French Fry Diary 745: Mix and Match

At the recent journey to Whataburger, it was brought up in conversation that sometimes folks, in areas where fast food restaurants are prevalent, folks will mix and match foods from different places to create sort-of-patchwork meals by hitting multiple drive-thrus. 

Now back when we were dating, The Bride and I would sometimes mix Burger King and Taco Bell, mostly because at the time I liked Burger King and didn't like Taco Bell.  We'd go through the Burger King drive-thru for my meal then we'd eat it at the Taco Bell where she got hers.  That's not what we're talking about though, that's just two different meals at one place. 

I'm talking about when you want a Whopper but don't want BK's crappy new fries, so you go to McDonald's for their perfect golden fries.  Then you like to dip them in a Frosty, something you can't do any longer with Wendy's crappy new fries.  One meal, created from three drive-thru stops. 

I'm sure there are many other combinations.  Like for instance, wouldn't Chick-fil-A's waffle fries be awesome sandwiched in a burger?  Or does a Frosty have better dippibilty for burgers than Burger King shakes?  And does the fact Roy Rogers BBQ sauce would go well with anything count? 

What are your favorite mixes and matches?  Let us know! 

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!

The Fast Food Strike

The big story today in the world of fast food, predominantly realm of the French fry, is the fast food strike.

Workers at many of the major fast food outlets - including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, Taco Bell, and many others - are choosing to protest and/or walk out today as a measure to gain higher wages.

Fast food restaurants unfortunately are notorious for their minimum wages and low pay rates. Some workers cannot afford rent or to take care of themselves or their kids. Think about that next time you order fries at your favorite fast food place.

French Fry Diary 388: Long John Silver's 2012

Since seeing the latest television commercials for Long John Silver's, I had suspected that they had changed their fries. The ones in the ads were natural cuts as opposed to the lightly battered crispy shoestrings they used to have. New fries? So I had to try them.

So I went over to the Long John Silver's and Taco Bell combo that's the only place to get LJS in my area. It was lunch time but not really all that crowded, but yet my wait time was about fifteen minutes. It seemed as if the crew was more concerned with drive thru than the customers at the counter. The drive thru was moving at quite a clip while about a half a dozen of us waited inside.

I got my usual - the chicken and chips. The chicken planks, battered white chicken strips, we're as good as ever. There was the usual tasty deep fried crumbs at the bottom of the box, along with the prerequisite hush puppies. This time however the hush puppies were kinda greasy and had a different texture, but that wasn't the only thing that was different.

Long John Silver's did indeed have new fries, and bad ones, a definite step down in quality and uniqueness. They were natural cuts lightly peppered and barely warm. There's nothing wrong with natural cuts, but these were disappointing natural cuts, and a much smaller portion than previously.

This was not a pleasant visit to my local LJS. I'm not writing them off completely though. Thankfully I can still get chicken planks a la carte.

French Fry Diary 308: The Original Burger King French Fries

When I was a kid, fast food was slow coming to my hometown. In fact, even today, Atco has no fast food restaurants in its city limits. The first to show up in the area was Gino's in Berlin, the next town over, which I've talked about before. We'd had McDonald's up in Lindenwold and down in Hammonton, but that was it as far as choices until the mid-seventies. That's when the McDonald's opened in Berlin, and everything changed.

Where there was McDonald's, there was Burger King, because the burger wars always escalate, and Burger King opened right across the White Horse Pike from the McDonald's. Taco Bell, Wendy's, Arby's, Roy Rogers, etc. all followed in Berlin, but when it comes right down to it, it's always about the big two.

Today, we're talking about Burger King however, the Burger King of my youth, and their original French fries. Burger King recently changed their fries, ending a reign of crappy fries they had had since the early nineties, but before that, they had really good fries, really good fries. When I first encountered BK, I fell in love with their charbroiled burgers, so much better than McDonald's. This is also where I started dipping my burger in my milkshake, BK being best for this practice, and notably best with a plain burger and a black and white shake. This remains the case to this day.

Burger King is also where I started stacking or planking. Those two words might mean something else these days, but to me, and in reference to French fries - stacking and planking, also known as sandwiching is the act of putting fries on your burger, creating a layer of potatoey goodness across your burger. In my years of doing this blog, I have happily found I'm not crazy, and I'm not the only one who does this, or shake dipping for that matter. BK's original fries were perfect for sandwiching.

About those original BK fries, they were shoestrings, similar to McDonald's, only less crispy and slightly more greasy. They were just short of a limp shoestring French fry, but unlike Wendy's new fries, BK's were substantial enough for dipping in shakes without breaking or bending. They were also delicious, and addictive. Whereas the old BK fries, I could barely eat one or two, the originals I would sometimes finish off two orders in a sitting. They were that good. They are still very much missed. I wish they'd bring them back.

Unfortunately, the original Burger King fries, being pre-internet, are extremely hard to get images of, so I have compensated with this blog entry. Find below a vintage BK commercial from the 1970s, plus above a glass featuring the old animated and much-less-creepy Burger King, as well as one of the BK ashtrays that everyone in my high school had snatched from the restaurant and had one in their bedrooms - smokers or not. Enjoy the nostalgia.

Crispy Potato Soft Taco?

Something special today, folks, a guest blog from friend and fellow writer Terry Willitts:

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This is the Crispy Potato Soft Taco from Taco Bell’s value menu. Take a moment, get past the initial reaction of “What?” and think about it. Read the description. Potato bites. Jalapeno ranch. Lettuce and cheese.

It’s a winning combination. The potato bites are seasoned just right, but the jalapeno ranch has an afterburn that will please anyone who likes the tangy side of life. They’re warm and soft with a crispy coating, and the mix with the ranch and the lettuce and cheese and the soft taco shell = win.

And you can’t beat that they’re cheap.

Even on a warm day, it’s a good snack or part of a meal. I went today, after a workout at the gym, and cashed in my coupon for a free limeade, and spent a couple bucks on this and a taco and had a nice light lunch! If they still have this in the cooler weather, it would be a great way to warm up on a cold day.

Also, the limeade? Very limey. The coupon is still available at the Taco Bell website – click here – you have to print it up (make sure you have Java on your computer) and use it soon. The one I printed had an expiration date of June 1st.

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The above appeared in slightly different form at Terry’s blog, make sure you check it out. Thanks, man!

Super Delicious Ingredient Force: Episode 1

This apparent ad for Taco Bell features design by comics legend Neal Adams, based on Alex Toth's classic work, a parody of the old “Super Friends” show, and French fries as bad guys. Wow. I have no words....

Props to buddy Ray for hipping me to this.

French Fry Diary 94: Long John Silver’s

Fish and chips is a longtime combination in the fry game and cashing in on that concept is Long John Silver’s. They are similar to what I remember Arthur Treacher’s and Gulliver’s to have been back in the day, pretty much except for the fries.

The Long John Silver’s I visited shares space with a Taco Bell, as they are both part of the Yum super-corporation that also includes KFC, Wing Street, A&W and Pizza Hut among others. Yep, the Pepsi super-conglomerate, honestly Coke would take these places a step up for me.

The place is mostly Taco Bell as they were there first however, and the dual logos of the LJS fish and the TB bell next to one another is a bit unsettling as neither quite look like what they’re supposed to look like. To me at least, the bell kinda looks like a dragon or a crocodile eying up that fish for dinner. Yeah, it's more disturbing than it is unsettling.

I ordered the chicken and chips, my usually order there which includes two chicken planks (always very good unless someone screws up and I get fish), a generous helping of shoestring French fries, two ‘hush puppies’ (basically tasty deep fried breaded balls of mystery stuff), and an assortment of crumbs. No, I have no idea what the crumbs thing is about.

The fries are traditional shoestrings and always crispy. You gotta eat ‘em while they’re hot because they don’t stay hot for long, and sadly they don’t really nuke that well. You can reheat them in the oven when you get home but it’s dicey getting them just right without burning them or making them too crisp. Unless you live close, there’s not much of a take out option because of this.

The fries seem to have an Invisicoat texture but they don’t. If anything they are very lightly battered with something similar to the mystery crumbs. Sometimes the quality varies, but most of the time these are very good and quite addictive. If hot, highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 30: Fries Supreme

Taco Bell now has French fries. Or at least at select locations.

Taco Bell has never really officially had fries. If they did it was because they were sharing space with one of the other Yum! Restaurants. The usual side offering would be nachos or cinnamon twists, not fries. The new concoction, called Fries Supreme (which doesn’t appear on TB’s online menu), consists of regular cut fries covered in cheese sauce, sour cream, tomato and green onions.

As I mentioned in a previous post, those must be some soggy fries. I wonder if I could order them plain?



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