Frites N Meats Have Monster 1st Day, Then Get Shut Down by the Cops
Photo courtesy of Ambitious Delish
Unsurprisingly, the Frites N Meats Truck’s first day in Midtown (on 52nd btw. 6+7th) has been an eventful one! According to Lunch’er MattZ, the line was 30 people long by 12:30 and they stopped taking orders at 1:30pm. But the real kick in the balls came at the end of service… according to Esther from Ambitious Delicious the cops hassled the truck for parking in a metered spot and forced them to leave. Thankfully they let them serve out the rest of the customers who had already ordered, but other sources say the cop told the truck if they parked on that street again they’d be towed.
Between that and the mixed reviews in the comments we’re not sure what this will mean for future visits to Midtown (after all the La Cense burger truck started off strong before petering out and disappearing.)
Forgetting about the comparisons with the Carnegie John’s burger for now, Lunch’er Adam Prato seemed to like it. His report is after the jump…
I went early to avoid the huge line and to make sure the food wasn’t waiting around. Without anyone ahead of me I was able to get our of there in about 20 minutes as they were dealing with pre-orders as well (note: they end preorders as soon as they open up shop so pre-order early). I had the angus with gruyere, bacon, and onion jam; along with a side of frites w/ garlic aoli and chili aoli.
One thing they have going for them is the huge flame grill as opposed to a flat-top griddle. I like that smokey (carcinogen ridden) aroma that flame broiling give a burger. The patty isn’t huge, but isn’t tiny. It’s big enough to stay perfectly dark-pink medium/medium-rare. The toppings didn’t overwhelm the burger either (thanks to the flame broiling), though the onion jam was a bit sweeter than I had expected. Not sure if the frites are fresh or frozen. They’re kinda McD’s-esque but don’t taste fake. The garlic aoli and chili aoli are both great.
If you go, be sure to scan for all of the specials. I missed out on the niman ranch pork patty (which I would have tried instead). Today they also had Lentil Soup and Brownies as sides. With the Frites & Meats truck on Wednesday, and Schnitz on Tuesday/Thursday, I don’t see why anyone would go to Five Guys.
That’s a bold statement brother…
Posted by The ML Team at 2:20 pm, March 10th, 2010 under Frites N Meats, Street Vendor Issues.
28 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
28 Comments
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He was too late for food!
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Having had lots a crappy fries in my day, I’d say McDeez-esque is a good thing. I also like my burger with a carcinogenic char.
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Haha, I love being a source
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i’d say the fries were more BK-esque than McD’s. but i agree with his “I don’t see why anyone would go to Five Guys.” assessment. had it a few times, until i realized i was WAY overpaying for something mediocre.
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But thats the spot the Schnitz truck parks, give or take a couple feet. Whats up with that?
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RE: ” … I don’t see why anyone would go to Five Guys.”
OHHHhhh, that hurt! We here in Maryland (where our motto is ‘Choose Civility’) are bleeding, Adam Prato, — YES bleeding.
Please excuse me while I find a band-aid.
Carrion, Adam.
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WANKER
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Maybe Five Guys by you is good, but you know us New Yawk City folk… We can’t do anything right…
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You said it MUCH bettah than I could have.
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I walked by around 1:10 and then again maybe 10 minutes later. The line was far too long and hadn’t moved much; no burger is worth that wait.
I don’t understand why the cops hassled them. Schnitzel & Things and one of the sweet stuff trucks park in the same spot routinely. Can anyone explain?
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Officer Friendly may have taken offense to the “oinker” being served in a blue wrapper along with a dunkin donuts coupon.
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I wasn’t there when the cop was so I can’t say exactly why they were hassled, but when the guys in the truck mentioned cop troubles, they pointed towards the front of their truck… which had the right wheel *on* the curb.
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Totally agree with you guys (Wellerfan and andrew). Let’s hope that Schnitz doesn’t run into the same problem…
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I don’t get the hating on Five Guys. They make solid, never-dry burgers, and the toppings (esp. the sauteed onions and shrooms) are excellent.
OTOH, I don’t get the love for Carnegie John’s burgers. They are better than fast-food (McD/BK), probably on par with Wendy’s IMO. Definitely a couple of steps below the Shack. Burger Joint, Five Guys, and my home burgers imo.
As for choosing Five Guys over Frites & Meats, one reason is that there are more locations, and you can find them in the same spot every day of the week. A second is the peanuts. :^)
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StevenP, it’s a matter of taste. I mean, we could go on about how you can make a better burger (like cupcakes or anything else) at home, but we don’t :)
I personally like thicker burgers, with a pink (not raw) inside, and crusty outside (like a good steak, just ground up).
I’m surprised you’d compare CJ to fastfood, and not the others. Five Guys and Burger Joint are definitely like fastfood burgers in that respect; thin patties cooked all the way through. They’re definitely not to my taste. I’ve never been to shake shack, but I’m not sure this is a loss…
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Never dry? i need to go your 5-guys.
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5 guys is awesome…. i’d have to agree with some of ya… great burgers and peanuts def a pls =)
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Hey, babe, you are the only person on this blog (besides myself, of course) that has a discerning palate! And gawd knows how much I ADORE ‘chubby’ women (just ask ‘MrsDocChuck’, aka as ‘FRED’ who posts all over the food blogs in a feeble, drunken attempt to embarrass me).
WOW, I think that you are REALLY cool, but that’s just me.
Carrion please.
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Strange, I thought StevenP would have been more your type… Not to mention that he was first to defend the “five guys” comments…
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Is that really a metered spot?
I think it’s commercial during the day, metered at night. It’s outside my building so I’ll have to take a look.
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Not being able to discern frozen fries from fresh completely negates any edibility credibility, too bad he couldn’t find anyone to go with him to offer an opinion.
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– I’m not a french fry connoisseur. In fact, I usually forego fries in favor of onion rings.
– I didn’t try to get anyone to go with me. I was in between meetings walking back to work at the right time to drop by as the truck was on the way back to my office.
– Being that it’s hard to tell you apart from Chucky, I’m not bothered by you questioning my ‘credibility’ nor my ‘opinion’ :)-
Opinions are like ‘freds’ — everyone has one. But in YOUR case, adamprato, your opinion is very possibly less appreciated than your as….., I mean your ‘fred.’
Then again, I suspect that there are some unsuspecting ‘freds’ out there who may appreciate your opinion. And that is why they are total ‘freds.’
Is Friday here yet?
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No surprise there, it takes a sentient being with a modicum of intelligence to make the distinction between cardboard from fresh cut potato, over-reaching expectations again.
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It also takes a sentient being with a modicum of intelligence to reply to the correct thread.
But please, Carrion (in the words of our beloved Chucky).
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Tried it finally today. Angus with gruyere, onion marmalade and mesclun greens and fries. I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely better than I expected but not as tasty as CJs or 5 Guys in my opinion.
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Tried FnM today for the first time. I was unpleasantly disappointed. I had the angus, gruyere, savory onion jam, mesclun, tomato and fries with garlic aioli. The burger was dry, like it was too lean, overcooked, underseasoned. I saw but couldn’t taste the gruyere. The onion jam was the redeeming factor, but there was so little of it that it didn’t make much of a difference.
The fries were also dry and overly crisp- like they were fried 3x instead of just 2, or left under the heat lamp too long. The garlic aioli was pretty good though, with a strong garlic kick. I’m sure my officemate doesn’t appreciate that, but I used all the fries to finish off the garlic aioli.
I wish I could take it back and spend my calories on something else. What a waste of fattiness.
did the oiker at least get some grub?