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 233: Philly Steak & Gyro Co.

This one is sort of a Somebody Else's Fries entry. The family was on the northeast extension, the Allentown Service Plaza, coming back from the Poconos. This isn't the greatest rest stop in the world, a food court surrounded by a handful of tiny counter restaurants. Among them were Roy Rogers, Cinnabon, Starbucks, Auntie Anne's, Basset's Original Turkey, Hershey's Ice Cream, Famous Famiglia Pizza, and the Philly Steak & Gyro Co.

The Philly Steak & Gyro Co. has over a dozen locations including this one, but surprisingly no website, so I can't give you one. Perhaps that's a good thing. Cheese fries were ordered and shared by The Bride and the mom-in-law. Just based on the amount of time they (and all the food for that matter) took to prepare, they should have been perfect. Such was not the case.

The cheese was very watery. I didn't try them, because they really didn't look so good. As you can see from the picture, they were regular cuts, deep-fried and dropped into a Styrofoam pool of that cheese water. They were hot, and had "genuine" cheese on them, but the mom-in-law said she didn't taste much cheese. I'm glad I had Roy Rogers myself. After seeing these, I think I'll stick to Roy's.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #4

This one comes from my buddy Ray who says, still concerned about the lack of Roy Rogers outside of the turnpikes in New Jersey, "Not a dream - a real Roy Rogers in Toms River!"

French Fry Diary 229: Return to the Molly Pitcher Travel Plaza

So here I am, on Memorial Day weekend, back at the Molly Pitcher rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. The last time I was here, neither Arthur Treacher's nor Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill nor even Nathan's were open.

Surprisingly, tonight, Sunday of one of the busiest traffic weekends of the year at 10:45 PM - they were in the process of closing again. So it was Roy Rogers by default again. No complaints there, I love Roy Rogers, but I did want to try the others.

It should be noted that the real Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill is in Banson, Missouri, and that I could find no record of this one on the internet. Also, this Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips is one of those affiliated with Nathan's, and not one of the 'real' ones from Ohio that has the 'real' Arthur Treacher's chips. All I would have gotten here is Nathan's fries anyway. Again, no complaints, but I want the real chips, you know?

Now I have to figure out if these closings are something deliberate against me or do these restaurants have weirder hours than those at Harrahs. You know, the casino, another place that is open twenty-four hours a day. I just find it funny. I mean, do 7-Eleven or 24/7 convenience stores close up parts of their store at inopportune times?

French Fry Diary 190: Roy Rogers on the NJ Turnpike: Breakfast

I was surprised on a recent visit to the Cherry Hill Roy Rogers, the one on the NJ Turnpike. I arrived at quarter after ten in the morning to find that they were still serving breakfast. I wanted lunch but had to settle for breakfast as I was hungry and didn't want to wait. Actually I didn't mind it being breakfast as there is also a Cinnabon there. Regretfully though, the Nathan's and the Carvel were both closed at that time of the morning.

The visit did give me a chance to sample the breakfast potatoes that Roy's serves, called 'Home Taters.' They are natural cut scalloped potatoes, deep-fried and packed into Roy's cool little fry-holding holsters. To say these were not satisfying is not just a reflection on the fact that I was expecting lunch and specifically fries.

These potatoes were dry and tasteless, and really not pleasant at all. They were soft, inside and out, in a bad way, and definitely a reason to avoid Roy Rogers for breakfast. Thank heaven for Cinnabon.

French Fry Diary 189: Roy Rogers on the NJ Turnpike

I used to enjoy Roy Rogers and Roy Rogers fries quite a bit but over the last two decades, the fast food chain has seemingly disappeared from the South Jersey area. The only way to get that tasty Roy's food has been to get on the NJ Turnpike or take a field trip to Baltimore hitting the rest stops on the way. To me it was always infuriating when I would look at the Roy Rogers website and they would list a location for Cherry Hill – but you really couldn't get there without paying the Turnpike toll – or so I thought.

Recently through Facebook I learned that there actually was a way to get to the infamous Cherry Hill Roy Rogers without getting on the NJ Turnpike. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find out there was a back way, used by employees, and of course, an enlightened few consumers who knew about this 'secret' entrance. I was so glad to have the Roy Rogers option once again. On the afternoon I found out on Facebook, I actually rushed over (just five minutes away) to get my fry fix.

Yep, sure enough, here was the mythical Cherry Hill Roy Rogers, and I didn't even have to get on and pay for the turnpike, or have to take the long ride all the way to the next exit – five minute ride and boom – Roy Rogers. There was of course the elevated extortion pricing of a rest stop, but for me, at this moment, it was worth it.

French Fry Diary 188: Roy Rogers

To quote Tommy Kiefer and Cinderella, the local glam metal band of that sadly lost era, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone," and that's kinda how I feel about Roy Rogers restaurants and their fries.

They used to be everywhere, and I enjoyed them a lot, but then a few decades back, they all disappeared, except for on the turnpikes and on the way to Baltimore and Washington DC. Founded by the singing cowboy actor of the same name, Roy Rogers used to be the number three fast food place behind McDonalds and Burger King, a slot now held by the fry-switching folks at Wendy's.

I have fond memories of Roy Rogers, believe it or not. I played Dungeons & Dragons there. I read my comics there after picking them up on payday. I took dates there, yeah, I know, I was a cheap bastard. It was where I went with friends after the funeral of another dear friend. And the local Berlin Roy Rogers was once a Gino's where I got one of my first jobs. Roy's was a mainstay of my youth.

Roy's also has a special place in my heart if for only one non-favorite fried food reason - they serve their hamburgers plain. Being a catastrophically picky eater I like my burgers plain, 'regular grill' as some fast food places call it, just the burger and the bun as I have to stress whenever I go through a drive-thru or even go inside. As anyone who has asked for a special order at a fast food place will tell you - I might as well be robbing them at gunpoint, they don't want to hear it.

McDonalds is a major offender for getting orders wrong, White Castle is almost impossible, and despite what their ads say about 'having it your way,' Burger King has a shoddy record as well. And Checkers, just don't even bother, it ain't happening. Roy Rogers is the plain hamburger godsend in an apparently incompetent world.

Roy Rogers Restaurants have some of my favorite fast food French fries. They are golden brown regular cuts, crispy on the outside, and soft and hot on the inside. They're good for sandwiching, dipping and especially for running through a drive-thru for a quickie snack. Don't forget to get some of the bbq sauce from Roy's Fixin's Bar for dipping, some of the best.

These fries reheat well at home either in the microwave or the conventional oven, same for the burgers, I might add. They're terrific sandwiched in your burger and Roy Rogers bbq sauce is the best for dipping. And best of all, in true western tradition, the fries come in a holster. Now really, how cool is that?

In recent years, Roy Rogers has also gotten into the curly fry business with standard natural cut curly fries covered with that also standard spicy orange seasoning. Nothing special here, but I don't care as long I can still get their regular fries.

Come back to South Jersey, Roy Rogers, and I don't mean to the turnpike, back to somewhere we can actually get to when we want to, and with a drive-thru too. We miss you, come back!

French Fry Diary 187: The Bride's Breakfast at Roy Rogers

Today's Somebody Else's Fries comes from The Bride who stopped at one of the turnpike locations of Roy Rogers. She stopped in at breakfast time and got some of their potato-ey breakfast fare, what they call "Home Taters."

These are big scalloped chips of natural cut potato. The Bride thought they were better than she expected, but needed seasoning. There was a lot of potato. Sounds like she'll be back. Maybe she'll take me next time.

French Fry Diary 181: Molly Pitcher Plaza on the NJ Turnpike

On the way home from the Funplex in East Hanover NJ we had to stop to rest as it's a long drive, so we took a break at the Molly Pitcher Travel Plaza on the NJ Turnpike. It was named for the heroine of the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. Legend has it she fetched water for the American soldiers during that decisive battle in the American Revolution. For her trouble, she got a rest stop, but as you'll see, not just any rest stop.

We arrived just after midnight on a Saturday night, which is why it seemed strange half the place was closed up. I was especially crushed as three of the restaurants at the place were of considerable French fry interest. Nathan's and Roy Rogers have some of the best fast food fries around, and Arthur Treacher's used to as well, but I had not been to the latter since I began this blogging journey. There was also something extremely enticing called Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill.

Had they all been open, and our stomachs empty, I imagine I could have eaten lots of the favorite fried food, taken copious notes, and pulled at least three, maybe more, entries for the FFD out of this experience. As it turned out, we had Roy Rogers and Cinnabon. That's not a complaint, by the way. It was a good snack and a good break, but it could have been much better.

Mrs. Pitcher, we'll be back. Please be open!