WANT FRIES WITH THAT?
Hot, salty and golden brown, nature’s perfect food, the French fry, goes with just about everything you can imagine. And now that our nation’s put that ugly “Freedom Fries” foolishness in the past, it’s time to celebrate the finest, funnest fries Boston has to offer.

1. BOSTON BEER WORKS
   61 Brookline Ave., 617-536-1337; 110 Canal St., 617-896-2337. BBW offers enough delicious variations of rough-cut, skin-on fries to satisfy everyone in your dining party: fiery fries, cheese fries, chili fries, sour cream and chive fries, gravy fries, sweet potato fries, and, my favorite, the classic steak fries.
    
2. SUNSET GRILL & TAP
   130 Brighton Ave., Allston, 617-254-1331. Primarily known for its many beers from around the world, Sunset also has some delicious fries to soak up all that brew. The sour cream and chive fries are a popular choice, but it’s the fun-to-look-at (and eat) curly fries that score highest.
    
3. LEGAL’s TEST KITCHEN
   Logan International Airport Terminal A, 617-568-1888. Wait a second—going to the airport for fries? It makes more sense when you consider that’s where Legal’s Test Kitchen is, and that one of the new tasty recipes they’ve worked up is for the delicious rosemary parmesan French fries.
    
4. STELLA
   1525 Washington St., 617-247-7747. A hip Italian joint may not seem the logical place to find French fries. But consider that Stella’s Tuscan fries are hand-cut Idaho potatoes served with pequillo peppers, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic and vinegar, and you’ve got a vibrant taste you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.
    
5. McDONALD’S
   various locations. Gourmets can decry this selection all they want, but can anything compare to the salty, greasy crispiness of a good batch of McDonald’s fries? There’s a reason they’ve sold about 80 bazillion of them, folks.
   
   —Josh B. Wardrop.