We had the day off and The Bride and I planned lunch with the in-laws. We had intended to go to Redstone, a favorite for all of us, but we were diverted by an ad in those coupon saver books for a fairly new eat-in take out bbq place also quite close by. The added bonus of the coupon led us to Lumpy’s BBQ in Cherry Hill NJ.
The first thing I noticed was the menu, or the hand-out that passed for a menu. One of my pet peeves glared out of the page at me. Apostrophe s is not a plural. Please get it right. If you don’t put the care forth on the little things, I have to wonder how much care they put into the actual food and cooking. But I didn’t go for the grammar, I went for the favorite fried food. 
The fries were crinkle cuts, frozen grocery type, and deep fried, but not greasy. They were actually really good, and topped with salt, pepper and seasoned salt to add an extra kick. The burger I got with the fries (yeah, I know, the fries came with the burger, but this is my preference) was horrible. It was wafer-thin and tasteless, even the fantastic mild and hot bbq sauce provided, did little to help. The roll however was terrific, following through on the Tony Luke theory of the bread always being important. 
Despite my bad burger, which notably was not the one pictured above the counter, everyone else had great food and gave it rave reviews. The ribs were extra excellent, perhaps I’ll have them next time. And yes, there will be a next time. The fries were worth it.
The Outback, significant by its Australian motif, for me, falls into a similar category as Tony Luke’s. If you’re going to the Outback, you’re going for the Bloomin’ Onion and/or the steak, not for the fries. And that’s a shame, because the fries could be good.
The resident favorite fried food at the Outback is the Bloomin’ Onion, no ifs, ands or buts. If you’re going there and not ordering one – it’s like going to Baskin-Robbins and not getting ice cream. This is the tastiest and spiciest of the breaded onion delicacies, and from what I hear, the dipping sauce isn’t bad either – but being a catastrophically picky eater I haven’t tried it. 
The other reason to go to the Outback is the steak, it is a steakhouse after all, and indirectly the burgers as well. My burger was delicious, juicy and just right. The meat is always great with that extra spicy zing. But the meat is not what we’re here to talk about.
Secondary of the side dishes we would concern ourselves with are the Aussie Fries, regular natural cuts that usually also have that extra zing as well, pepper I think, but today’s batch lacked that. They were greasy, soggy and just not good. I think the photo included shows how many of them I actually ate. 
John, the owner/manager (I’m not sure which or maybe both) came out to ask how our meal was. This usually happens when I start taking pictures of the food at the table. Hmmm... I wonder why. He also offered us a chance to fill out a survey as well. Good experience, all in all. The sister-in-law gives particularly high praise for the sweet potatoes. Food was great, except for the fries this time.
This was a hard review to write, because I like Tony Luke, Jr., a lot.
Tony makes entertaining commercials, how to videos. He faced off with Bobby Flay on television and showed him up, he provided food for the folks making "Eye of the Tiger" a few years back, and of course I love his new grocery store miracle – the microwave at home cheesesteak – that actually tastes like a real cheesesteak. And that last bit is why I had to finally try the real thing. After weeks of loving the microwave version – I needed to do it for real – and while I was there, review the fries. 
The night was frigid cold after watching the Philadelphia Wings lose (again) so I was glad that the area for the long line at Tony Luke’s was sheltered unlike other famous Philly cheesesteak places. It was in line however that we saw the sign. I had intended to merely try and review Tony’s fries, but this sign promised something far more exotic in the realm of the favorite fried food – “Frank Fries” - oh yeah, baby, you know we had to give those a try as well.
The cheesesteak was perfect, and the bread, which Tony always stresses is one of the most important elements, was more than perfect. I can’t rave about the roll enough. This is a damn good cheesesteak, one of the best in the city, period. The problem, unfortunately, was with the fries. As I said, I like Tony a lot, so I kinda wish this was Cheesesteak Diary, and not French Fry Diary, ya know? 
The curly fries were just average, and worse than that, they were overdone. Maybe it was because they were busy (which they were, eleven o’clock on a Saturday night, and they were crazy hopping, the line filling the shelter and spilling into the street) and rushed, or maybe this is the regular state of the fries – but they really weren’t great. 
The Frank Fries were... interesting. They fall into the realm of non-potato fries, so not really fries, but they were good. They sorta have that bubble gum flavor Jelly Belly vibe going on that this shouldn’t taste like this, but it’s good. They are more or less corn dog strips waaay well done with an onion ring batter texture. All in all, they weren’t bad, I’d get ‘em again.
Tony Luke’s is definitely the place to go for a cheesesteak, all aces there, but for fries... maybe not.
