Finding the Best French Fries in Portland

Last week we embarked on the first of our Google Places Review Bus Tours in Portland, Oregon. The first tour topic? French fries! In the week leading up to the tour, we asked you to share with us on Google Places and on Twitter some of your favorite fries around town. Then we hopped on a bus to hit up some of these spots. Our riders and panel of experts happily tasted and reviewed the fries at each location on Google Places, considering factors like texture, flavor, consistency and dipping sauces. Here’s what went down.

 

After boarding the bus, we headed to NE Alberta for fries at The Hilt. Owner Dimitri has some excellent Greek family recipes on the menu, including the Kasseri Fries (available with or without cheese). Here’s what some of our riders had to say in their Places reviews:

Howard: “Stopped by here for the fries. The Kasseri Fries were amazing! The cheese was delicious, the fries were nice and crispy. Would have been better if the cheese was more evenly dispersed over all the fries, instead of just on the top.”

Ben: “I like the regular fries, which came with malt vinegar and possibly sage, and I liked them quite a bit. They were shoestring-like, but on the third order they were cooked a tad too long. They could use more spice."

Dimitri’s other creations can be tasted at Stark Naked Pizza, his other restaurant on SE Stark, and his brother George owns local favorites Bonfire Lounge and City State Diner.

 

The next stop on our tour was Bar Bar on N. Mississippi, also known as the restaurant and bar attached to Mississippi Studios. The fries there are the epitome of the thin and crispy shoestring variety. Some reviews from the panel:

Christinka: “It's got that salty addiction flavor. Really good, but not enough depth of flavor. Bar Bar is really great.”

Howard: “The fries were delicious; nice and salty, crispy, but not too crispy."

We wrapped up the tour at Blitz Ladd, just in time to watch the Portland Trail Blazers win their playoff game. Blitz Ladd hand cuts their fries, which are available in the form of regular fries or tots. They use a savory seasoning on both and offer a variety of dipping sauces. Here’s what the crew had to say:

Lorelei: “Seasonings on fries and tots are good. Service was good. Place is bro city USA. Huge. But yah, broy broerson.” [Editor’s Note: The “Bro City” mention refers to the 28-inch high res flat screens covering all things sports. The place also offers ping pong, shuffleboard, fuse ball, darts and pop-a-shot.]

Ben: “Fries were super crispy and had an awesome spice to it. I prefer them without the sauces, because the sauces were standard fare. As for the tots, they were standard food distributor fare. The spices improve them but otherwise they are pretty meh.”

Original plans for the tour included stops at local favorites Violetta, Little Big Burger and Potato Champion. But Blazers traffic, full stomachs and time spent reviewing and indulging at the first three stops kept the tour short. Anyone up for round two?

Posted by Maria Crawshaw, Portland community manager. Photographs by Matt D'Annunzio.