New York French Fry Honor Roll: Add Yours to the List

Posted by Ed Levine, October 19, 2007 at 5:30 AM

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me who makes the best french fries in New York, I'd be a rich man. Well, maybe I wouldn't be a rich man, but I'd have enough money to buy some french fries at Per Se, where, if they were for sale, they would cost a lot.

Anyway, french fries are one of those things chefs and cooks don't have to spend a lot of money on to make well. The ingredients, are, well, the ingredients. All french fry makers use potatoes, salt, and some kind of oil. Occasionally, cooks might throw in some fresh herbs, but that's it. So there's really no such thing as heritage fries or artisanal fries or chefified fries of any stripe.

So I've been thinking long and hard about who makes the best french fries in the Big Apple. So far I have not been able to home in on a single candidate, so I've decided to ask the Serious Eats community to help me in my quest in identifying the best french fries in New York. We may not end up with a consensus winner, but in the process we'll put together a terrific list of places you can get french fries in Gotham.

Remember, we're talking regular french fries, anywhere from a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, potatoes that are blanched and then fried twice and salted. We'll allow some fresh herbs or Old Bay seasoning, but that's it. The fries on my list are so good they don't even need ketchup. Shoestring fries, even the really, really good ones served at the Spotted Pig and Pearl Oyster Bar, don't count. We can have a separate vote for those if need be.

Here's my admittedly incomplete New York French Fry Honor Roll.

Balthazar and Schiller's (same executive co-chefs)
Artisanal Bistro
Union Square Cafe
DB Bistro Moderne
Lure Fishbar
Telepan
Maremma (Cesare Casella's justifiably famous Tuscan fries)
Porter House New York
Blue Ribbon (and all its french frying offshoots)
Five Guys
The Farm on Adderley (New York magazine's 2007 choice for best fries)
Pomme Frites
Coco Pazzo and Fred's at Barney's
Nice Matin
Fairway Cafe
Five Points, Cookshop, Provence

I'm also awarding two newcomers, Market Table and Shorty's.32, the Rookie French Fryers of 2007.

Please, Serious Eaters, add to my list. We need to know where every great french fry is in New York.

35 Comments

Tags: french fries

35 Comments:

I think you guys the very best French Fries in the city: "Petite Abeille" of course ! genuine Belgian Fries made as meant to be.

ForzaMilan at 8:30AM on 10/19/07

Taim's FF with safron mayo & recently Dinosaur BBQ changed its potato making them really yummy.

hondo3777 at 8:54AM on 10/19/07

i'm going to have to go with Pastis's fries.

ceforrester at 9:07AM on 10/19/07

Do any of the restaurants fry them in duck fat?

1stmakearoux at 9:17AM on 10/19/07

Pomme Frites are at the top of my list. It's an impossibility for me to pass by there without stopping for a large cone of beautiful fries.

josh! at 9:22AM on 10/19/07

Bondi Road (LES) or Chip Shop (Brooklyn)

lisenz at 9:32AM on 10/19/07

Westville's fries are very good.

cbw at 9:37AM on 10/19/07

Quatorze Bis has some very good fries.

FoodBoy at 9:37AM on 10/19/07

the bar at Gilt has some excellent fries

xospecialk at 10:00AM on 10/19/07

Les Halles

Mheusler at 10:07AM on 10/19/07

Turtle Bay (dark, skin-on, peanut oil). Brother Jimmy's (consistently good for quite some time). And the winner in the classicly-prepared, diner-style category (hands-down): Pearl Street Diner burn-em-and bag-em...delivered in a brown paper bag (which was invented by the Almighty specifically for the purpose of transporting deep-fried potato product - though few seem to understand that).

StarvinMarvin at 10:16AM on 10/19/07

David Burke in a Box, or whatever that place is called under Bloomingdale's makes ridiculously good fries.

LoDega at 10:29AM on 10/19/07

all around, Mugs Ale House on Bedford and N. 10th in Williamsburg is an underrated place. And it has stellar fresh fries. The food doesn't match up to most of the places Ed listed above but it's satisfying. Especially on a cool fall afternoon next to a hand drawn pint of Blue Point imperial stout.

alktraz at 11:35AM on 10/19/07

They're inconsistent, but Schnack in Brooklyn has served some very good fries.

Blake Royer at 12:37PM on 10/19/07

Taim has great fries, it's true.

cmballa at 12:55PM on 10/19/07

7A actually has really good fries. I only go there for breakfast but will still order fries. Pravda has memorable fries which makes sense as they're owned by the same people as Balthazar's.

bluebird at 1:11PM on 10/19/07

La Goulue (Madison Avenue at 65th Street) serves up perfect fries. Twice cooked to perfection!

passportny at 1:54PM on 10/19/07

The Bar at Beppe has amazing fries!!!!

roze at 2:03PM on 10/19/07

Blue Smoke has seriously good fries.

Irene at 2:19PM on 10/19/07

I second Les Halles.

The Strip House makes their fries in goose fat. They're not that good.

FreshPepper at 3:16PM on 10/19/07

Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien has awesome fries. Even better than the burgers, if you can compare the two. And they're cheap. They are of the skinny variety.

chungle at 4:36PM on 10/19/07

I can't believe no one has listed Cafe de Bruxelles on Greenwich Avenue.

Lippy at 5:24PM on 10/19/07

I love the list we're compiling. The Strip House fries fried in duck fat sound awesome. Hot Doug's in Chicago fries its french fries in duck fat on fridays and saturdays only, I think. The Beppe fries must be left over from Cesare Casella's stint as chef there. I also like the fries at Peter Luger's and Ben Benson's.

Ed Levine at 5:25PM on 10/19/07

I totally forgot about Cafe Bruxelles. Its french fries are excellent.

Ed Levine at 5:26PM on 10/19/07

keen's steakhouse makes great fries. so does peter luger. and when they are served hot, the fries at new york burger company are first rate. but my heart belongs to the fries at les halles.

cybercita at 12:40AM on 10/20/07

Everyone's missing a big one. Vol de Nuit in the village. it's not quite a restaurant, but the fries alone are worth the trip.

thepumpkingdom at 12:07PM on 10/20/07

Cafe de Bruxelles is my favorite. Ed How about a list of the best/ fresh onion rings in NY. I am tired of restaurant serving frozen onion rings.

And all that at 4:16PM on 10/21/07

I've been thinking a lot about onion rings, so that's an excellent idea. I see an onion ring honor roll coming up.

Ed Levine at 4:25PM on 10/21/07

I'll second the fries at Beppe. You can get them in the dining room, too (I think they refer to them as "Tuscan Fries").

bpjc at 1:16PM on 10/22/07

I have to say I love Houston's French Fries. Anyone know if all these places use fresh potatos?

Beachatty at 1:42PM on 10/30/07

Houston's uses fresh potatoes.

Ed Levine at 1:48PM on 10/30/07

do you know of any restaurants with great french fries that do not use Fresh Potatos?

Beachatty at 1:57PM on 10/30/07

Every great french fry I've ever had has been made from fresh potatoes.

Ed Levine at 1:59PM on 10/30/07

i 2nd the opinion of fries at hamburger joint at parker meridien hotel for their brown bag of fries, simply delicious, thin and low brow.

pearl oyster bar, shoe string fries.

lovelyhoney at 1:43PM on 08/01/08

osteria al doge - best bar fries, with rosemary, sea salt and garlic. finger licking good!

lovelyhoney at 1:46PM on 08/01/08

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