious, let me know! ☺

Now on the other end of the spectrum, it should be noted that Sonic (whose fries are not the best), White Castle, Jack in the Box, Nathan’s and Stewart’s received zero votes. I’d love to know why on that point as well. Are those fries really that terrible? I would take serious issue with Nathan’s unique thick crinkle cuts getting no votes as I think those are pretty special. Not the best, mind you, but up there pretty high.

In-N-Out Burger, which I’ve never had, and those spicy long fries at Checkers and Rallys both got seven votes each for third place. Bringing up a tie for fourth place were Burger King, Wendy’s and those tasty waffle fries from Chick-fil-A. Fifth place with four votes belongs to Popeyes which leads me to believe that a lot more folks like those long and spicy battered fries than I thought. Me, I can only have them once in a while. Too much aftertaste.

Sixth place, Fatburger, was what I personally voted for. Whether you get the Skinny Fries or the Fat Fries, I think they are the best of the fast food fries, followed by probably by Nathan’s, Five Guys, Chick-fil-A and maybe Roy Rogers. But what do I know… about French fries?

Whataburger took two votes for the distant seventh place, and Arby’s, KFC, Carl’s Jr., Hardees, Roy Rogers, Dairy Queen and Long John Silver all received one vote each. We’ll do this again at some point and see how folks’ minds may change (or not). Please feel free to comment below, or contact me directly. Until then, mmmm... fries...

French Fry Diary 22: Sonic Drive-In

Sonic Drive-In is a unique dining experience that used to be everywhere in the 1950s and 1960s but has since receded into the depths of time – the drive-in. Sure there are still drive-ins around, but finding a good one is harder than it sounds. Sonic is easily at the top of that list.

Sonic has taken the drive-in experience to the heights of ‘fast’ food the same way McDonald’s pioneered the drive-thru concept. You pull up to a parking spot with an entire drive-thru menu next to your car, then you stay and eat. Place your order (when you want, there’s no rush here) and a carhop (for lack of a better word, but it is the correct term) will bring your food out to you. And it happens fast, really fast, and on an equally impressive level, your order is accurate. As someone who normally has special requests on his order, I can tell you this is an admirable talent. Special orders really don’t upset them. Some fast food places will say that, but Sonic means it. All A-plusses for service.

The food is much better than I thought it would be. As a Jersey resident, I had heard fabled stories of Sonic, which up until very recently none existed anywhere near me. Opportunity knocked with the discovery of one nearby Philadelphia Park on Street Road in Bensalem. The burgers are very good, the desserts amazing and the drink selection (they claim 168,000 possible flavor combinations, woo-hoo!) is unparalleled – but what I’m sure you really want to hear about is the favorite fried food.

The sad news is that Sonic fries are unimpressive. They come in shoestring variety, just a bit larger than McDonald’s and Burger King, thankfully not very greasy, but unfortunately not very hot either. Not awful, mind you, but neither are they spectacular. They are great for putting on your burger, and I wouldn’t turn them down, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for Sonic fries either.

Sonic also has Tator Tots (spelling in context from the receipt). While an interesting and unique choice as many fast food and franchise restaurants don’t carry them, Sonic’s tater tots (my spelling, and I’m sure the correct one) are only adequate, even with cheese added. Honestly, frozen tater tots from your grocery are better than these baked in your own oven. Not of interest to me of course, being a purist, but both the Fries and the Tots can come in a cheese or chili cheese variety. Beat that, McD’s and BK.

But we can’t shut Sonic out completely in the side dish category as they also have more than a few other selections. Among them apple slices and bananas (to make the Health Nazis happy), mozzarella sticks, corn dogs, popcorn chicken, and even French toast sticks as their breakfast is available 24-7. Topping the list of alternative sides are the Sonic onion rings. Similar to Fatburger’s o-rings (and that’s good thing), these are hot and very tasty. Unlike Sonic’s fries, I would go out of my way for their onion rings. Yep, they’re that good.


.

Who Has the Healthiest Fries 2009

The last time we talked about this was just around this time last year.

Well, this year, the Orlando Sentinel takes a shot at it and gets the same answer - Sonic Drive-In for the win.

What is really interesting is that one of the Health Nazis' favorite targets, McDonald's, has actually climbed to second place from fourth place. That's right, Mickey D's fries have apparently gotten healthier this past year.

Hmmm... maybe that's why they are at the top of the poll at the left...

The results can be found here. Mmmm... healthy fries...


.

Favorite Fries Poll - Status Update

The stats so far in French Fry Diary's "What are your favorite fast food French fries?" poll are as follows...

In first place is McDonald's, followed by a second place tie with Wendy's and Five Guys, and a third place tie with Checker's and Chick-Fil-A.

Come on, McDonald's? Really? Yes, they're good, but come on - ease, availability and consistency don't count for everything, do they? If Fatburger or Sonic were on every other corner, would they be number one?

Be original, be selective, look to your left and get your vote in! Who's got the best fries?


.

The Cheese Fries Song

From comedian Jeremy LaCorte, a song parody about his wife's pregnancy cravings. Mmmm... fries...


.