ottawa foodies

Where can one get crinkle cut fries in Ottawa?

Shake Shack is famous for them but we don't have one. I remember lots of places serving them in my childhood (typically in rectangular yellow pressed-cardboard trays). The cafeteria at UVic used to sell heaping plates of crinkle cut fries for a paltry sum, leaving room in the budget for a ladle of gravy.

Sure, I could buy the frozen ones and cook them at home, but oven fries suck and deep frying makes too much of a mess/smell. I'd rather have them out somewhere as a treat!

On a related note, I never understood why some people are against frozen fries. I see the distinction to be a little like dry vs. fresh pasta — there are culinary benefits to each. Freezing dehydrates the fries, increasing the nooks and crannies on the surface and encouraging crispness. Crinkle-cutting takes these benefits a step further by increasing the surface area to volume ratio and introducing lots of corners where things can get nice and crispy.

Is there an old school diner or something that still offers this sort of fry?

I too am a fan of the crinkle cut fry-style, and can't recall anyplace in Ottawa that sells them, but I might not be going to the right places. Maybe when Chick-fil-A (eventually) comes to Ottawa you can try their waffle fries (same increased surface area = increased crispiness concept); I thought they were good.

Is there an Irving Big Stop anywhere around here? All the ones I’ve been to have them.
Don’t get me started on the fresh vs frozen thing.

Pembroke Big Stop
1751 Paul Martin Drive, Pembroke, ON
613-735-1066

I can't remember where I last had some in Ottawa, but Benny & Co. serves them. They have a location in Orleans but the ones in Hull are easier to get to for anyone west of St. Laurent.

There is a reddit thread in the Ottawa subreddit that says Mary Brown’s Chicken and Taters will be opening in Kanata in December. Also, another location opening up somewhere along Carling Ave.

and yes Mary Brown's does waffle fries

There's a new place to get crinkle-cut fries in town... Benny & Co: www.benny-co.com/en

It's yet another Quebec-based rotisserie chicken with many locations, including several in the Outaouais. The new Ottawa location is in Stittsville on Hazeldean near Iber, right near where I was working a few years ago. Has anyone tried Benny & Co? How does it compare to St-Hubert/Swiss-Chalet/Score's?

According to one of the new employees in the reddit thread about Mary Brown's, the "shady fucker" running this "shitshow" of an opening finally got back to them and the opening won't be until at least next week. I can't imagine that they'd want to pay time-and-a-half to employees to open on any of the multitude of holidays right now for a new restaurant in a town that has emptied for those same holidays.

I don't pay attention to ads at all, so it's no surprise that I haven't heard of this until now.

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