THERE'S NOTHIN' LIKE A GOOD OL' FRITE...!

I am a firm believer that – in another life – I was one of the McDonald’s “Fry Guys.” You remember those things, right? They were the little pom-pom-lookin’ creatures that were always eating fries while the Hamburglar would steal hamburgers. No doubt that they were scary-ass, but absolutely harmless. This aside, I cannot remember when I became such a fry fanatic. As a kid, I remember eating fries from fast-food places, but never really loving them. My mom and dad used to get fries from McDonald’s, and dip them in the soft-served ice cream… YUMMM!!! That’s a taste that, till this day, reminds me of childhood.

When college rolled around, fries became an even more prevalent part of my daily diet (and it shoved me way past the “freshman 15”). At the dining hall, I would always grab a side of fries. At the student union, the gang and I would always pick-up fries from Roy Rogers (which is no longer there; how sad) and we’d mix together ketchup, mayo and pepper as our dip du jour. It was the number one meal eaten at the FCA office (Roy’s fries, Days of Our Lives, and skipping class – daily ritual).

These days, I see fries as both a “pleasure” and “pain…” It’s a pain in my ass because when I eat too much, that shit accumulates right around my ass (and other places). But they are always a pleasure to eat; a never-failing party in my mouth. Some days I think I only love them for the crunch factor, but other days I am certain that I just love them for what they are: sheer deliciousness.

While I have some favorites, I tend to not be discriminatory when it comes to picking and choosing my fries. I usually welcome fries of all types with open arms (and an open mouth). Last year, Citysearch put out their “Best French Fries 2007” list for Los Angeles, which consisted of the following:

#10: Table 8 (Los Angeles/Melrose)
#9: Father’s Office (Editorial Winner; Santa Monica/Montana)
#8: Cassell’s (Los Angeles/Downtown)
#7: In-N-Out Burger
#6: Carney’s Restaurant (West Hollywood/Sunset)
#5: Islands
#4: Backstage Bar & Grill (Culver City)
#3: Taste on Melrose (Los Angeles/Melrose)
#2: The Oinkster (Eagle Rock)
#1: Café Flore (Audience Winner; Beverly Hills)

Of the choices from the list above, I have only had fries at four of the spots. I’m not too sure I’d spend much to order fries at Table 8 or Taste on Melrose, and I have to question why In-N-Out is even on this list (burgers are fine, but their fries are nothing special at all). I am a staunch supporter of the fries (regular & sweet potato) from Father’s Office, and Islands and Carney’s both deserve honorable mentions.

If it were up to me, however, I would knock-off at least half of the spots listed, and my list would probably include these instead:

Beechwood (Venice)
The Counter (Santa Monica)
Cabo Cantina (Brentwood)
West @ The Hotel Angeleno (Los Angeles)
Life on Wilshire (Los Angeles)
Canter’s (Los Angeles)

For your basic, run-of-the-mill deli-style fries, Canter’s would be a hands-down choice. I prefer theirs over those served up at other local delis. Beechwood (in Venice) offers three different types: shoe string, ¼ inch, and sweet potato. Try one, or all three, with three house-made dipping sauces. Not too far away in Santa Monica is The Counter, where fries are available with cheese, cheese & chili, or as sweet potato. Added bonus, you can order fries with onion strings as well. Yum. Cabo Cantina used to have smothered cheese fries, which were disgusting. But I went the other night, and the fries had a cheesy sauce on the side this time around. It also seemed like the fries were lightly dusted with some kind of yum seasoning – I couldn’t pin-point what it was exactly. But after that experience, it was easily added to my list. At West (The Hotel Angeleno), fries are cooked in special truffle oil –easily making these one of the more amazing choices in the area. Finally, for me at least, Life on Wilshire offers regular fries AND “curry” fries served with Indian ketchup. It’s surely one of the more interesting ways to serve good ol’ frites. To this list you can add Father’s Office, Islands, Carney’s, and maybe Del Taco’s crinkle fries instead of the el bore-o In-N-Out fries (only because I’m a sucker for crinkle fries), and you’d have my comprehensive list of favorite fries in Los Angeles.

Notable fries from other cities: Belgian frites at Frjtz are easily the best in San Francisco; Hot Doug’s fries are one of Chicagoland’s finest; Belgian frites at Brasserie Beck in DC are probably my favorite in an upscale setting, while Ledo’s Pizza (the original in College Park, MD) serves up the best casual waffle fries: dusted with Old Bay seasoning and dipped in ranch; In NYC, I personally hold a soft-spot for the frites at Les Halles; and Boston Beer Works serves up a decent frite in Beantown.

Notable fries from national restaurant chains: The garlic fries at Gordon Biersch easily tops this list; the Houston’s chain offers tasty, skinny fries; and Red Robin gets an honorable mention for their bottomless steak fries.

If I could eat fries every day ---I would. But my body would hate me for it. So in the meantime, I’ll have to leave it all to my imagination. (Sigh.)

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The awesome photos on this post are not my own, but are from members of Flickr (McDonald's fries - from Sutanto; Father's Office fries - from he cooks she eats; The Counter fries - from evilmidori; Gordon Biersch fries - from chrisglass... thank you!).