In almost every corner of the planet, we’ve learned that fried potatoes are an incredible food. There are more than a few countries that claim ownership for the dish — Chile, Spain, Belgium, France — but one undisputed fact always remains: We love them. We love them a lot.
Looking for a new way to enjoy some fries rather than beside a burger? From taters covered in gravy and cheese to seaweed and steak, here are 13 regional French fry dishes from the U.S. and around the world.
Garbage Plate
Rochester, New York
Boy oh boy, is this American or what? Rochester’s striking monstrosity known as the garbage plate is sadly well-named. Fries, macaroni salad, hot dog or burger meat, mustard, onions, meat sauce, and bread.
Invented at Nick Tahou Hots (nice work scoring that domain name), and replicated in so many restaurants around upstate New York, this is a tasty piece of American history.
Tornado Fries
South Korea
Not a fan of the typical julienned shape that fries normally show up in? Thanks to the geniuses in South Korea, you can get a big, fried, spiral-cut potato stick to offset that.
These guys are topped with things like onions, cheese, and honey, and sometimes there’s a big, ‘ole sausage in the middle. How is this not an American dish?
Green Chile Cheese Fries
New Mexico
New Mexico is proud of its green chiles; there’s a reason they’re the star of so many southwestern dishes. There’s something magical about melty Jack cheese and hatch chiles in any form they appear, but crispy fries take the combo to new heights.
Poutine
Québec
Poutine, for many people from Québec, is the heart and soul of eastern Canada. (They even sell poutine at some Costco food courts in Canada.)
Fries topped with rich gravy and squeaky cheese curds are the very picture of comfort food, and Québecers are strict with the rules of perfect poutine, so you can rest assured your soul will be soothed with a big bowl of the stuff.
Disco Fries
New Jersey
Are curds too squeaky for you? Not melty enough? Too hard to stab with your fork? You’ll love New Jersey’s answer to poutine, made with tons of gooey mozzarella instead of cheese curds.
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Furikake Fries
Hawaii
Furikake, a tasty Japanese condiment made with sesame seeds, salt, sugar, and dried seaweed, is welcome in a lot of foods, but there’s something about the way it clings to a french fry that makes it even more magical.
The salty, oceanic flavors that furikake creates are a natural addition to crispy potatoes.
Carne Asada Fries
Southern California
It says a lot about the power of San Diego’s Mexican food that you can take the ingredients of a California burrito, put them into a bowl, and it feels like a whole new dish.
Fries topped with guacamole, fresh salsa, crema, cheese, and delicious carne asada are a staple food of Southern California, and to skip them at Petco Park or Dodger Stadium (stuffed lovingly into a novelty batting helmet at the latter) would be simply wrong.
Steak Frites
France
French cuisine, despite being one of the most complicated things to cook in the entire world, is actually quite simple.
This country has a way with sauce like no other, and it’s a testament to both its complexity and its simplicity that a dish composed of a piece of steak, one sauce, and some french fries is as famous as it is.
When done properly, steak frites can be life-altering.
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Cincinnati Chili Cheese Fries
Cincinnati
Chili cheese fries aren’t exactly regional, since you can find them all over this country. Cincinnati chili on the other hand, made with autumnal spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, is a different beast entirely, so don’t leave Ohio without any.
Lomo Saltado
Peru
Chifa cuisine is an enormous part of Peru’s culinary identity, a combination of Chinese and South American flavors that began when Chinese immigrants moved to Lima in the late 1800s.
It’s because of this influence that we have lomo saltado, a steak dish stir-fried with onions and tomato, and topped with golden, crispy fries.
California Burrito
San Diego
Hello! Welcome to the “french fries shoved inside of things” portion of the story. For the next three slides, we’ll be talking about fries as a stuffing.
First up: The California burrito, a beautiful torpedo full of carne asada, guacamole, and crispy fries. Too filling? Probably. A masterpiece of flavor and texture? Undoubtedly.
Primanti-Style Sandwich
Pittsburgh
In the ‘30s, Primanti Bros. came up with a way to feed hungry dock workers when just a regular pastrami sandwich wouldn’t do, and the result was a city-wide phenomenon.
Built with pastrami, provolone, tomato, coleslaw, and crunchy, golden fries on thick, untoasted Italian bread, this thing is a masterpiece of a sandwich. In fact, one incredibly well-respected food writer once called this the eighth best American sandwich you can eat.
Horseshoe Sandwich
Springfield, Illinois
Is it a sandwich? No. Is it a horseshoe? No. What we’ve got here is a big piece of Texas toast, topped with burger meat, fries, and cheese sauce. One might ask, “Does this need fries?” and another might answer, “Yes, absolutely.”
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