IHOP is like the chain breakfast store’s representative image. You have mom and pop diners, and breakfast places like this. Big places where the whole family can come in, sit down, and eat way too many pancakes. So, how were their fries? Pretty good, no salt, though moderate to heavy paprika seasoning. A normal, moderate thickness cut, with small flecks of skin on the edges of the fry. Fries came out warm, well cooked, but not piping hot as you’d hope for when food is being made to order. Also, while the price was pretty cheap, at only $1.99, the portion size was tiny. Like, the entire portion was probably about 20 fries. Definitely not the bang for your buck that someone would hope for.

(Pictured with a side of Onion Rings as well, and they were quite good, if a slight bit less juicy than hoped)

Price: $1.99

Cut: Moderate

Salt: None

Seasoning: Moderate/Heavy paprika

This place is a breakfast styled diner, with a very traditional feel. Little tables lined around the side of the restaurant, and the sit-in diner next to the kitchen. Really nice aesthetic, and feels from the moment you enter like one of those mom and pop food places. The food was pretty good, and the first thing that’s apparent is the portion sizes are absolutely HUGE. I ordered two sides of french fries, and the total was probably just short of two pounds of fries. Simply massive, and the pancakes were probably unreasonably large. The size of a mega dinner plate, and thick too. But back to the fries. They’re moderately thick cut, with a subtle but distinct country flavor, kind of like what the best version of Tee Jaye’s food should conjure up in ideas. Exposed skin covers a whole side of the fries, further lending to the country feel, and there’s no salt or other seasoning. I give much credit here, it’s a unique fry. A very distinct taste, but with nothing apparently special done to create the flavor. 

Price: $2.99 (per side, two sides pictured)

Cut: Moderate, to *slightly* thicker than average, with that “country” skin look.

Salt: None

Seasoning: None

These are in the top handful of fries I’ve had, because of the uniqueness, the no-frills cooking and presentation, and the extreme freshness, these were some of the hottest, most well-prepared fries I’ve had in a long time, and I highly recommend this place to all fry lovers, and more broadly, to all breakfast lovers.

Steak & Shake is kind of branded as a “nicer” chain restaurant. You can go in, sit with your friends, enjoy a friendly server, that kind of thing. It’s still basically a fast food place though, but one with a bit of extra frills. Their french fries are very unique, as they are very thin shoestring cut, a style that is basically not attempted much in restaurants. I dined in, so the fries were served on a dinner plate, and had light salting, with no seasoning. The extreme thinness of the fries ensured that they were above average in crispiness. Freshness wasn’t quite what you’d hope for from dining in at a place. I got two orders of the large fries, and the second plate was much fresher than the first. The price was $2.59 for one of the large plates of fries. A pretty good deal considering that each plate carried a substantial amount of fries.

Shoestring Fries:

Price: $2.59

Cut: Shoestring (very thin shoestring)

Salt: Light/Moderate

Seasoning: None

Other: Left plate (the less fresh one) had some crumb residue on the fries, usually this is from the oil being used too much and a lot of crumbs accumulating in the oil, and cooking onto the fries, ultimately being deposited on the fries and sticking post-removal.

PJ’s Grill is a little carry out food and booze place, one of the seediest places visually I’ve ever been to. The aesthetic is more gas station than food place. But how was the fries? For a first time, I did two separate fries from this place, the regular fries, and the waffle fries. The regular fries were fairly soggy, probably a little bit undercooked, and the inconsistent thickness of the fries left some of them being both undercooked and over crispy, and some as undercooked and super soggy. Not a great combination. Salt was moderate, and did improve the taste. No extra seasonings, serving size was decent, though hardly great for the price.

The waffle fries on the other hand were very good. Even though there was no browning of the fry, they came out very crispy, and unlike the regular fries, tasted very fresh. All of the waffle fries were big, and also had a moderate amount of salt with no extra seasonings. Serving size was a little smaller than the regular fries, and also had a slightly higher price.

Waffle Fries

Price: $3.49

Cut: Waffle

Salt: Moderate

Seasoning: None

Regular Fries

Price: $2.99

Cut: Regular (normal thickness)

Salt: Moderate

Seasoning: None

Wings & More is a little place on the west side of Summit St, between Hudson Rd. and Tompkins Ave. As the name would suggest, the majority of their menu consists of wings and other chicken type products. As is typical of these places, they also have fries, and again typical, they’re of the waffle variety (it’s usually these or curly fries). Very expensive, $5.49 for a jumbo order of Waffle Fries, they fill up a medium size plastic container, but the value for the price isn’t there. For the qualities of the fries themselves, they’re moderately crispy, though not browned at all. Visible potato skin on all edges, with no spices/seasoning, and no salt either. It’s clear the fries were fresh, I watched the cook make them, but the taste definitely was of the “no frills” variety. Evenly cooked, and little to no disattached crumbs, which is a positive, as waffle fries often have this at the bottom of their containers.

Price: $5.49

Cut: Waffle, on the thicker side, and very large.

Salt: None

Other seasoning: None.