Jonesy's EatBar The crew at Jonesy's makes excellent versions of both: We'd stick the golden-brown potato strips right in our arteries if we could, and we're equally enamored of the mac & cheese fries, which drowns those same fries in a creamy, savory roux, then adds grated cheddar, bits of smoky bacon and chives. That delight earned Jonesy's the Best French Fries award in the Best of Denver 2011.
But those aren't the only excellent fries in the Mile High City. Here are nine more favorites for your artery-clogging pleasure:
Tarbell's Tarbell's got our nod forBest Burger this year, and the fries that come with the American Classic Burger, a monstrous meat sandwich, are worth a mention, too. Thin and wispy, the strips of potato get fried extra crispy and salted just right.
Cheeky Monk This corner bar on Colfax wins us over with the sheer quantity of Belgian ales available, but every time we stop by, we can't resist ordering fries to munch while we drink. The thin, crispy frites come with garlic aioli if you order them on their own or as a side with a sandwich -- but we like them best in a bowl full of mussels
Steuben's How do you make fried food even better? Smother it in gravy and cheese, of course. Which is exactly what earned Steuben's our Best Gravy Fries nod this year. Blocky tubers come out of the fryer and onto the plate, where they get coated in heavy country gravy and cheese, then baked until satisfying scorched bubbles begin to appear on top.
The Kitchen The Kitchen wins us over with its rendition of thick cut fries for two reasons. First, the kitchen fries those suckers brown and so crispy that the crusty casing gives way to soft potato flesh within. Second, you can also get garlic fries at this joint, which means those hunks of tuber are doused in garlic butter, making them as addictive as crack. Chubby's During a troubling (and still ongoing) phase of our lives, we couldn't end a night out without a trip to the original Chubby's on 38th, where the fries themselves are fairly unremarkable, but serve as a perfect base for Chubby's green chile, the gravy-like mess of jalapeño sauce that packs electrifying heat and gets topped with melted American cheese. That's what drunken dreams are made of.Park Burger What makes the Park Burger fries special is that they're not really special at all -- just a classic pile of golden-brown potato twigs. But they're exactly what you want when you're putting down a burger. It's all in the salt, which Park Burger uses liberally, and the crisp-to-give ratio, which the eatery has down to a science.
Euclid Hall Blocky, hand-cut steak fries are a vehicle for all manner of poutines at Euclid Hall, where the spuds are smothered in Bordeaux, duck and mushroom gravy and then topped with chunks of tender meat or shitakes and cheese curds. Our personal favorite is the foie gras mini poutine, which pairs a quivering hunk of fattened duck liver with the sweet tang of hoisin sauce and spicy kimchi.
Root Down Root Down scored our Best Happy Hour award this year, thanks to a board of drinks and food that can be consumed in a breezy converted garage while the sun sets over Highland. While there, we almost always order the sweet potato fries, fried so crispy they're almost caramelized and served with a tart lime dipping sauce for balance.
Deluxe Burger How do we love the fries at Deluxe Burger? Let us count the ways. We love the hand-cut fat fries, seasoned with a little thyme and garlic. We love those same potato sticks gussied up with truffle and parmesan. And we also love the spuds smothered in gooey cheese fondue, studded with bacon, sprinkled with scallions and hit with tangy red pepper ranch, a decadent mountain of many of our favorite things, served up like a meal.
More Best of Denver Lists: - Denver's five best restaurants for blind dates
- Top five martinis in Denver -- good, better, Best!
- Denver's five best dive bars
- Denver's five best dinners under $10
- Denver's five best first-date restaurants
