French Fry Diary 671: Ott's 2013

Two summers past the Pineland Players performed "Into the Woods" and of course I went to see The Bride in it along with a couple of our friends. As the Medford P.J. Whelihan's was uncooperative with their reservations, we went to the Medford Ott's instead. I have been there before, not under the best of conditions, and the customer service was lacking, but I'm always willing to give places a second chance.

I ordered the Old Bay fries, which were store bought frozen crinkle cuts deep-fried and tossed in Old Bay seasoning. The fries were very good, better than they had a right to be honestly. They came with a white cheese sauce that tried very hard to be the stuff from Chickie & Pete's, but failed in my book. The fries had just enough seasoning to be good, like baby bear's bed, not too much and not too little. The Bride liked them so much, she finished them.

I had also asked for a side of the honey teriyaki sauce I liked last time, but it did not come. The wings that that sauce usually comes with did however. Customer service had not improved on this occasion. But in our waitress' defense, she had other things to worry about on this particular Saturday night, like patrons falling off barstools onto the floor near us. Quite a party night.

There was a band that night as well, called B.S. and The Truth. At first I hated them because they did a double shot of Van Morrison followed by Lynyrd Skynyrd - I thought I was in Hell. Really though, as the set went on, they were really good, doing some excellent and surprising covers not usually in the repertoire of a band like that. I was impressed. By the band, but not necessarily by Ott's.

Update: It should be noted that this review was written back in 2013, and I've since been to Ott's numerous times since when the food and the customer service were superior. This is a major reason why I do give some restaurants second chances. Some places like Ott's have bad nights, and now, it's one of my favorite places. Every other time I've gotten the Old Bay fries since, they have been awesome. They also have great potato skins, and I'm not a potato skins guy, so there you go.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #218

These onion rings from Ott's in Medford had a subtle beer batter seasoning, not bad... and the customer service has been top notch every time we've been in since that first encounter, so thumbs up to Ott's.

French Fry Diary 414: Ott's Restaurant & Bar, Medford

I had heard quite a lot about Ott's Restaurant & Bar in Medford, and had received numerous recommendations for the place. After The Bride had been there several times for aftershows with her stage group The Pineland Players, we finally went to Ott's as part of a large party, coincidentally with the PP.

We were put in a large party room with a pool table and an oldies band outside blasting throughout the night. We had a table that was never wiped or cleaned the whole night despite a water pitcher condensating (or just plain leaking?) constantly. There was only one possibly inattentive, possibly frazzled waitress to handle well over twenty of us. We saw her occasionally throughout the night. And it also took quite some time to get utensils. This night did not represent the pinnacle of customer service. Of course this might have been because we were at a second not full table, and we were late, but still.

The Bride got waffle fries with her Reuben. They were golden brown and deep fried from frozen I bet. Still they were very tasty, but being as they were waffle fries, they could have used a bit of seasoning. I got the chicken tender platter that came with crinkle cut fries, also deep fried but they also had a baked quality. They could have been cooked as well as the waffle fries, but weren't. I got the honey teriyaki sauce (usually for the wings) for dipping. It was a bit overpowering, more teriyaki than honey, but still pretty good. Both the waffle fries and the crinkle cuts were pretty good.

Ott's also has sweet potato fries that come with honey for dipping (excellent choice), and onion rings that looked good at a distance, but I couldn't tell if they were breadcrumbed, Pankoed, or beer battered. They were thick, but as I said, they were across the room and I didn't order them so I can't really say. There are also Bay fries, crinkle cuts tossed in Old Bay, and Ott's claim to fame from recommendations - the Beef Fries, waffle fries smothered in homemade shredded roast beef, brown gravy and mozzarella cheese. I ordered none of these however. Nobody, not even me, can try that many different kinds of fries all at once.

The customer service was a bit lacking, but despite the simplicity of the fries I tried, they were very good, as I said. The company certainly made for an interesting and pleasant night, even if the service didn't. I might go back, maybe a smaller party in the main room would make for better service.