It’s hard to go wrong with fries.
They come in all sorts of shapes and textures, and they’re a great vehicle for dipping sauces, seasonings or even gravy.
Whether you prefer thin and crispy, thick and pillowy-soft inside — or waffle-shaped, crinkle-cut or curly — on Friday's Central Standard, KCUR’s Food Critics searched out the best fries in and around Kansas City.
Here are their recommendations:
Bonjwing Lee, The Ulterior Epicure:
- LC’s Bar-B-Q — big wedge fries. Hot out of the fryer, they’re crunchy on the outside, hot and fluffy on the inside. My favorite are the small pieces that are virtually all-crust.
- Stock Hill — steak fries. Half-inch cut potatoes, blanched in salted water, frozen for an hour, blanched in oil, frozen again then fried to order. Exceptional crust. Made in-house from beginning to end.
- Genessee Royale — medium-cut fries. Extra starched for extra crust. Nicely seasoned and served with Heinz Ketchup. Simple, classic, perfect.
Jill Silva, The Kansas City Star:
The Star just finished up a March Madness-inspired French fry bracket, which racked up more than 8600 votes.
My personal faves not on The Star's bracket:
- Leeway Franks in Lawrence. The fries are fat and starchy; I love that potato-y fluffiness.
- Leeway Franks – Tater tots. Also wonderful. Exceptionally crispy Tater tots fried a rusty brown.
- The Burger Stand at the Casbah and Dempsey’s Burger Pub, both in Lawrence. Extraordinary thin fries with seasonings. I especially like the truffle fries (truffle butter and Parmesan cheese). They also have duck-fat fries (duck fat butter, orange zest and herbs). Both places have lots of sauces: ketchup, aioli, spicy mustard and more.
- The Burger Stand — poutine fries. A Canadian specialty: regular French fries with cheese curds and brown gravy.
- Monk’s Roast Beef — poutine fries.
Charles Ferruzza, The Independent and Shawnee Mission Post:
- Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. The best barbecue fries. Plump and thick enough to sop up the barbecue sauce. They’re perfectly greasy.
- Hawg Jaw Que & Brew. They do some really good fries.
- Avenues Bistro. Very golden, crispy, addictive. Served with dipping sauces: pesto aioli, BBQ mayo, remoulade, sweet Thai chili aioli, house aioli.
- Westport Café & Bar. The closest thing to real French pommes frites in the city. The sexiest local fries, if there is such a thing.
- Le Fou Frog — pomme frites.
- Aixois — pomme frites.
- The Humdinger. It’s an old 1960s drive-in that serves beautiful crinkle-cut fries.
- The White Grill in Nevada, Missouri. It’s supposedly where Susie-Q fries were invented. They were delicious.
Listener recommendations:
- The Peanut — cheese fries.
- Justus Drugstore. Hand-cut fries with homemade ketchup. Served on its patio.
- Howard’s Café. Hand-cut and perfectly crispy.
- Gordon Biersch — garlic fries.
- Grünauer. My favorite fries. Their trio of sauces are amazing!
- Kitty’s Café. Great crinkle-cut fries.
- Danny Edward's BBQ. Fresh-cut fries. Not overly-seasoned.
- Stroud’s. Dipped in gravy.
- Fric & Frac. Curly-Q fries made fresh on the spot.
- Chick-fil-A — waffle fries.
- Q39.
- Jack Stack Barbecue.
- Green Room Burgers.
- Rosedale Bar-B-Q.
- Woodyard Bar-B-Que.
- Sahara Mediterranean Food.
Jen Chen is associate producer for KCUR's Central Standard. Reach out to her at jen@kcur.org.
