Top 10 French fries in the Twin Cities

5. Anchor Fish & Chips

Fat and fluffy Anchor makes a proper chip

In these, the halcyon days of the gastropub, the French fry is being taken very seriously. There are excellent spuds in many of the higher-end dining rooms about town, but to a purist, the perfect French fry needs neither a béarnaise nor a truffling nor a silver serving pail to be seriously good eating (and spending more than $5 for them is just nuts). Luckily, the fries being served up at Anchor are simplicity itself. The potatoes are hand-cut, blanched, fried to order, and tossed in a coat of kosher salt. No secret spice blend or overnight soak--the only thing secret about these taters is the exact concoction of oil they're fried in. The result: fluffy and dreamy on the inside, crispy on the outside. They are the ultimate simple man's food on a simple man's budget--$2 for a small, $3.50 for a large. (302 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis; 612.676.1300)

4. Café Barbette

The French may call them frites, but a fry by any other name tastes just as sweet

Not only are the fries at Café Barbette tasty, they're pretty, too. Served in a white ceramic bowl, they're cut in long, slender rectangles with golden edges and glistening sides. They curve slightly inward, piled high on top of one another like a fried potato orgy. Four bucks will get you a small serving, $6 a large. Some people enjoy the purity of a plain French fry--just salt, nothing crazy--but the pomme frites, as they're called at the French-themed cafe, also come with small silver cups of catsup and homemade saffron aioli. Toward the bottom of the bowl, the fries turn into crispy baby spudlings and it's necessary to eat five or six at a time just to get your fix. For this, however, you might need to use a fork--the price we all must pay for gluttony. (1600 W. Lake St., Minneapolis; 612.827.5710)

3. Meritage

Andy Lien

The additional sauce does not hurt this fry's ranking

The French know their fries. Arriving in a cone they are served alongside a healthy heaping of béarnaise sauce. The frites at Meritage are shatter-crisp shells, enveloping downy, fluff potato. Seriously seasoned, with fat flecks of salt, they are irregularly shaped and pinkie finger sized.  The cone of wonder envelopes your crunchy little savories keeping them crispy -- they don't get too close together when the steam can make them crumple.  Also, not being able to see the bottom means that when you find that final little potato shard, it's always a surprise that you ate the whole thing. (410 St. Peter St., St. Paul; 651.222.5670)

2. Sun Street Breads

Photo courtesy Sun Street Breads

The best of sweet and savory, is there anything that isn't wonderful at Sun Street?

While Solveig Tofte was off perfecting her breads and pastrys (and make no mistake -- they are perfect) her husband Martin Ouime went to work on the fries. They tried out every combination of potato and frying technique before they landed on their favorite combination. The fries are crispy and long, like skinny beckoning fingers. They whisper, "Come eat us, every one; we'll never make you fat."  Wicked, tasty little things, it's so nice to tuck into one of their many sandwiches only to finish off a pile of these exquisite fried beauties. (4600 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis; 612.354.3414)

1. Neato's Burgers

J. Summers

DING! Fries are done.

Duck fat fries have the ring of a fad. Like the love of bacon, it's hard not to get all meat eaters and a few lapsed vegetarians to agree that duck fat is good. The flavor intensifies whatever is bathed in them: Duck confit is obvious, a perfectly fried egg is another way to go, but there is nothing so sumptuous and beautiful as what happens when duck fat and potato meet.  Fried food perfection is achieved when the cooking method enhances the flavor of the ingredient. These fries are undeniably delicious: dark brown with a pleasantly toothy tuber flavor. Alone, these fries are good, but when paired with the garlicky aioli they rocket to a whole other taste plane. These fries are face-meltingly, drive-across-town, wait hours, months, any indeterminate amount of time awesome. Ladies and gentleman, the fry game in town has just been upped. (651.246.3727; website)

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