I’m calling it Fry Day—with all credit due to Nancy Nichols my beautiful former colleague and food writer at D magazine in Dallas. She’s retired now, more or less, so I don’t think she’ll mind.
French fries are everyone’s guilty pleasure.
Think of the server’s question: “Do you want fries with that or salad?”
Right. Does anyone ever REALLY want the side salad? No, we just order it because we know we ought to—it’s healthier, no starch, no fat…
“Mmm…I’ll have the fries, please.”
Right.
So, here, without any qualms or questions, (and in no particular order) are the fries you should order in Salt Lake City/Park City if you have the choice.
Mazza Cafe
Now with three locations, Ali Sabbeh’s Lebanese cafe serves all the stuff you expect: hummus, kebabs, baba ganoush, falafel, tabouleh. And fries. If they seem out of place, think again. Lebanon was controlled by the French Mandate for decades and it left an influence. Thin-cut, fried twice, golden and crisp. Go ahead and swipe them through some garlicky baba ganoush, also the best in town. mazzacafe.com
Bruges Waffles & Frites
The teeny original shop by Pioneer Park has spread out over the city, now there are multiple Bruges. All serve terrific fries, to be expected because french fries aren’t really french in origin, they’re Belgian and called frites, which is in the name of the restaurant. For a full meal, pair them with Belgian stew, made with beer (properly called carbonnade flamande.) brugeswaffles.com
Tonyburger
Just a burger joint, but a burger joint where everything is done right—beef patties are a mix of cuts to ensure the right amount of lean, flavor and fat and the fries which are hand cut, fried first at a lower temperature, then again at a higher temperature. Try the onion rings, too. tonyburgers.com/
Rye
Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and unique in its perfection as a pre-concert snack spot (it’s right next to Urban Lounge), Rye tops its crisp fries with garlic or truffle-flavored oil. These and a serving of kimchi queso should sustain you through any show. Ryeslc.com
Proper Burger
There are lots of Propers now; our fave fries are at the Proper Burger location next to the brewery on Main Street. You can get them plain, but the rarebit fries are topped with house beer-cheese rarebit sauce, bacon, red onion and tomato. Too much, you say. We say, not. properburgerslc.com
Spin Cafe
Some eschew curly fries. We don’t. The “spinny fries” at Spin Cafe in TK are cut onsite with a special curly cutter, then served with ketchup or Alabama sauce, which honestly is a relative of fry sauce.
Note: The sweet potato fries here are also good, also cut on site, not shipped in frozen. Spincafe.net
East Liberty Tap House
Medium-cut, golden-fried and served with peppercorn aioli, these are a great snack to soak up the beer you’ll probably be drinking on the patio. eastlibertytaphouse.com
