Mhays wrote:Behold, the great and terrible splendour that is...homemade poutine!

Beautiful!

That wiener circle thread got me thinking about cheese fries. My favorite are from the little place next to Kaufman's deli in skokie Hot Dog Island. Too bad I don't live anywhere near there. What are some favorites?

Too bad Hot Dog Island has been closed for months though.

I like Buffalo Joe's in Evanston and Muskies on Clybourn.

Octarine wrote:Too bad Hot Dog Island has been closed for months though.

.

Oh no!! Now I really need to find a replacement - anybody know any great ones near Berwyn?

While not near Berwyn, you do not have to deal with the traffic on Clark. You can also get many items like bacon and gyros added in. Note the Taco Bowl it is served in.

Susie's Drive In‎
4126 W Montrose Ave, Chicago
(773) 283-6544‎



Paradise Pup
1724 S River Rd, Des Plaines
(847) 699-8590

Does a pretty good job and...

Max's Italian Beef
5754 N Western Ave, Chicago
(773) 989-8200

Has some very good Ghetto Fries.

U DAWG U used to have the best cheese fries. Man do I miss those. Now that they've closed, Michael's or Cookers are probably the next best thing. You really can't go wrong with anyplace serving Merkts cheese in my opinion.

Michael's Chicago Style Red Hots
340 W Half Day Rd
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
(847) 634-3294

Michael's Chicago Style Red Hots
1879 2nd St
Highland Park, IL 60035
(847) 432-3338

Cooker's Red Hots
469 Lake Cook Rd
Deerfield, IL 60015
(847) 897-5880

My votes are for Poochies and WASC.

i have fond drunken memories of a place in champaign called Doc J's (i think) right next to a couple of the main bars on campus. great cheese fries.

my current go-to cheese fries are from the franchised Al's beef on NW Hwy in Park Ridge.


and on the "avoid" list--i'm a fan of fRedhots (their various dipping sauces are great), but the cheese for their cheese fries is always separated into a greasy/clumpy mess.

I had really crappy cheese fries this weekend at The Counter off Diversey. I was hoping, dreaming, praying for the gooey, faux cheese sauce that we all love, and it was sprinkled cheese microwaved on. Not very pleasing.

Now, in general I prefer cheese sprinkled on (where was it I had queso fresco or feta? I don't remember, but it was good) but on hot fries - who microwaves fries?

I definitely enjoy Max's and Susie's Drive In. Usually, I prefer a thicker, richer Merkt cheddar to the thinner nacho cheese. However, shoe string fries or frites don't stand up to Merkts in my opinion. I like Max's Merkt but can't deny the alcohol-sopping ability of Susie's Cheese Fries. I can also put in a good word for Michael's, as mentioned upthread. I am particularly fond of the Cheese Fries at Wiener Take All. Their Merkt is spot on and, for me, has made this my destination hot dog stand in the northwest suburbs. It is so thick that, if left for 15 minutes, it will solidify. I also love the fact that they have green river. And to boot, the owner Drew is just as friendly to a first time customer as he is to a 15 year regular.

Wiener Take All
1117 Weiland Rd
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
(847) 634-2325

Mhays wrote:Now, in general I prefer cheese sprinkled on (where was it I had queso fresco or feta? I don't remember, but it was good) but on hot fries - who microwaves fries?

I think Shaggywillis was referring to The Counter microwaving the fries to melt the cheese.

Grrr...

Shaggywillis wrote:I had really crappy cheese fries this weekend at The Counter off Diversey. I was hoping, dreaming, praying for the gooey, faux cheese sauce that we all love, and it was sprinkled cheese microwaved on. Not very pleasing.

I think Shaggywillis was referring to The Counter microwaving the fries to melt the cheese.

Yes, thanks Panther. I mean, I'm 95% sure the cheese was micro'd on, it was the same consistancy when i melt sprinkled cheese on a tortilla for breakfast, when I'm lazy.

Now, in general I prefer cheese sprinkled on (where was it I had queso fresco or feta? I don't remember, but it was good) but on hot fries - who microwaves fries?

In my experience, Cinners does (or did).

The Blue Stem has great cheese fries. Not the traditional cheddar or yellow gloppy cheese, but instead sprinkled with feta and I believe some vinegar. Add to that one or two great martinis and I'm a happy woman!

The Blue Stem
1935 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 880-8470

Definitely gotta second Buffalo Joe's in Evanston. Probably the best wings/fries combo available. What a delicious mess.
I do admit to thoroughly enjoying the cheese fries both at Allende (Lincoln just north of Fullerton) and The Pick Me Up Cafe (Clark and Roscoe), perhaps because they have salsa for dipping. Allende's Chihuahua cheese is the secret. The rate that I can clear a plate of those after midnight is horrific.

Best Cheese Fries in the area has to be Little Island...on the corners of Grosspoint rd, Central st, and crawford, in Evanston...
This place uses real Merkts cheddar, and the portions are huge..Overall this place is great...

Ed

The Burrito House. /Thread

burrito house... you can do what some call carne asada fries. basically its cheese fries with some carne asada, onions, sour cream... pretty much steak nachoes subbing fries for chips.

I thought I'd add a little research to what's been mentioned above. Unlike Happy Stomach, I didn't visit all the places on the same day. But I did make careful mental notes. I'm partial to cheese fries made with Merkt/Merkt-style cheddar cheese. So Herm's, Susie's, other places that use nacho cheese (blech!) are out in my book. I had family in Highland Park growing up so I ate at Michael's (formerly Nathan's) quite a bit and I held them as cheese fry model in my mind. So, I was surprised to find they didn't hold up in the tasting. I still need to make repeat visits to Poochie's and Stash's (places I've had good cheddar fries in the past).
Here are my recent notes:
Little Island: Appear to be fresh cut fries but a little soft and limp when coated with the cheese. Cheese not as sharp as I like.
Grade: solid 'B'


Michael's: Like I said, these were my nostalgic ideal but the fries just didn't hold up. Not sure if these are fresh cut, but they didn't taste like it. The fries were really limp. Nice sharpness to the cheese and I do like the way they smush the cheese onto the fries to saturate them. Maybe because I had such high expectations, these really didn't do it for me. Note that I did get these to-go but I immediately tried them/photographed them after receiving them, so it wasn't a travel issue.
Grade: B-


Weiner and Still Champion: Really perfect slightly thinner-cut fries. Perfect crispness. Nice sharp cheese. I'm a cheese-glutton and I would have liked a little more cheese to saturate these fries. I must say though, the combination of cheese and garlic-aioli was quite nice (and I'm a cheddar fry purest). These were excellent.
Grade: A


The Weiner Circle: Thicker fresh-cut fries absolutely smothered in sharp Merkt cheese. These fries attracted attention from other customers. The cheese here was absolutely perfect (though I preferred WASC fries themselves by a slight margin). I'm ashamed to admit, I couldn't finish these .
Grade: A


A+ would be WASC fries with the Weiner Circle cheese application.

nice bit of research there, I really like the looks of the pic of the Weiners Circle, all that merkt's cheese . Thats one Ill have to try.

It looks like WASC was skimping on the cheese a little & I could do without the aioli, but nice lookin fries.

thanks for the photos & research

Fat lot of good it does now, but the best cheese fries I've ever had were at the departed Red Rocket Red Hots, on Lincoln south of Belden (since replaced by Stone Wall Grill). The fries were always fresh and crisp, and the cheese sauce was otherworldly. I don't know what they used for the base - Velveeta, maybe? - but it was definitely more of a natural yellow than the neon orange of anything whiz-like, and it was definitely doctored with some added goodness. A few grinds of black pepper made them jump from scrumptious to transcendent. I would commit numerous unspeakable acts to get that cheese sauce recipe.

The pic of the fries at Wiener's Circle has me intrigued, though. I've been wary of the place because of the attitude and the rep, but I may swing by now. And of course, any excuse to stop by WASC is a good one.

Any reason to stop at WASC is a good one...especially if you want the best corndog you've ever thought might meet you in a dark alley...or elsewhere on the planet. But get the fries too...might change your life....if you can't get to TopNotch! And still haven't gotten them talked into cheese fries....*sigh*

scanz wrote:But get the fries too...might change your life....if you can't get to TopNotch! And still haven't gotten them talked into cheese fries....*sigh*

elakin wrote:I have a good friend who's in the hospital at Rush and he requested that I bring him GOOD cheese fries and burgers when I visited him today. When I asked him what he meant by GOOD cheese fries, he specified that he wanted "the ones with that gloppy cheese, like you get at Wiener's Circle."


So, what I did was I stopped at WC, and ordered two cups of just the cheese sauce to go ($3.13), and then drove down to Taylor Street, got a couple double cheeseburgers and some fries from Busy Burger, and headed over to the hospital so we could eat and watch the Cubs/Sox game.

You could consider elakin's plan (elakin--I was very impressed with your dedication--I'm not sure I have any friends who would go to these depths for me) and pick up cheese from TWC to bring to Top Notch.

I am a big fan of Paradise Pup in Des Plaines for Cheese fries.

Winston S wrote:I am a big fan of Paradise Pup in Des Plaines for Cheese fries.

Me too!

Winston S wrote:am a big fan of Paradise Pup in Des Plaines for Cheese fries.

Y'know, I really like their burgers and I like that they use Merkt's. But the frozen crinkle cuts are a deal breaker for me. Different strokes...
That's the nice thing about doing research on your own, you get to choose your criteria.
The downside is, the NIH doesn't seem to be interested in funding this type of project.
My next round of research will include Muskie's (it's been a long time since I've been there but I remember liking their cheese fries and I know they used to use Merkt/Merkt style), Stash's, Poochie's, a repeat trip to WASC (for another batch with x-tra cheese) and possibly Hoagie Hut (I heard they had good cheddar fries and it's near where I work--anyone have input?).

Cheese fry debate: The Poochie's option

I can't believe that researching Poochie's cheese fries was a bit of an afterthought. They are terrific! The fries are great on their own--hand cut, not-too-thick, crisp. WASC fries on their own may have a slight edge (partly because they are slightly thinner, which is my personal preference) but Poochie's fries are pretty darn good. Excellent Merkt's cheese with the perfect cheese:fry ratio . I debated giving these an A+, but I think they are a solid A (plus I like to have room to give a higher grade while continuing the research project). This picture doesn't do them justice (I just had my cell phone camera with me).

I'm a big fan of Poochie's cheese fries as well, but after having more than a few orders, I believe they do not use Merkt's cheese. There's some other brand (can't recall the name) that has that same look, but lacks the sharpness of the Merkt's.

That being said, I still rate Poochie's in my top five cheese fries in the Chicago area, due to their great fresh-cut fries.

thaiobsessed, thanks for recognizing my dedication. very nice to hear. Also, thanks for the cheese-fry rundown....you're doing a great job with it. btw, i also share your disdain for the frozen crinkle cuts. bleh.

The pic of the fries at Wiener's Circle has me intrigued, though. I've been wary of the place because of the attitude and the rep, but I may swing by now

just fyi, I find the staff at Wiener's Circle to be quite friendly and accommodating during the day. They really only start to give attitude after 10pm or so, when the drunk fratboys start coming around. When I went by there to get just the cheese sauce, the girl was really nice--downright sweet, in fact--about it, and even offered to "double cup" my cheese sauce in styrofoam so it would stay hot longer.

Just like most places, if you're nice and polite to them, they generally give it right back to you. (But be advised to know what you want before stepping up.)

Went to Max's for (no, not ghetto fries) regular cheese fries. I doubt these are hand-cut fries but they were nice and crispy out of the fryer. They do use Merkt's but the quantity was skimpy. Definitely not cheesy enough. Grade C (for show me the Chedda....)