FINALLY Something Controversial That I Agree With On The Internet!

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GROSS CHEMICAL SYSCO SHIT HAS RUINED THE AMERICAN DINER.

every time one of my dumb kids say "duuuuuuhhhhhh well i like them..." i say to them "well duh you would you are young and dumb and you are destroying the country, comrade!".

Fresh potatoes are so cheap, relatively speaking, and fresh fries from fresh potatoes are so much better than the frozen alternative, I don't understand why all restaurants don't do it that way. Too messy? But I figure if Five Guys can do it they all can do it. Sometimes the presence of fresh fries alone is what makes me pick one restaurant over another. Nothing makes me happier than watching someone manning the manual press.

they're fine if you put malt vinegar on them

agree sysco is satan but 90% disagree on the fries -- the fries not being frozen is why people bag on in-n-out's fries, and even thomas keller had to sheepishly admit sysco's frozen stuff was better and more consistent than doing it the artisanal tweezer way when he was caught using them at one of his fancy restaurants.

also the best fries in town uses some kind of lightly dredged batter.

that said, i'll take fresh cut over the gamble that jack in the box might be cooking their curlies in weeks-old oil. bleagh!

My controversial (west coast US) take is that IN-N-OUT fries are fantastic BECAUSE THEY USE REAL FRESH POTATOES and not some factory/chemical bullshit that McDonalds weaned infant palates cannot appreciate. 𓁹‿𓁹

(I've seen Thomas Keller eating the fries at the In-N-Out in Napa)

steak cut or GTFO

https://assets.wsimgs.com/wsimgs/rk/images/dp/recipe/202420/0046/img21l.jpg

My controversial (west coast US) take is that IN-N-OUT fries are fantastic BECAUSE THEY USE REAL FRESH POTATOES and not some factory/chemical bullshit that McDonalds weaned infant palates cannot appreciate. 𓁹‿𓁹

― Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta)

my controversial (pac nw) take is that in-n-out is fucking overrated, goddamn californian supremacy bullshit. every couple months i go to the keizer in-n-out with my ex-girlfriend, who is constantly telling me how much better everything is in california. i mean it's a fast food hamburger. it's a fast food hamburger and this "secret menu item" stuff is complete bullshit, it's just another way of saying "have it your way". and they put bible verses on their wrappers. people can believe what they want, but i don't like that shit. the best hamburger joints come from the midwest. culver's butterburgers are better than in-n-out. steak 'n shake's hamburgers are better than in-n-out. and steak and shake's fries are the... i'm sorry, i know there's a word for this that's not offensive, but the pencildick fries. i don't like thick cut fries, i like twink fries.

five guys uses fresh cut fries too, the problem is they have no idea how to train or retain staff so literally every time i go there they get my order wrong.

luckily, we do have good options for fries here both frozen and not-frozen but fucked the coated thing i don't know why i hate their crunchy asses but i really do!

i make my own potato wedges in the oven with oil & s & p but i am also fond of ore-ida steak fries.

"fuck" the coated thing. not "fucked" the coated thing.

and i am fine with mcdonalds fries too. better then wendys. inmyhumbleinternetopinion.

shout-out to tom's hot dogs in whately and the wagon wheel in gill.

Fries, ranked:

- waffle fries
- curly fries
- battered fries
- steak fries w/skin
- regular fries w/skin
- steak fries, no skin
- tater tots (there's a burger place here in Montana that gives you tater tots instead of fries; it rules)
- regular fries (Wendy's)
- regular fries (McDonald's)

tom's hot dogs in whately action shot with added homemade onion rings!

https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-o/18/a7/50/2d/photo1jpg.jpg?w=1200&h=-1&s=1

https://tomslongdog.com/media/rokgallery/2/2497b1d9-ff58-46dc-fb81-c6af326c9fbd/22916b3e-42af-4fea-f682-176901801e9a.jpg

some tasty Wagon Wheel fries...

https://wagonwheel1.com/wp-content/uploads/slider/cache/7445fc9f3254c903b5cb16fea419b765/IMG_2776-54-Edited.jpg

unperson how could you forget tater tots?

Shoe string or gtfo, though. Steak cut is blasphemy. You want baked potatoes in your fries? No way, I want all the crunch, none of the grit.

wagon wheel fries can also look darker. they just taste really good.

https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Pc2LwLn_eHa43YKqsixcvw/348s.jpg

Sorry to be a skeptic, Scott, but those rings look very foodservicey rather than homemade.

Crinkle cuts are the best fry when cooked correctly, good combo of crispy + fluffy.
xp shoestrings NOOOOOOO

i also just really appreciate when fries are so hot it feels like my mouth is on fire. i feel like food, in general, at restaurants isn't as hot as it used to be because restaurants are so busy filling 100 orders for home delivery. by the time i get mine in the actual restaurant its been sitting for awhile. i don't do delivery.

okay i might have made that up that tom's makes their own rings. i can't remember. they are REALLY good though.

Huh, I don't mind these fries, and now that you mention it they're pretty common around here. But I do bemoan the lack of steak cut fries anywhere and the popularity of McDonald's-style skinny fries at decent restaurants & bars, they get cold instantly.

potato fries have such a short half-life, i'm shocked that yucca/yuca fries aren't making more inroads, at least against the duck fat fries price range

Scott, I thought the first picture you posted of Tom's was someone sticking their finger into a chili dog, which looked ... gross.

Yuca fries aren't that common. I've only ever had them at one place — Pollo Campero, a pretty good Latin chicken chain.

Yuca fries are OK but just don't have the same satisfying texture as potato fries. A little gummy? I don't mind a few, but a whole plate would be a lot.

I wanna rep for shoestring fries, which are hard to do well but can be super delicious. I agree with the post up top that those battered fries are unnecessary. I don't hate them but they don't improve the fry experience imo. I don't need a layer of anything but grease between me and the potato.

"Scott, I thought the first picture you posted of Tom's was someone sticking their finger into a chili dog, which looked ... gross."

haha, yeah, after i posted it it looked jarring to me. so meaty. sorry, vegans. no offense.

the yuca talk makes me realize that i have never ever ordered sweet potato fries at a restaurant. it feels too educational. like, i'm a progessive new englander, but i don't have to be THAT progressive.

I had sweet potato fries for the first time last year; a food truck I was buying from had them. Theirs were absolutely coated in hot pepper, which was OK. I don't know if I'd like unadorned sweet potato fries. I hated sweet potatoes as a kid, at Thanksgiving.

- tater tots (there's a burger place here in Montana that gives you tater tots instead of fries; it rules)

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson)

at the mexican place down the street you can either get mexican topped fries or mexican topped tater tots. the mexican topped fries are more consistent but the mexican topped tater tots have higher highs. maybe i got that backwards. anyway i always hated tater tots, too greasy, too much oil. a lot of the fresh cut fries are too fucking salty, while i'm complaining.

mcdondalds style fries do get cold instantly. i eat too fast. so probably it's best for me to not eat those fries.

there's a whole genre of memes which are just pictures of fictional disgusting food. i hate those memes. chili dogs look disgusting but i'll eat 'em. it's like poutine. every time i tell someone who hasn't had poutine about poutine, they say it's the most disgusting thing ever. i used to think it was disgusting until i had it. kinda reminds me of my orchiectomy in that way.

sweet potato fries rule. yucca fries rule. my ex-wife made (at my instigation) yucca poutine, which was yucca fries, chicken gravy, and cotija. it was fucking delicious. the shittiest thing about poutine is that a lot of times the fries just don't stand up to the gravy.

Yuca, sweet potatoes -- staples of creole cuisine. I don't eat them often if at all but when I do it's this stuff because it's much healthier than potatoes.

there's a whole genre of memes which are just pictures of fictional disgusting food. i hate those memes. chili dogs look disgusting but i'll eat 'em. it's like poutine. every time i tell someone who hasn't had poutine about poutine, they say it's the most disgusting thing ever. i used to think it was disgusting until i had it. kinda reminds me of my orchiectomy in that way.

― Kate (rushomancy)

speaking of which do they still serve rocky mountain oysters? i can't remember if i've had them or not. probably not. i've had brain, though. at some kind of... i think it was a chilean steakhouse. no, sorry. argentinian. place is still open apparently.

50 feet from where i sit is a salvadoran place and i still have never tried their fries. i am a bad neighbor. to be fair, i don't really want mayo on my fries. sorry belgium!

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The default condiment on burgers out here is mayo, which is baffling and repellent to me. Ketchup, mustard and mayo on a burger? Absolutely? Mayo alone? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

every time i tell someone who hasn't had poutine about poutine, they say it's the most disgusting thing ever. i used to think it was disgusting until i had it.

In New Jersey poutine is known as "disco fries." They serve them at diners on the highway and they rule, as long as you're planning to finish eating and go take a nap in the parking lot.

I'm off ketchup, just doesn't appeal any more. Dijon or mayo, but only mayo if there's hot sauce to mix with. But tbh I appreciate an undressed fry, condiments often negate the salty crunch that's the whole point.

i like my potatoes in the hash browns format

if you're gonna eat salvadorean at all get yourself some pupusas. particularly the loroco ones, if you can get 'em. but any pupusas really. last time i went to TJ's they had frozen pupusas and they're pretty good.

disco fries are one of my fave facts about poutine. there's an argument that poutine is a category of food like a sandwich is.

a lot of people in younger generations hate mayo and i kinda get that. but then there's also people who hate western mayo but dig kewpie mayo. i'm not as big on mayo as i used to be. kewpie mayo is good on squid balls but not really on anything else. just like i'm not really into bonito flakes except on squid balls. what is it, takoyaki? bonito flakes kinda get stuck in my throat and make me cough.

Just wanted to pop in to say that I agree that Culver's is better than In-N-Out. I always get the cheese curds instead of fries when I go there, though.

Also, Ore-Ida crinkle cut are better than 60% of restaurant fries I've had.

Culver's is the best, so consistent that even their lower tier menu items, like the pot roast sandwich, are pretty good.

I'm the rare Wisconsinite that doesn't really love Culver's and I didn't grow up going there, and also their fries are lame. I grew up with <a href="https://kopps.com/";>Kopp's</a>.

oops lol

culver's fried cheese curds are kinda trash tbh but i would get them anyway

i like their butterburgers and their concretes tho

i mean putting butter on a burger is no worse than putting mayo on a burger, really

without question, they have the best cheese curds of any fast food chain.

josh: lol

i hate kopp's

no wait, i hate cops, i haven't been to kopp's because i didn't actually live in wisconsin

they sound good tho

To be clear the butter goes on the bun, not the burger.

I don't have a huge sample size, but agree with Josh about their curds being better than any other fast food chain. And also better than any out-of-state versions of fried cheese curds I've had. Maybe because between battered and breaded I'll always prefer breaded. But, I guess I'm getting off topic.

Re: the butter, they basically (lightly) fry up the buns. Same principle as spreading mayo on a grilled cheese before you fry it, it adds fat/flavor but also serves as a kind of toasting agent.

Culver's is bringing back the Curderburger, which apparently began as an April Fool's joke that fans willed into existence.
https://cdn.culvers.com/upload/header-contextual.jpg?q=75&w=960&format=auto

I also learned that Culver's has a secret password-only merch site where managers have access to all this limited edition swag, like this dude:
https://d1f28u9l1tudce.cloudfront.net/beb-hero-curdis_focus.jpg?q=75&w=960&format=auto

Culver's forever rules for having an actual veggie burger

Curds? Where are you, Jack & Jill's hill?

french fries are boring

The coated fries are frequently not gluten-free and sometimes the fries are the only thing on the menu that might be gluten-free so if I can't have that, I might be eating a plain burger patty (or nothing, if there's gluten or soy protein in the burger mix.) I have probably cried actual tears on arriving somewhere with a group and finding that I can't have anything but a salad.

Many xps but who bags on In N Out’s fries? That’s like their #2 claim to fame.

Braum’s crinkle cut fries are pretty aight - plain but usually the right crispiness. All other fast food fries aside from I/O are pretty bad these days.

Aldi steak cut fries in the air fryer are my current go-to. There are better ones from fancier brands but I’m not paying $5 a serving for “home cooked” frozen fries.

Harvey's next door to me in Turners Falls has their new menu out. Their hand cut fries are yum. Note the addition of disco gravy for 2 bucks.

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cooked yucca >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fried yucca (from leftover cooked yucca) >>>>>> yucca fries >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> french fries

Culver's is indeed quite a bit better than In-N-Out. Neither has great fries to be honest. The curderburger should have been left to die as a novelty, it looks cool but it is really not very good.

The important thing, though, is that Kopp's is incredible, I feel for those of you who haven't had it, really the platonic ideal of the kind of burger place it is.

tell kopps to open up where all the friendlys chain restaurants were here. they just closed the 2nd and last one here in town. good riddance. venture capital turned that place into a hellish grossness. i loved it when i was a kid. butter on the bun on the grill was the friendlys burger trademark all the way back to the 70s. when i was just a pup!

everyone on the east coast can't stop raving about that guys onion burger in nyc. i think i can make that at home. though they look yummy in pictures.

This Harvey's has a lot of nerve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s

i feel like shit after eating any fries at a restaurant, but homemade fries, hell just oven roasted chopped potato in olive oil salt and pepper - that is something i need from time to time. with fancy annie's ketchup and cholula. along with a homemade breakfast burrito.... that might just be my dream meal right there.

Kopp's is the custard place, right? They do have really good fast food, but there are only a couple of locations around Milwaukee, aren't there? The ubiquity of Culver's around here is what makes them such a reliable go-to. Most of my trips up north are upwards Madison and back, so no Kopp's for me.

xpost Man, a good simple breakfast burrito, so easy, so underrated.

i totally ate mcdonalds fries tonight in honor of this thread. i worked all day and then after work i had to go sort huge cardboard gaylords full of of records for hours and when i finally stopped i was too wrecked to think about real food. they tasted okay. got a double hamburger too. and a small chocolate shake.