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Ketchup's Best Friend

Posted 08/01/2007 by Andrew, photo courtesy of honeybunny

I remember it like it was yesterday.  Well, not really.   But I do remember a day in the early 90s when Kansas City lost its greatest french fries.  The night Lucille’s diner on Westport Road burned to the ground was the night we lost the most perfect, crispy, and spicy curly-cue french fries ever made.  It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.  Although many have tried to match its excellence, they have all fallen short.

Of course, that is not to say you can’t find great french fries in this city because my expanding waistline will tell you differently.  If you can look at me with a straight face and tell me that you don’t like french fries, I know a good therapist I can recommend you to.  That being said, I understand the want and need to stay away from this tasty delight for health reasons.  But if you have the chance to frequent the following establishments, you won’t be disappointed in their fried potatoes:

1. Oklahoma Joe's - This large paper sack of fries ranks up there with top 10 things I have ever eaten. If someone told me I could never have these again you would have to put me into that rehab place that Lindsay Lohan is probably going to....again. This is just a great combination of potatoes and spices which can't be beat.

2. Houston's - For you shoe-string fans, it doesn't get any better, light and crispy and goes great with their ribs.

3. Arthur Bryant's - Simply put: down and dirty french fries. The kind of fry that makes you wonder what they're doing to it because it can't be legal. Skins on and perfectly crispy and golden brown.

4. Winstead's - If I ever move away from Kansas City and come back for a visit, this is my first stop. Splits the difference between Houston's and Arthur Bryant's - not too thin, not too thick. You have to love a place that offers their fries extra crispy if you want.

5. One80 - These classy french fries are served in a paper cone and dusted with, from what I can tell, salt, pepper, garlic and parmesan cheese.  It's a recipe for goodness.

6. Gates - Like all K.C. Bar-B-Q, the meats are amazing, but the sauce is the kicker, which is why Gate's fries are so amazing. After freaking the tourists out with "HI, MAY I HELP YOU," you get a mound of golden fries that, if eaten too fast, will make your stomach want to explode (in a good way). Dip these into Mr. Gates' spicy sauce, combine with a Chiefs game, and you've found heaven.

7. La Bodega - This might be a stretch for those french fries purists (if they exist) but the Spanish Tapa - Patatas Bravas has to be one of the most amazing things ever invented. The red potatoes are pan-fried and covered in an amazingly spicy red sauce. I highly recommend them.

I suspect everyone has their favorite french fries.  In the course of my research, McDonald’s fries often came up as a favorite.  But when it comes to K.C., you can’t go wrong with the places listed above. 

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