Salty, crispy, soulful: 11 Triangle restaurants serving perfect French fries
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Food reporter Drew Jackson notes 11 Triangle restaurants have distinctive French fries.
- National French Fry Day is July 10 each year.
- Featured fries include styles like hand-cut, crinkle, waffle, and shoestring.
Let’s be real for a moment. French fries might be the greatest thing on earth.
Salty, crispy, soulful, the french fry is unrivaled in its simplicity and satisfaction. From shoestrings, to steak frites, waffles and curlys, the fry is a friend to all.
National French Fry Day is July 10, falling annually on the second Friday of July.
There are many excellent spots in the Triangle to get your french fry fill. For this National Fry Day, here are the 11 best french fries on The News & Observer’s Top 50 Restaurants list.
We promise you can’t eat just one.
Cheeni
202 Corcoran St., #100, Durham and 3151 Elion Drive, #101, Research Triangle Park | cheenidurham.com
At Cheeni, the fries are the crispy, chunky sidewinder style, served with a masala-spiced ketchup.
Dame’s Chicken & Waffles
455 S. Driver St., Durham | dameschickenwaffles.com
The Triangle’s chicken and waffles destination also serves sides of fries, in the classic crinkle cut style.
East End Bistrot
2020 Progress Court #110, Raleigh | eastendbistrotraleigh.com
The fries at East End Bistrot arrive as a mountain in a bowl, a seemingly endless heap of just the right size. They’re crispy, salty, herby perfection.
Elmo’s Diner
776 9th St., Durham | elmosdiner.com
Crinkle cut fries are the best fries, forever and ever. Amen.
Herons
100 Woodland Pond Drive, Cary (in The Umstead Hotel & Spa) | theumstead.com
Herons is having more fun than most fine dining restaurants of its caliber, so you know great fries are on the menu. Here, they’re seasoned with togarashi spice and perfectly hand-cut, not too thin, not too thick.
Lawrence Barbecue
150 E. Cedar St., Cary | lawrencebarbecue.com
What dooms most mediocre fries is simply not enough seasoning. That will never be the case at Lawrence, where the fries are studded with just the right blend of coarse spices and salt. Don’t ask for ketchup, because they don’t have it and you won’t need it.
Nikos
905 W. Main St., Durham | nikosdurham.com
The fries at Nikos are chunky, like baby steak fries, and seasoned with bright and herby za’atar spice.
Sam Jones BBQ
502 W. Lenoir St., Raleigh | samjonesbbq.com
While Sam Jones served old school barbecue, these are not the kinds of fries you usually find in smokehouse joints. These are ultra crispy, ultra seasoned, rustic style fries that you’ll eat every single one of.
St. Roch
223 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh | strochraleigh.com
You know what goes great with oysters? Perfect french fries. These are hand-cut, skin-on fries, set off by punchy-creamy garlic aioli.
Standard Beer & Food
205 E. Franklin St., Raleigh | standardbeerandfood.com
If you can stop yourself from ordering Standard’s tater tots, these are french fry emoji fries, as in thin, crispy, golden yellow, salt-on-your-fingertips, fries.
Vin Rouge
2010 Hillsborough Road, Durham | vinrougerestaurant.com
The French know frites and Vin Rouge serves mounds of dreamy, crispy, potatoey fries, sprinkled with coarse salt and herbs, perfect for dunking in moules broth.
