Omar S.
Yelp
Thrasher's boardwalk fries, it must be said, are God's way of giving purpose to the potato.
These aren't potatoes fried in vats of duck fat, buried under piles of cheese curds or made inedible by the acetone whiff of truffle oil. They're lightly oily, slightly salty, moderately crispy French fries, dressed (if you're smart) with a sprinkle of apple cider vinegar.
Thrasher's fries have a superb twice-cooked edge, a toothsome interior and perfect potato-to-salt ratio, but as with many such things, environment is a part of the recipe.
I don't believe that Thrasher's would prosper in Atlanta or Paris or Kathmandu. They are where they belong: on the boardwalk, where kids can grab a cup just after body surfing and just before kicking ass at Skee-Ball over at Marty's Playland.
Plus, those cities lack seagulls, which Thrasher's boardwalk location offers as constant companions, dive-bombing the fries of inattentive customers.
I'm pretty sure that the five guys who founded their eponymous burger chain in Arlington, Virginia grew up eating fries at Thrasher's in Ocean City, same as the rest of us Northern Virginia boys that lived at the beach, come summer, because Five Guys' fries are a close-but-no-cigar attempt to replicate what Thrasher's has been doing since 1929.
I applaud Five Guys' effort, but must insist that there's still only one best French fry: the one made by Thrasher's.
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Check out the live web cam to see how long Thrasher's line is now: https://thrashersfries.com/web-cam/
Marty's Playland: https://www.yelp.com/biz/martys-playland-ocean-city
Five Guys: https://www.yelp.com/biz/five-guys-san-diego-9?hrid=XMvsmc0HsHCMbCleWUXWTw