RI Restaurant Stories: French Fry Friday
For French Fry Friday, I wanted to do an overview of the most binge-worthy ones in the Ocean State, but who knew how complicated just about everyone-I-reached-out-to's relationship with fries would turn out to be? From one person who pledged their allegiance to McDonald's (My mom feels the same btw.) to another who's sworn off eating them because of some sort of post-modern Paleo type diet and so much more fry related drama, I soon realized that I had my work cut out for me. #FrenchFryFridays
Of course, more than a few people I talked to cited Red Stripe, Wayland Square, and their frites (aka, shoestring fries), which I've been a serious fan of for years. (No disrespect to their EG location where I had a pretty great benedict brunch last Sunday.)
Another guy, a real hamburger-french-fry aficionado, listed both the Olneyville NY System and the Capital Grille, Downtown PVD. Opposite ends of the spectrum for sure. The NY System's are definitely more old school salty (In case you don't know, people travel miles for their chili cheese fries, weiners, and coffee milk.) while Cap Grille's are decidedly more crispy cheesy - Parmesan Truffle to be exact - and served in a more shall I say high end atmosphere.
So, I'll give our aficionado guy extra credit for mixing high lo dining and move on to another crispy cheesy fav - the fries at the Duck & Bunny on Wickenden. They're served in a flower pot (Kinda RISD of them, no?) and, to co-opt the old Lay's Potato Chip commercial, no one can eat just one. And to co-opt a frequent lunch companion of mine, 'those are so goooood.' If you're looking for awesome fries in the East Bay, one of my godparents swears by Trafford where they serve them in an old time-y mini brown paper bag and there's also a kick-ass water view, if you're a fan of that sorta thing.
Honorable Mentions
- the 'signature fries' at Wright's Farm: Thick and crispy, with the potato skin on. Served family style, something that Wright's is super famous for.
- the fries at Walt's Roast Beef: According to Joe A., they're crunchy, without being too well done. Enjoy with a few shakes of malt vinegar on top.
- the sweet potato fries at Harry's Bar & Burger in PVD: According to that same hamburger-french-fry aficionado friend of mine, theirs are top notch.
- the sweet potato fries at B.Good in Garden City: My go-to order is usually those fries (that, for the record, are actually baked and not fried) and a Kale Crush Smoothie.
Who makes your fav fries? Tell me about it in the comments below.
Ciao For Now,
Patty J
Photo Credits: Photo of the interior of Red Stripe PVD, Olneyville NY System, Capital Grille and Trafford's are all courtesy of Google Images. All other photos courtesy of PattyJ.com.