One of the many things New Jersey is famous for is its large number of diners. On the menu of most of these diners there is something very special (and extremely tasty): Disco Fries. What is this wonderful sounding concoction? This New Yorker is here to light up your taste buds.
Plain and simple, a plate of potato chips consists of a bunch of thick-cut fries (or “fries,” as some call them), layered with brown sauce and mozzarella cheese. Done right, the entire dish is tossed on the grill for a few minutes, allowing the cheese to brown in the right places and remain sticky in the others. Oh, you know what I’m talking about: when you shovel everything that has been covered with melted cheese in your mouth in all its glory.
Who came up with this delicious culinary combination? The origin appears to come from a very popular Canadian dish called “poutine” (French-Canadian for “mess,” “messy,” and / or “pudding”) invented in the late 1950s in Quebec. There are different stories about the exact point of the invention, but they all seem to revolve around restaurant patrons deciding to add cheese curd (a take-out snack at the time) to their fries on their own.
Restaurateur Jean-Paul Roy from Roy le Jucep in Quebec was the smart chef who started adding sauce to his fries. Once this became a success and he saw customers adding the curds (also for sale at the restaurant) to the dish, he made it a menu staple. However, the sauce, in this case, was sweet, tomato-based, and to this day there are multiple variations of poutine sauce in Quebec, including the “instant” sauce in the supermarket, the chicken velouté (sauce broth-based) than cream or a roux-based “sauce”), and even Italian marinara sauce.
This “poutine” idea had traveled south to New York and New Jersey in the 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of disco music and the rise of staying up late to enjoy it. Where better to drink alcohol and satisfy cravings than a 24-hour restaurant in New Jersey?
Let’s get one thing straight though: French fries are NOT poutine. Look, here in New Jersey, we don’t make cheese curd. It’s mozzarella , people! Thanks Canadians for the idea, but we like our own spin that we put on it.
Where to eat the best fries in North Jersey
Tick ​​Tock Diner, according to Thrillist and TripAdvisor, serves the best gravy and cheese fries in the state. We would have to agree: they have simply perfected the relationship. The sauce is thick, the dish boiling due to being placed on the broiler, and the fries are thick, as they should be. Shoelace, schmoostring. 281 Allwood Rd., Clifton
If you’re looking to keep it light, don’t go to TOPS Diner. (Who really wants small portions when eating out, right?) We recently ordered Disco Fries (pictured above) , thinking they would be a nice addition to our meal. Well, they are a meal unto themselves. 500 Passaic Ave., East Newark
They may not appear on the menu as Disco Fries, and technically they can’t even be Disco Fries, but Hot Grill’s Gravy and Cheese Fries are an absolute fixture on the North Jersey food list. The sauce is on the pink side and it definitely has cinnamon and / or nutmeg in it. It’s drizzling hot , immediately melting the slices of American white (you read that right, not the mozzarella). It’s a sweet, sweet dip on a plate, and boy, is it delicious. 669 Lexington Ave., Clifton
