French fries with gravy?

Does anyone else remember French fries with gravy? They were served at a little diner in Cleveland, Ohio, where I was going to art school in the early '60s. For 50 cents you got a big oval china platter of skinny fries doused with strictly commercial beef gravy. But it was delicious, and if you closed your eyes you could swear you were eating meatloaf.

French Fries with gravy have been a favorite here in Baltimore for as long as I can remember and are still on the menu at lots of places.

My husband always gets a side of gravy with his fries when he can (obviously not a FF joints).

Brown (beef)gravey does something to frenchfries that make your tastebuds sing... it's kinda like chicken gravey and biscuts.... I keep a bottle of malt vinager for when Im wanting Pa style fries and A1 steak sauce on fries...ooooooh MY!

Also found here in Cincinnati.

One such example: http://archive.cinweekly.com/content/2004/07/21/0721twofor20_pleasantridgec.asp

I enjoy Chicken fried steak here in TX. When you get fries with it, order white (cream) gravy over the fries and squirt them with catsup too. One of the few times I eat ctsup.

Now, if the CFS comes with mashed taters, get brown gravy oer it all *neat abd taters!(

Loved french fries with gravy when I had them in Baltimore. Had to eat them in homage to Diner, one of the great movies of all time.

Here in Northern West Virginia, its odd for a menu to NOT offer fries and gravy. I know i've been eating that combo for at least the past 30 years. Good stuff.

Quite a lot of chip shops here do chips and gravy it does tend to be a bit more of a nothern thing though. I tend to like making my own gravy as its very hit and miss as to what quality gravy you get in the chip shops. I like mine pretty thick but without being too dark and salty. And I prefer it seperately to dip the chips in rather than have it poured over.

MissKitty-what is a 'chip shop'? Is it a small specialty shop that only serves what we know over here as french fries?
Off topic, but if you don't mind my asking - are you an American living in England or a British native who likes REALLY LONG roadfood trips? Just curious....

Yum. Fries with gravy were a staple at all of the diners I remember in CT. This brings me back to 1989, my best friend, and our three-in-the-morning diner fix of eggs, bacon, toast, and a side of gravy fries. (How did we ever eat like that and stay so skinny????)

Chip shop is short for fish and chip shop, also known as " the chippy " or " the chipper " ( the latter esp used in Ireland ). So really its specality is fish and chips - proper Brit chips are usually thicker than french fries ( although I have seen pictures here on Roadfood of some fries that would not look out of place at all in a decent Brit chippy ! ) and usually cut fresh from real potatoes, altho some places like cheap caffs and pubs will use frozen made from re-constituted spuds

Its just easier to say chip shop, lol. They dont just sell fish and chips, they also usually sell things like all kinds of pies, sausages, saveloys, all manner of things in batter and sides like pickled onions, wallys ( gherkins ie huge pickles similar to dill pickles but not as good ) various battered veggies, curry sauce, gravy and of course peas inc the famous " mushy ".

Salustra, I am British and living in the UK but I have visited the US a couple of times, my boyfriend is from, and living in, North Carolina, one of my exes was from San Diego and I do have a fair amount of US friends both irl and online If I had the money to travel, I could prolly eat my way from state to state visiting all those dear people I have not yet met

Thanks for the info MissKitty! I'm learning all kinds of interesting stuff from the friendly people on this site not to mention accumulating quite a list of "gotta go there someday"...

Those attending the Philly Roadfood Tour dined on FF w/gravy at Nick's Roast Beef. Only this was the real deal, not just brown gravy. At Nicks the gravy is the juice and drippings from the beef and there are pieces of meat or burnt ends in the gravy.
Delicious. Except the fries looked better than they tasted.

I do love both kinds of gravy, or rather that should be the three main types. Firstly the " jus " type with the meat or poultry drippings with no or very few additions, then theres the homemade kind ie gravy No. 1 thickened and a bit of extra flavouring like herbs, onions, wine, beer etc, and lastly but not least, yer bog standard packet or premade gravy ... which can be horrible or totally delicious, its totally fate that decides this

I cannot remember the name of the place but after a good night of drinking in Erie, PA those of us that could still stand went to an all night place and had meatball omlettes and gravy fries on the side. I remember them as being fabulous but then again after a night in the bars of Erie, everything tasted better.

quote:

Originally posted by MissKitty

Chip shop is short for fish and chip shop, also known as " the chippy " or " the chipper " ( the latter esp used in Ireland ). So really its specality is fish and chips - proper Brit chips are usually thicker than french fries ( although I have seen pictures here on Roadfood of some fries that would not look out of place at all in a decent Brit chippy ! ) and usually cut fresh from real potatoes, altho some places like cheap caffs and pubs will use frozen made from re-constituted spuds

Its just easier to say chip shop, lol. They dont just sell fish and chips, they also usually sell things like all kinds of pies, sausages, saveloys, all manner of things in batter and sides like pickled onions, wallys ( gherkins ie huge pickles similar to dill pickles but not as good ) various battered veggies, curry sauce, gravy and of course peas inc the famous " mushy ".

Salustra, I am British and living in the UK but I have visited the US a couple of times, my boyfriend is from, and living in, North Carolina, one of my exes was from San Diego and I do have a fair amount of US friends both irl and online If I had the money to travel, I could prolly eat my way from state to state visiting all those dear people I have not yet met

Okay MissKitty, I'm curious. Two trips to UK and having read a few contemporary Irish novels have taught me what a chipper is, and I know the difference between an ashcan and a loo (do Brits still like to ask unsuspecting Yanks that joke?), but what are saveloys?

Its a kind of cheap sausage Mark as in link sausage rather than bulk sausage. Its pretty salty and smoked and invariably mass produced these days. It comes in a scary looking bright red skin -http://www.snowbirdfoods.co.uk/products.htm

although sometimes is served battered. They are a working class food dating back at least hundred and fifty years, and suffer from a slightly seedy joke image, possibly never having recovered from their reputation in Victorian times when food adulteration was rife and most sausages were suspect. I would hesitate to liken it to frankfurters but I suppose they are a kind of distant cousin

They certainlt ain't gourmet food, and they are somewhat of an acquired taste - sometimes though when under the effects of ale, a few mouthfuls of cheap smoked meat are strangely satisfying, which is a sensation I believe is international

Several years ago, after a day of walleye fishing on Lake Erie, a friend and I were having dinner at the marina's restaurant. They had a liver and onion special, so we ordered it. When the waitress brought our food she apologized, saying they'd run out of mashed potatoes so they put French fries on the plate with gravy. We ate the liver and onions. The goopy French fries remained untouched.

Heh. Would they have been more edible if the fries and gravy had been served seperately, or is that just a combo that makes you feel anyhow ?

Fries and gravy is pretty common where I come from in Western NY. My best friend ordered them all the time.

Fries and gravy are popular in Canada too!
Back in the vacation days in Windsor, a trip to K-Mart for homestyle fish
and chips with a side of brown gravy!

You mean poutine? I learned about that right here on Roadfood! The cheese curds sound a bit scary though. Here in Texas it's chili on the fries....sort of a regional one-upmanship in the cardio department!

quote:

Originally posted by MissKitty

Heh. Would they have been more edible if the fries and gravy had been served seperately, or is that just a combo that makes you feel anyhow ?

It's the idea of putting gravy on French fries.
Disgusting, to say the least.

I had poutine in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec. I had never had them that way before but in my opinion, I liked them.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Can you say Hot Roast Beef Sandwich smothered with Fries and Gravy?Maybe a Roast Pork?or how about a Hot Turkey Sandwich?Yum.

Grillmeister, this was just the beef gravy by itself without the cheese curds.
I don't know if poutine is popular in southern Ontario as it is in points further north.
But Jellybear's pairings sound good right now! (although I'll have to wait a few more hours for lunchtime! )

we have a few little dives here- same place, same name, just 2 locations, where they have fries with brown gravy. with a little salt and lots of pepper, they're delish. i luv 'em!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

Also found here in Cincinnati.

One such example: http://archive.cinweekly.com/content/2004/07/21/0721twofor20_pleasantridgec.asp

You beat me to raving about PRC.

Best with extra onions, and after midnight.

Those fries are the only thing I'll eat with gravy!

Jack Pirtle's Fried Chicken in Memphis serves some decent crinkle cut (presumably frozen) fries. They also make a good biscuit and some very tasty gravy. Whenever I order a chicken dinner pack them, I split the gravy between the fries and the biscuits. Godd stuff!

Off topic, but they also offer this weird yet savory little steak sandwhich that is unbelievably delicious. The bread is invariably fresh, the meat has a nice peppery flavor, and it is topped with slaw and that yummy gravy.