Fry Guys

Are These Really L.A.’s Weirdest Fries Or Just Regional Classics?

The next level? Asada fries in San Diego
The next level? Asada fries in San Diego Photo: Permanently Scatterbrained via Flickr

Today the Huffington Post takes a look at “The Weirdest Fries in Los Angeles.” What exactly makes a fry turn weird? Too many Georges Bataille novels? Not exactly. The criteria for weirdness, as laid out by HuffPo, appears to be a heaping load of cheese placed on top of the fries, a sort of “cheese fry” if you dare imagine. But really, aren’t some of these great fry picks really just a reflection of the great L.A. diet?

The divine portobello fries at Bottega Louie? Pretty awesome, but they sort of look like they just wandered off a plate of fritto misto. The asada fries at My Taco? Killer, but even Benito’s serves asada fries nowadays and aren’t we still lagging behind San Diego on that front?

Banh mi poutine at The Gorbals? Incredibly creative, but considering the popularity of Animal’s oxtail poutine and our local fever for banh mi, this was bound to happen. The garlic paste fries at Hayat’s? Yeah, those sound amazing and C. Thi Nguyen is a big fan, but weird? No weirder than the bazillion and one unusual ingredients topping those spuds at Frysmith. The same could probably be said for Chego’s “ooey gooey fries,” which pretty much are as weird as they are incredible, with that Cowboys and Turbans-esque blend of sambal, cotija, and pickled garlic.

Most of these French fry creations would never emerge in other, more traditional cities. But our own fry scene shows a level of innovation that reflects how the city cooks and eats, be it the Vietnamese or Italian flavors we adore or the meat-loaded influences of other established toques (read: Animal). The fries spotted by Huffington Post might not be the strangest things we’ve encountered on a plate, but the choices show a city that is not afraid to experiment with flavors both classic and boundary-pushing. All that from a small fry!

Weirdest Fries in Los Angeles [Huffington Post]

Are These Really L.A.’s Weirdest Fries Or Just Regional Classics?