The most perfect french fries in Raleigh are hiding in plain sight. Here’s where to get them
Four orders of fries were almost gone before I realized something: No one had reached for the ketchup.
Led by my editor Brooke Cain, a small contingent from our newsroom had lunch Thursday at Cloos’ Coney Island, the 36-year-old hot dog and burger joint believed by her — and by many others — to serve the best fries in Raleigh.
Because Brooke and I often talk about french fries, I know that Cloos’ should not be her favorite fry. It is thin and plain and she is an evangelist for the jagged, crispy edges of the crinkle cut — as am I. So her endorsement of Cloos’ seemed to be all the more significant, overcoming all preference and bias. This is french fry objectivity.
To put it simply, the fries at Cloos’ Coney Island absolutely rule.
For National French Fry Day, which falls on the second Friday of July, Cloos’ represents an elusive french-fried perfection.
The Cloos’ fries aren’t served in a paper tray or basket, they come on a sheet of aluminum foil, glowing golden beige amid the shimmery silver. The closest cousin to the Cloos’ fry is the biggest french fry in the world. You will immediately think of McDonald’s from the moment you lay eyes on your mound of fries. Like McDonald’s, they’re a little thicker than the classic shoestring. But Cloos’ matches and surpasses the golden arches in texture and taste, even eating a bit cleaner than the fast food giant, lacking that distinctive McDonaldsy note that seasons America’s favorite fry.
It surprised me that no one thought to reach for ketchup — these are the exact kind of fries that are best with ketchup. But Cloos’ had them seasoned so exactingly, crisped so expertly, even Heinz couldn’t improve them.
In a fry world where subtle differences separate good and gooder, I won’t say Cloos’ are the Triangle’s best french fry— that’s an impossible declaration. There are crinkle cuts that take fries to a crunchier, more flavorful taste space. There are well-made hand-cut, fancified fries that elevate the potato to the realm of fine dining.
And then there are Cloos’, which achieve something rarer than “best” — they are a perfected kind of their type of fry, as classic as they are nostalgic, down to the fine crystals of salt licked from your fingertips.
Fries are good enough when no effort goes into them, but Cloos’, unassuming and hidden in the old Mission Valley strip mall, is the example of the greatest that can happen when a basic thing — a frozen fry fried and salted to perfection — becomes extraordinary.
Other Great Fries
Al’s Burger Shack
516 W Franklin St Chapel Hill. alsburgershack.com
This Chapel Hill burger brand makes the Triangle’s best crinkle cut fry this side of Shake Shack. In fact, Al’s gets the easy nod because their fries are every bit as good as Shake Shack’s, but with the added note of a sprinkle of rosemary, which perfumes the air as it’s toasted by the still-searing potato.
NanaSteak
345 Blackwell St, Durham. 919-282-1183 or nanasteak.com
If you’re going to be a fancy fry, you might as well be the fanciest fry. That’s what Nana Steak has achieved. This steakhouse adjacent to Durham’s DPAC makes its fries in rendered wagyu beef tallow. They spent years perfecting the method and they haven’t changed in a while, if that tells you anything.
QueenBurger
59 Blackwell St Suite 125, Durham. eatqueenburger.com
This smashburger spot on the American Tobacco Campus in Durham serves the classic shoestring fry with a zesty dusting of spicy seasoning. It’s the kind of thing that isn’t bad with a frozen cocktail, which QueenBurger also crushes.
