Cruel Summer

Business-wise this summer was definitely a cruel summer.

It was HOT! So hot that we had to close several days when it was too hot inside to work, and another several days when a fridge crapped out on us. We were up against the ropes in full defense while life was unleashing combination after combination. A full spectrum flurry of body and head shots while we were tensed up, bobbing and weaving, bouncing off the ropes trying to avoid a devastating blow that would drop us for a count. I got carried away with the boxing analogy, but you get the point.

We prevailed and now have some AC & a new compressor for the Fridge, YAY! Now that we’re rolling into the Autumn the forecast looks pretty chill. HA! We win!

Bring on SUMMER OF 24!!

I’ll admit that my wife and I suffered some burnout this summer. I never want to complain so I wont. Objectively speaking, we’ve been through a lot. If I would itemize the obstacles on receipt paper; the paper would look like a CVS receipt. BTW, 2 CVS’s went out of business. One by my house and one by my day job. A person can only wonder if it was the paper costs that did them in, but I digress.

We have some big changes coming at I❤️🍟. I’ve said that before. I’ve meant that before, but this time our lease ends in 2 years. So what do we do?

That’s what my wife and I discuss all the time. Do we stay or do we go somewhere easier to get to, and maybe with nicer neighbors? I dunno. We like where we’re at, but we get a lot of feedback from our customers saying that we look closed and things like that so its time for ideas to be volleyed back and forth.

As a husband/wife team somethings are easier and somethings are more difficult to accomplish. Having best friends that truly watch out for one another is such a blessing to have when there is a line out the door. We can communicate in a busy kitchen with very little actually said. We mesh well and work well together.

However, when it comes to something like planning or discussing the future, that seems much harder to do for several reasons. One reason is that when we’re together - not at work - we’re Mom and Dad. And that is the coolest job we’ve ever had. Unfortunately it pays $%#& and take up all of our free time. In fact, we try to free up more time to work that job over all others.

So yeah, I don’t know where I was going with all of this, but I guess I just wanted to say that we went through some burn out this summer. So we kinda checked out. Its a lot of work for two already busy people to take on, but we really love it. I Love Frys is not a big corporation (surprise!) that has a person for every task. Its just us (mom & dad, husband & wife, Milan & Sonja) and a couple of great high schoolers. Literally 2 other people.

So now its Autumn. 2023.

What does that mean?

That means our cruel summer is over. That’s one. Two: WE BOUGHT A SMOKER!

(segue)

Why did we buy a smoker? I’ll tell you why after this period.

We bought a smoker to upgrade our protein game. Sure, our sirloin steak is pretty awesome, and our chicken is perfect for how we use it. I feel more is needed. We’re a Chicago Suburb for cryin out loud.

This area used to be the meat capital of the world. (Top Flight Security of the world Craig [sorry had to; Next Friday]) So we will start with smoked ribs. Some coleslaw. And make it an October Special. In that time we will hone our BBQ skills and come out with some really awesome stuff that I think you will enjoy.

Our goal is to be a franchise, but not just any ‘ol franchise that serves up half real/half lab developed food stuffs. We want to be a gourmet food franchise. We want to be a franchise that blends together cultures from growing up in a diverse worldclass area like Chicagoland. We are a franchise that is aiming to be a delicacy for the working class as well as the economic elites, as well as the mole-people that live underground and only come up when its dark. ITS FRENCH FRIES AND EVERYONE LOVES FRENCH FRIES!!!

French fries don’t have to be a forgotten and neglected side piece.

And that’s why we’re upgrading our protein game.

A luxurious french fry should be accompanied by luxurious flavors! Like that from a giant smoker!!!

Thx for reading this blog.

And sorry for wasting your time.

Have a lovely day!

-mj

A dip in the Ol Blog Pool

What’s up Fry Fam!

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything here. Writing is something I have always had a love/hate relationship with. After two years at a university studying business, I transferred to Columbia College in Chicago to pursue a career in filmmaking, with a concentration in writing. Though I finished with a sound engineer concentration. Ideas for scripts, titles of films, band names, and interesting words were wildly written on the pages of dedicated legal pads for future reference. So a blog would naturally be something I’d be into, but like most unsuccessful writers, I just can’t get to sit my ass down and type it out. As life gets busier, as the kids get older, and as time moves faster I find sitting down to write a very difficult task. As for right now though, its 5:34am and I have a Venti Starbucks coffee I got from a 24hr location and I’m writing.

What do I write about? It’s been like 2 years since my last blog post. I can literally start anywhere. What’s new? Everything is new?

Let’s start with the name? Shall we?

I Love Fry is our original name. I registered for a trademark in 2017 and I was awarded with that registration in 2018. Then I hired a lawyer to help me solidify my ownership of I Love Frys the trademark and he “forgot to file the papers.” His reason when I asked: “I didn’t think you were for real.”

How does one react to this news? Well, when I got the news it was at the most inopportune time. I was in a legal meeting trying to register our company so that we can sell franchises. Then one of the attorneys says, “Wait, it says here you don’t own this trademark, someone else does!”

I tried to keep my composure as my internal organs spontaneously combusted, then melted, then reformed into mush and combusted once again. I think I did ok.

Retelling of this is making my blood boil, so I’ll wrap it up.

So I lost I Love Frys, but there is precedence here. Back in the day 2 people came up with Burger King at the same time in two different locations. The Burger King Corp. came out of Florida and the The Burger King Inc. is a mom & pop shop and is located in Mattoon, IL. To the best of my knowledge it’s still there operated by the same family for over 50-60 years. They have a protected radius of like 25miles around their location. Burger King Corp. cannot operate in that area. So the same thing goes here. I predate the super awesome person that took my trademark, so I plan on being I Love Frys as long as I want.

Enter: Oh My Frys.

I thought it was a cute name.

Turns out there’s and “Oh My” for all kinds of stuff.

I’m trying to separate myself from other fast food locations by sourcing good ingredients. Ingredients based on quality and not just profit margin. I know that money is important and profit is needed to continue a business, but I’d rather make a little less if my product is going to be MILES better than the status quo.

So Oh My Frys is no longer a thing.

I hope that clarifies the whole “what do we call you guys” thing.

I really don’t think it matters. You know who we are, and you know where we are.

Oh yeah…. Speaking of where we are.

We’re moving. I can’t say where. Not yet.

All I can say is that it will be super nice. Our current landlord is totally not a slumlord and is totally not someone that take profit out of a building without ever putting any investment into how it looks. And he’s so nice that I just can’t stand it anymore. He’s LIT-ER-ALL-Y killing me with kindness. I must leave. And I can’t wait to make that announcement. But I Must!

I think I will cut it off here. I feel like I should start off slow if I’m going to get into this blog again. I’ll do my best to post more often.

‘til next time fry fam!

much love!

-mj

National French Fry Day Week Is Coming To An End

National French Fry Day Week was so much fun and thanks to everyone that came out to try our CAJUN PINEAPPLE PORK BELLY FRYS!!

They were a real hit and everyone seemed to enjoy them which was really nice to see. I had two! Though I didn’t use a pineapple, I used a stupid plate.

National French Fry Day is our Christmas so you can expect something special every year for the holiday. Im not sure if its every July 13th or if it lands on a certain Tuesday of the month, but all you really need to do is follow our social media and we’ll start blowing up about it at least a week in advance.

The holiday landed on Tuesday and that started the week off with great momentum. We were so busy we sold out of French frys two days in a row. That never happened before.

So when I got to work on Thursday I was so pumped I had to find a reason to keep celebrating. I called my friends and inquired about any religious holidays I could jump on board with. I looked on my calendar to see if there were any new federal holidays I can observe. Nothing. Just a regular old Friday. Then I remembered my Mom’s favorite movie was Friday and started reciting quotes in my head. Laughing is a way of clearing my mind. Then (sequential order) I randomly thought Fry Day Fridays are reason to celebrate! I mean Frys are in the damn name! AMIRIGHT!!!

So from now on we’ll treat every Friday like a holiday. We’ll offer a special meal that we can’t offer every, but really want to cook anyway!

A few lifetimes ago I spent some times in Miami Beach. There they had an area on the beach where they would have Full Moon Parties. I always thought that was a great idea. What a perfect reason to celebrate. I mean, it means nothing. Just lights up the night so you can see where you’re going. I don’t need much else of a reason. I digress, please allow me get back on track… Maybe that’s another blog - a really exciting blog too - a lot more exciting than French Frys. I keep digressing…

Our first FRY Day Friday Special is Fry’d Chicken & Waffle Frys!

I have been thinking of this dish since we took it off the menu. I thought our original attempt was ok, but I wanted it to be bigger. Better.

This time we kept the waffle frys because they were so freaking awesome!

Then we ditched the breaded chicken pieces. This was the weak link. The chicken is the most important part of the fried chicken & waffle dish and I am a believer in bone-in chicken over some kind of tender. It just speaks to my primal instincts better than a tender does. I actually hate tenders and eat them only under protest! I need bone. If you’re not buying the primal instinct pitch then blame it on trust. I need to know I’m eating a chicken, or I’ll eat it, but under protest.

Bone-in chicken is tricky business. I have mad respect for all the fried chicken places because its not easy to deliver the goods on fried chicken. However, we found a way that works for us.

The original meal was kinda boring. The frys were dusted with powdered sugar. It was fine. I wanted more from it though. So this time around we thought to toss it in some bacon jam and bbq sauce. This created something to desire. A flavor I’ve never experienced. It was good. It was great!

Our fried chicken bites were plain in the old version of the meal. You’d dip them in sauce if you wished. We offered a maple glaze and a spicy maple syrup. The spicy maple syrup was freaking phenomenal. Now for the new dish we take 2 pieces of fried chicken and drizzle the spicy maple syrup right on top, then we dust that with some powdered sugar.

Throw some pickles on it and call it a (Fry) Day!

When we find some good coleslaw we’ll probably add that to it, but easier said than done. We want to find the right kind of slaw, not just any old slaw.

Thanks for reading,

-mj

2020 was The Year of The Pandemic, and 2021 is The Year of The Shortages

What a ride!

Today I created a twitter-poll that you can see HERE

Basically the world is turning upside down and we’re just trying to keep a positive attitude about it all. So we created a game out of it. “GUESS THE SHORTAGE!”

It’s a real fun game where you guess what is unavailable, or soon going to be unavailable, out of a list of things we serve.

National shortages are a real bummer. There is no single reason as to why these shortages are happening. We’ve heard several reasons from our vendors and food manufacturers. However, a shortage of one thing will bring innovation of another.

The Twitter poll that I created asks our Twitter Fam “What will be the next shortage in our kitchen?” and in the list provided there is sirloin steak, brown gravy, cheese, and ranch dressing. At the time of writing the poll shows that the people are mostly guessing that ranch dressing will be the next shortage we have.

It’s actually nacho cheese.

That’s right everyone, you got the scoop here for being a reader of my blog.

Not being able to make nacho cheese is pretty serious. What happened?

Remember when Texas froze over?

Well, apparently there were some stores of raw ingredients that got ruined in that freeze. The emergency stores also got ruined. Those raw ingredients were in a lot of different products, but mainly it was used to make enriched corn starch… which is also in a ton of products. The term perfect storm comes to mind because so many things had to happen and now so many things will be affected by this shortage.

I’m not so sure how long the glass shortage will last, or the tin shortage, or the ketchup shortage, or the oil shortage… but I have a feeling that this shortage could last a long time.

Or not!

What do I know?

French Frys and Copper.

Maybe a little gardening and sustainability, but…

That’s it.

Thx for reading.

-mj

SOFT DRINKS... Welcome Back!!!

A lot has happened with our soft drink situation.

In fact the story is kind of interesting. I was going to just say that “the story is interesting,” but maybe I’m just interested in it. We’ll see! I hope you are too!

The first time I saw a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine I was like “What. Is. This.?” (exactly like that actually) It was tall. It was red. It was shiny. Checking off all the boxes needed to get my attention. The screen was a touch screen. The shape was unique. The design was, well, really freaking eye catching.

Turns out that the people that design many of Ferrari’s automobiles also designed this machine for Coca-Cola. They know what they were doing too. I looked at this machine like I would look at a Ferrari - as crazy as that sounds. The Coca-Cola Freestyle is a work of art.

It wouldn’t be much longer until I was speaking with a Coke Rep. and ordering myself a Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine for “The French Fry Joynte;” as I referred to it in the early stages of development. This machine is unique in the sense that it has one dispensing nozzle and dispenses 50+ flavor combinations of soda. I don’t know if you’ve ever worked in a restaurant-like business where there were fountain drinks, but before the Freestyle you would need an entire room with heavy duty shelving to store 50+ flavor boxes of syrup. The machine uses really really really concentrated flavor syrups. That’s 3 reallys! It’s really similar to changing out a printer cartridge so its super easy to use and really fun too. Everything is self contained in the Freestyle machine.

So far, very cool.

HOWEVER, the Freestyle doesn’t stop right there. No, it keeps going on and getting way cooler.

Our Freestyle machine is pretty interactive. It works in tandem with the Coke Freestyle mobile app so you can explore the world of soda flavors and locations.

Were you one of those kids that took their cup across the soda machines filling it with a little bit of everything the fountain had to offer? If you liked that disgusting crap - I loved it - you’re going to think of this as the champagne of sodas. And you wouldn’t be wrong.

The Coca-Cola Freestyle has some more really cool features.

One feature is that it will remember your drink if you use the app.

Ok thats kinda cool, not really tho.

HOWEVER, lets say you like Cherry Coke and Dr Pepper or some weird flavor like that - sounds delicious actually - and you tell all your friends. Then they start drinking the F outta your Cherry Coke Dr Pepper mix and tell their friends. Then you have dozens and hundreds of people drinking your mix and its so popular… Once it meets the criteria of Coke (which I do not know) they will bottle your mix for your region and you can purchase it at local stores!

NOW HOW COOL IS THAT!

USA USA USA USA!!! This was made here everyone!!!

UGH Why do these things get me so excited. Im literally so pumped right now and I have to wait til Friday to have any of the soda. Ah well, I waited over a year, I can wait a couple more days.

This Friday July 9th we will be serving soda once again, but this time our cups and lids will be biodegradable, compostable, and sustainably made.

Now you don’t have to go to the inconvenience store next door to get a drink!

That’s real convenience!

-mj ‘21

Avocado Crema.... I Love You So

Avocado Crema Frys have been out for like a week now and they’re a hit. My favorite thing about them so far is that we usually buy more Avocados than we need and I get to eat those! Yum!

My wife pulled this concoction out of thin air it seems. One day I was at home in this half comatose half awake state of existence on the couch; probably watching Golf Channel or Basketball when my phone rang. Its usually on silent unless its FaceTime. It was FaceTime.

Sonja was calling. She was jamming out in the kitchen on Woman’s Night (Friday nights) with the female staff when she made this French Fry plate. It was decorated with orange and green and yellow and purple colors. It looked amazing. It was Avocado Crema Frys. Is it cream? Or Crema? Crema sounds more exotic so I went with that. And to be clear, its not cream at all, its VEGAN! Well, until you cover it with meat.

So now my wife has created two of the best looking meals on the menu in Elotes and Avocado Crema. The vanity in me needs to come up with something that looks as good as it tastes; like her creations. A little spousal competition can be good for everyone.

ENTER: French Frys & Ice Cream Nachos!

As I’m still working on some finishing touches I’m being very picky about how this will look. Its not a fast process by any means. Not to mention there’s like shortages of stuff that I never realized could be short.

Just the other day a rep. came to the store to tell me there was a glass shortage. That’s why I can’t get Mexican Coke. There’s also an aluminum shortage, a cheese curd shortage, we dealt with a bacon shortage, sirloin shortage, oil shortage, and Im not even sure I mentioned it all. Haha what a year!

Well I guess I got a little carried away. I just wanted to tell you how good these damn Avocado Crema Frys are!

Thanks for reading,

-mj

Blogging from the kitchen on a hot and beautiful summer day

DONT YOU DARE COMPLAIN…. is what I tell myself on these hot days.

Remember when it was minus 20 and you cursed to yourself the entire 20 mile ride to work?

DONT YOU DARE COMPLAIN…. is what I follow up with.

I would rather be hotter than colder. I enjoy the heat. Sure the kitchen gets pretty hot, but riding home with the windows down or on the motorcycle is something I look forward to. Maybe it wouldn’t be as awesome if the kitchen was more comfortable.

As things heat up I’d like to remind everyone that the trends look like its only going to get hotter.

And because of that I❤️🍟 is dedicated to doing good for the planet.

Everything we give you to throw away will break back down into soil in a reasonably short amount of time. Imagine if the big companies like McDonalds and Taco Bell did this?!?!?! Not only would the -currently enormous - landfills be much smaller the world might have had a different trajectory all together. Instead of facing imminent hardships that a warming planet brings we could’ve been living in that one version of Neverland from the Peter Pan Movie with Ronin Williams in it. How cool would that have been?

We are doubling down on our commitment to the environment. We now have plastic cups that are both compostible and made from sustainable resources.

We installed a tankless water heater so that when we are not here using water we wont have a tank maintaining 120 degree temperature.

We grow our own cilantro and oregano, and because of this we do not have to spray any chemicals onto the plants. We do not have to order any oregano or cilantro and have it shipped on a truck, plane, or boat burning fossil fuels to deliver us something so accessible. The freshness of our cilantro and oregano cannot be beat as we harvest most of our plants to-order picking as needed right off the plants.

To end this post I will make a proclamation or two. I just wanted to chime in and basically say we have some cups, made some adjustments and food got way more expensive.

For my first proclamation; in a changing world of rising food costs I❤️🍟 will make sacrifices of course… Under no circumstances shall those sacrifices be of quality, integrity, or cleanliness.

Secondly, we will blog more. I promise.

Thirdly, and I’m just adding this. There will be a party. 100%. More on that later.

We will also “try” to throw some weekly special event. I say try, because this requires working with the village people. I just saw the permit application and it was a doosey. I’m not saying anything negative towards them, but for me personally I’m like batting under .200 when facing the village people.

Thx for reading,

-mj

PS Dear God, if you’re reading this please make a Chicago World Series happen!

Thx.

Hey!

What a title. I’m not ever sure what to title these entries. It’s been some time since my last post. A lot has happened and a lot will be happening too. I’m excited to talk more about them.

Blogging is difficult for me as I rarely plan things out and am pretty spontaneous. Its convenient to be spontaneous when you suck at organizing things. So I’ll leave it at that. I want to write more here so feel free to check back more often than every three months.

In the past I’ve hinted at a pizza place. Yes, another pizza place, and don’t complain cuz you know you love pizza. In fact, Chicago - Im including us suburbanites here - has the largest amount of pizza places per capita at like 0.85 per person. Don’t quote me on that, but I don’t think I’m too far off. That’s almost one joint per person!

If there is one thing that - we - as a collective - can use more of its definitely pizza places… and coffee places too. Sipping Funky Java coffee as I type.

However, moving in the direction of being pretty transparent with our ideas we are announcing that we will sideline our plans to open up a pizza place… for several reasons. One of the main reasons being that the building across the street likes its peace and quiet. They will protect that peace and quiet with bad reviews and dangerous pranks used to intimidate. Having young kids working at the store makes the situation something I won’t even consider. I’m never the victim of these things. Maybe its because I look like I have a bad attitude, but the young girls that work have been targeted and intimidated. Our last “situation” resulted in a green laser hitting one of our employees in the eyes and they were seeing spots for a few days. Ok, building across the street, you win. I can’t put these kids at risk like that.

That’s why I don’t have music outside anymore.

Anyways…

Our pizza cafe would have been an outdoor destination so maybe we will choose a better spot that is more conducive to this idea.

So what will happen with the next door unit? I think I finally have an answer to this question.

Next door will be set up as an extension of our kitchen, but for the main purpose of making videos for our social media accounts and other purposes. Of course we’ll use the space for prepping. What we’ll also get from it is that we will soon have a staged kitchen with proper lighting and cameras. It will also be an opportunity to make fresh content as well as post our experiments in the “keetch,” as I like to refer to it privately.

The space next door is just that - SPACE - so lets see what we can do to create some fun in the neighborhood. I’m still open to rooftop concerts, or if I can’t get that passed the village we can set up a stage inside the store and remove the windows.

I’m thinking out loud here I guess, but I just want to show that I am dedicated to generating new ideas that will make our cool little part of Villa Park a destination for people to come see for themselves.

If you’ve been to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Beale Street in Memphis, or Broadway in Nashville then you know how cool and fun these streets are. And what makes them so cool? The local government allows it to happen and even supports it. Let’s see how much fun we are allowed to have haha!

The future looks fun, no matter what happens.

-mj ‘21

Ridiculousness

While the COVID pandemic continues and our free time is abundant we, just now, started to get ridiculous. What do I mean…. Well today I will be buying a bunch of junk food and either putting french frys in them or putting them into the french frys. I’m certain there will be batter, and I’m certain they will be deep fried. Ice cream might be involved as will Nutella and other types of “junk food,” or what I call very “important and delicious food.”

And that is all.

-mj

An Update.

Its the day before Halloween! What a spooky year its been. We’re celebrating this monstrosity by playing Halloween music all day today and tomorrow. Didn’t know there was Halloween music? Me neither, until I logged on to my satellite radio app and saw that there is not only Halloween music, but an entire channel of non stop screaming. yay!

For November our WAP (warm apple pie) Frys will be going away as well as our Roasted Red Pepper Frys so you have 2 more days to enjoy them until they’re gone until next year.

Thanksgiving we will be closing for a week and we will reopen with our 2020 WINTER HOURS which is Thursday - Sunday 11-8

During the time off we will be working on next door and turning into a small shareable plate outdoor cafe. We’ll also be delivering some small artisan customizable pizzas and some awesome sandwiches to your home. This isn’t just another place. I LOVE PIZZA CAFE will have some really good sandwiches too. It will be a place you can come and relax at. Listen to some music and have a nice conversation with your friends & family.

I have family scattered around europe (wwii) and when i visit I insist on hitting up the local cafe’s. The countries differ, the languages aren’t the same, but the cafe is a familiar place no matter where you are. In Miami this was also the case, they’ve embraced the outdoor cafe and I plan on doing it here too.

Whats a better place to do this than Villa Park? Just like strolling down a small city street in Europe. Strolling up/down Villa Ave and sitting along the street side enjoying a beverage and a bite! Enjoying life is the goal. I LOVE PIZZA CAFE will facilitate.

I learned my lesson in 2018...

When I first came to Villa Park to check out the unit at 54 S Villa Ave I was bitten with its charm. Villa Avenues charm, not he unit’s. “Back then” there was nothing else on the strip from Villa Ave to the Museum, but some commercial shops and some pretty rad looking bars, maybe there was a pizza place.

MORE was being built. A property across the street was being readied to be torn down. The strip was about to change.

I signed my lease in March. I wrote the date on the wall in the back in what would later be the office. It’s still there.

Since then a few businesses came into town and now the strip has a different look. This was supposed to be the first summer it all would come together.

Then Covid.

Amiright or what.

Anyways, plans stay the same, but timing is now off.

So we go with the flow. Roll with the punches as they say.

Back in early 2018 I thought I’d be selling frys in a few months time. So I bought a sign with my logo on it and had it installed.

Since that point I’ve answered one single question more times than I can count.

“When you guys going to open?”

If I learned anything, and I didn’t, as you will find out by reading on, it is to put the sign up AT THE END when everything is done and you’re READY TO OPEN.

Fast forward - if you dare - to now. I don’t blame you if you want to stay in 2018. Im in a verbal agreement with my landlord to obtain the unit next door to mine.

As a licensed Realtor I know that nothing is certain until the ink from your signature stains a contract. And even then you’re lucky if no one objects.

However, I’m making the same mistake again. Albeit, not as large and visible as my last, but I digress.

What are my plans?

Right now the leading plan is: I LOVE PIZZA.

I LOVE PIZZA was incorporated at the same time I incorporated I Love Frys. It was always supposed to happen, but never really had a time line.

I still don’t have a timeline, but its inching closer and closer everyday. I hope to have pizza delivery up and running by the start of winter. We’ll see. I am pretty picky when it comes to equipment like ovens and such. It gets worse when I’m looking for ingredients. As a first generation American I’m always looking for old world foods that are grown here in the states. We have so much going on in this country and looking for specific ingredients is like an episode of Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego… instead I’m hunting down Tay Nigh Chili Salt and interviewing the last person to have ordered some from Vietnam in the back of a bodega in Portland.

“DO THEY MAKE ANY HERE?” I yell as I shine the pendulum light into the persons face.

I’ve definitely seen way too many of this exact same scene in movies. Guess its getting time for me to wrap this up.

So, in conclusion, maybe I learned my lesson. Maybe I didn’t. Either way I’m going to try and pull this off. My money trees stopped growing behind the restaurant so I have to resort to playing the lotto and betting on sports.

Wish me luck!

PS if you see something else in that spot… you guessed it. whomp whomp.

-mj

Sea Salt & Vinegar

Sea Salt & Vinegar is a unique flavor. It’s not like BBQ sauce, or hot sauce in the sense that you cannot just put it on. There is a process that takes a good part of a full day to bring a bottle of vinegar to this powdery deliciousness.

The first batch we had was good. I thought I nailed it, but as the time went on I kept thinking that something was just not right. I eat sea salt and vinegar potato chips and I wanted the same kind of feeling your mouth gets after you’ve eaten a bag of those chips. It’s almost like your mouth went for a walk through the desert without any water and got phyiscally beat up for it by a heavyweight boxer. It needs time to recover. You wont taste anything else for quite some time, and it’s all worth it.

So when it came time to make a new batch I reached out to a fellow human being who just so happens to be in the sciences of chemicals and biology. Hey, I cook frys and have no idea. I just know he was the person to ask, and ask I did.

After a short conversation that twisted and turned I figured out how I could tweak my recipe. Half of the idea I owe to him, but he did not come out and say it straight forward… this is me giving myself a little more credit. I’ll take what I can get here hah.

Taking the pan out of the oven I immediately noticed a stronger scent of vinegar. The oven mitts smelled of vinegar and they didn’t even come into direct contact. I think I finally got it.

You like sea salt & vinegar stuff? Come try our SEA SALT & VINEGAR FRYS and let me know how you like it. If you don’t I’ll make something else for you or give you your money back for the remainder of 2020… remainder of 2020 haha can’t wait til this ones over.

cheers

-mj

Summer is winding down again...

Usually I get sad when summer starts winding down. It’s by far my favorite season. I love everything about it. Autumn is rising in rank however. I used to lump it in with winter and just dislike it entirely. Now, I am getting to a point in my life where I can see the positives in much of what I used to think ill of in my ignorant and naive youth.

Take apple pie for instance. I used to absolutely HATE apple pie. I would still like to question its All-American reputation , but that’s for another time perhaps. It wasn’t longer than a couple weeks ago my wife and I were talking about flavors of Autumn and why we like what we like.

She came up with the idea of pie frys at the very beginning so I guess spiced apple pie frys shouldn’t be considered much of a stretch.

I’m rambling. The point is that my take on apple pie has changed. Who knew all I had to do was add french frys. Along with frys this dish is tossed in butter, spiced with cinnamon & sugar, drizzled with caramel, topped with a house made whipped cream (sometimes I change up the flavors of the whipped cream, its fun) and Nilla Wafers.

Our Spiced Apple Pie Frys are good. They may pair well with an nice bonfire and a glass of whiskey. I’ll get back to you on that. For now though, I can attest that these are great. I just had some myself. I had to make some for a photo shoot and I swear I took terrible photos because I was rushing to get at them.

I hope you like them too.

-mj

Poutine Dreams

It’s strange how the universe plays out sometimes. I was aware of poutine, but not ever having tried it I could not just put it up on the menu. It would feel disingenuous, it would be everything I hate about “corporate America,” ok maybe not everything, but you get it. I just couldn’t do it.

So the universe thing… Poutine, ingredient-by-ingredient, kinda just fell into my lap. First it was one of my purveyors that sent me some cheese curds as a sample unsolicited, and welcomed. Then a myriad of gravies and sauces followed. Already having the frys there is really nothing left to do, but to put it all together. Simple really.

What about the authenticity? This is a big deal. The last thing I want to do on a bad day is hear how my poutine (or any menu item at that) is not authentic or is just bad. It’s one thing to cook a poor meal (we have a great track record, but its not 100% unfortunately, maybe closer to 99% ;)) and another to have a bad dish on the menu.

Thanks to a few customers hailing from Canada, poutine enthusiasts, and good conversations we’ve reached some level of authenticity.

I had a trip to Canada this summer to visit poutineries and try all they have to offer. Since that plan fell thru (pandemic, amiright) I did the next best thing. Listened to people.

When we have our poutine available you will have access to an authentic Canadian poutine dish. We hope to have this available for September.

I feel that the universe put this one together.

-mj

Our Gyro Frys went for a walk through the desert....

When we first introduced Gyro Frys I wanted them to be similar to what I’ve seen in Europe where frys take place of the gyro meat or kabab or whatever you’re getting.

At that time we started with Gyro Frys we didn’t have the means to make it with real gyro meat. Sure we could buy those strips you see at the store, but who the heck wants to eat that. Why do they have rounded ends?

My wife and I moved some things around in the kitchen and freed up some much desired amperage. With the new improvements and a little bit of finesse in a tight space we are able to make a real Chicago Style Gyro. “Chicago Style” you ask. Well, yeah… There are some cities in this beautiful country that don’t have gyros There are a few more cities that have really bad excuses for gyros. Here in the Chicago area we are blessed with really good food. Take advantage by trying our new Gyro Frys.

If you where a fan of our vegetarian gyro frys don’t worry we still have those. I think we just made them better by tossing them in Greek Sauce, but we’ll talk about that later.

Just say you want the Vegetarian Gyro Frys… or you can say you want the Gyro Frys “Banner Style.” Here’s the story about that:

One day Gyro Frys were called to the desert. Some scientists were ready for lunch.

On the way through the desert Gyro Frys got lost a little bit. There was a huge blast! It was a gamma ray test site and Gyro Frys found itself right in the middle of a Gamma Ray test. They instantly turned green, then grey, then the color of Real Shaved Off The Spit Gyro Meat made local in Chicago.

Gyro Frys have been Hulkified to the most delicious extent! It has an uncanny ability to feed you and keep you fed for long periods of time.

However, this Gyro Fry does turn back into a meat-less version of itself. A scientist at its basic form. Banner Style Frys are an I Love Frys traditional item, but then the Gamma Ray thing happened. And, well, we all knew it was bound to happen.

-mj

Back for the first time... again.

If you’re wondering why we haven’t been active on social media I should say that a week ago today my grandmother passed away. I cannot go see her. She lived in another country and it is impossible for me to go there.

One of the things I ask from my employees - as well as myself - is to always smile even when you’re crying on the inside. I realize this is extremely hard to do. While it takes a lot of energy to shield away the feelings of wanting to just hide from everything, there is some healing power in a smile, even if it is forced.

Unfortunately there is little emotional energy left over for posting positive vibes on social media and that is why we’ve been quiet.

Its also unfortunate that so unique is the love of a grandmother that once its gone its then you realize that the love she gave is gone. Imagine if we loved everything the way a grandmother loves her grandchild. The world would be so cool.

In any event, this isn’t the type of communication I’d like to have here, but at the same time I thought a quick explanation as to why we’ve been uncharacteristically quiet may be good to do.

Hug your grandmother, kiss your moms, and never stop telling people that you love how much you love them.

-mj

Old Blogs

7-11-2020 - National French Fry Day is July 13. I did not hesitate to jump on this holiday and stretch it out for a week. This year we are not able to celebrate the way we would like to with lasers and bubbles and such, but we are trying to by adding some out door seating and a new special for the week that I think you’ll like:

FRIED CHICKEN & WAFFLE FRYS w/ SPICY MAPLE SYRUP

Our chicken is deliciously breaded in bite size pieces. Our waffle frys are the best of waffle frys you’ve ever had in your entire life. I can almost guarantee that. Almost. We toss the waffle frys in a powdered sugar mix and we add in a cup of our home made spicy maple syrup. This stuff is addictive.

We use real maple syrup and organic spices for the spicy maple syrup. I found that the organic spices, for this in particular, brought out better flavor profiles.

Today I will be testing out a Maple Glaze. If successful, in both making and serving, I will be tossing the waffle frys in this glaze or just adding a side of it for dunking.

6-29-2020 - One of the main themes I have in the restaurant is brand loyalty. When I come to learn and love a brand or a source for something specific, I cherish it.

Some things have been hard to source, like fresh healthy hogs for pig roasts, spices, and some other ingredients. Then you have brands like Coca-Cola.

I Love Coca-Cola. If I’m drinking soda - and I try not to - I’m drinking Coca-Cola.

Back in the genesis of I❤️🍟 I saw the Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine. It was big. It was red. It was shiny. That pretty much ticks all of the criteria I look for when I buy anything. On top of it, the machine was designed by the same company that designs Ferrari’s.

Woah! Two things: 1.) I now basically have a Ferrari (prove me wrong)

2.) Ferrari doesn’t design its own cars? (a discussion for another day perhaps)

The Freestyle machine is a machine that combines technology and soda machines in way that I think is just so cool.

Why am I telling you about this? Because it’s no longer available. Really.

We are going to break down the machine and I’m going to do some tinkering around to make the user experience as cool as possible. How cool can using a soda fountain be? In 2020 waking up everyday has been a trip so just wait and see what we have in store for you. Coca-Cola made such a cool machine and I plan on using it to its full potential in the coming months.

In the meantime, we have some refreshing replacements available.

Made with real sugar cane Coca-Cola Classic in a glass bottle. This is my fav! We also have IBC Root Beer available. Also made with real sugar. When I was a kid it was really cool to drink root beer out of a brown glass bottle. I’m a fan.

I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid there was some sugar concoction that came in a plastic barrel. Well they still make it and I’ve come to find that there is only 1gram of sugar in each bottle?!!? Why you can fit at least 30grams in that sucker, but they chose to only use 1gram!! I drink it a lot. You should try some, but you probably don’t want to drink it as much as I do. We priced it at 90 cents so a kid with a buck can buy something to drink and get some change back. Kinda reminds me of penny candy, after being adjusted for proper inflation of course. -mj

6-19-2020 - I have an injury to my cooking arm, no seriously though, I cannot do much with my arm. This lead to my wife taking over the kitchen. It’s my wife and Chef Melva’s kitchen now and I feel comfortable knowing that the restaurant is in the proper hands. I kid when I act like this was a choice, but in all reality she told me to go home and get the kids.

There are a few other things for me to do while I am on the injury report. Sidelined with what I’m sure my doctor will call a “bummed arm” when I finally get to that appointment.

I will now focus on another dream of mine (I’m a dreamer) and that is opening up an I Love Pizza (I❤️🍕). At its current stages there are two ways we can go with I Love Pizza

I❤️🍕.

One is that we have an outdoor pizza cafe with music pumping through the speakers from open to close, serving coffee (and/or alcoholic) beverages. Another is that we have a mad dash of local delivery people and run a take out/delivery pizza place. Either way I really thing you’ll enjoy our pizza. And of course we will have some sandwiches available.

The pizza is the focus. It the authenticity of food is where I find the most pleasure in food. I think this pizza we will serve is something you will enjoy immensley. More about that at a later time.

So what are we talking about here? It took me two years to open I Love Frys. Is I Love Pizza coming this decade? I will arbitrarily declare a 75% chance of success. Success being opening up day one. -mj

6-18-2020 - As of today we are open DAILY 11-8pm. We really appreciate the community for bieng so supportive during this COVID-19 mess.

COVID-19 has definitely brought us all hardships. So I won’t talk about any of those.

What I will talk about is the Silver-Lining of this darkest of clouds. And it is in that silver lining we have been able to bring on Chef Melva and a team of local kids to greet you at the door.

The day I met Chef Melva I knew she was going to be a great member of the team. And everyday since then she has been proving me right.

Every I Love Frys location will feature an Executive Chef to bring you meals you will surely enjoy. Our July specials will include a Hawaiian Pork and Pineapple Fry that is out of this world.

You can expect some more amazing specials for National French Fry Day this JULY 13 where we will have a Fried Chicken Waffle Fry with a lightly spiced maple syrup, and of course normal maple syrup is always available.

Chef Melva has been on the Food Channel as well as a feature on Channel 9’s local news segments more than once.

I Love Frys Villa Park is just the first of what I hope to be a different breed of Quick Service Restaurants different from the rest. -mj

6-05-2020 - Starting this summer, JUNE 20, we will be returning to a 7 day schedule. We are very excited to get back to a normal schedule!

We also have some really awesome specials coming every month. So make sure you check us out every first of the month for the news! -mj

5-29-2020 - We are a week into the Villa Park Grub Crawl, and tho we are still only open Thurs - Sun we are still participating in the community event.

Yesterday we successfully sold out of our spit roasted pig roast and were not able to get another one today. So instead we have CHICKEN POT PIE FRYS! They are just absolutely delicious. -mj

5-9-2020 - What a month it’s been. One of the nicest things about where we live is the experience of the changing of seasons. With that we changed up the menu and introduced a new recipe MEATBALLS & RED SAUCE FRYS. Our meatballs are a new recipe all beef meatball made with Romano cheese. The red sauce is our signature I Love Frys red sauce. When I say it’s the best sauce I’ve tasted I’m not just exaggerating, I really believe it. The Maxwell Street Polish Sausages are no longer available due to supply chain issues. I can’t say its a meat shortage issue because the meatballs were easy to make happen. I’m sure corporate America will figure it out! -mj

4-17-2020 - There have been a couple changes. I know too many changes. Can’t help it. Yesterday we introduced MAXWELL STREET POLISH SAUSAGE & FRYS and serve it with mustard. However, last night I had a dream about grilled onions. So now we’re serving grilled onions with that Polish. In true Chicago/Illinois fashion.

Starting today we’re also adding grilled onions to everything else on the menu. Joking. Grilled onions will also come on the VILLA CHEESESTEAK & FRYS PITA. I’m sure no one will mind the improvement. -mj

4-10-2020 - This has been a challenging month for us to say the least. Like many of us we’re trying to deal with it.

There are some things that will be disappearing from the menu. There are many reasons so we can just chalk it up to “the vicissitudes of current life.”

Breakfast Frys are no longer available. Unfortunately Michael my grit delivery guy told me “Northern whites don’t know about grits” and I think he may be right.

We’ve added RIBBIES & FRYS with a Chicago style mild hot sauce. I put a little more kick than normal mild sauce, there’s room to play with! I think you will love our Ribbies and Frys.

We will be posting updates to our menu when we have something to announce. Today we ran out of mac & cheese, but we will have more tomorrow. -mj

3-10-2020 - Today on our off day we were getting some equipment installed. We are ramping up for a big summer!

We have also created a way to accept cryptocurrencies Bitcoin & Dash Coin. For the time being we will stick to those to currencies until we have a better way to do commerce with these types of currencies. -mj

3-6-2020 - A hand full of years ago I rented a car and drove to Philadelphia to buy a 1985 Renault Alliance convertible manual transmission coupe. It was a thing of beauty and to this day was the best twelve hundred bucks I’ve ever spent (rental car included.) While in Philadelphia I had to try one of their lauded cheesesteak sandwiches from the two famously competitive cheesesteak joints, Gino’s and Pat’s. Though the Renault is no longer in my possession, the memory of disappointment in regards to the cheesesteak sandwiches still burns fresh. If the country can get talking about to mediocre sandwiches, then just wait until the country gets their hands on VILLA CHEESESTEAK FRYS available this weekend!! -mj

3-4-2020 - Today FIRE FRYS have arrived! Try our homemade hot sauce tossed with frys. We have been waiting for this moment and I think it was well worth the wait! -mj

3-3-2020 - We’ve been busy at ILF over the past week or so. We’ve stopped tinkering with the menu for now and have scheduled our specials to come out seasonally or until we run out and replace it with something new. So if anything new comes along you will see it there. Winter is winding down and we are gearing up for spring. Our plans are to have roof-top concerts throughout the summer so we will be focusing on that. There are many hurdles to this, but I think we can get it done. In the meantime if you have a band, play an instrument and want to perform solo, do stand up comedy, or any type of artistic performance that you would like to possibly perform on top of our restaurant please contact us at mail@ilovefrys.com… if we don’t respond in a timely manner please come in and let us know or drop us a note. -mj

2/27/2020 - I’ve been eating GYRO FRYS for lunch for the last week and I’ve finally decided to put it on the menu. These Gyro’s do not have any meat. Similar to what you would find in local corner shops in Europe; these gyros are freshly fried frys wrapped with a pita, tzatziki, and tomatoes. Supes Delish. -mj

2/22/2020 - We sold all out of our Steak & Lager Chowder Special and replaced it with PORK BELLY FRYS! Our pork belly is seasoned with an in house sweet spice that makes you smile. You wont want to share this one. -mj

2/17/2020 - Today we are closed in observance of President’s Day. Remember when our presidents birthdays used to have holidays? I sure do. We used to get 2 days off of school and now its only a single day to commemorate all of our presidents.

And just so you know: we will be taking all cold-weather holidays off. I don’t like the cold weather.

We have another food announcement to make: Our CHICKEN POT PIE FRYS will be available starting Wednesday! Whoop whoop! -mj

2/14/2020 - Today I’ve decided to keep the updates at the top of the page!

We had a great Grand Opening this Valentine’s Day! We introduced our Pèice de résistance: BEEF BURGUNDY. It took 41 ingredients & 16 hours to make this dish so we hope you like it. If you do not, we will gladly eat it all. (update 2/17/2020: we’re eating it)

This Valentine’s Day Grand Opening we also introduced another organic option in a VEGETARIAN CHILI version of our popular chunky meat chili.

Some things come in 3’s… today we had a 3rd new item on our menu: STEAK & LAGER CHOWDER accented with a MōRE Brewery Lager. -mj

1/18/2020 - Today we started putting together our menu in real time in the kitchen.

We love our menu so far and we think you’ll love it too.

Sloppy Joe Frys - French Frys, Cheese, and in-house made Sloppy Joe with our favorite in-house made Red Sauce

Frys Masala - Frys served in vegan fashion tossed in a unique blend of herbs and spices

Red Sauce & Frys (Meatballs optional) - Frys topped with some great in-house made Red Sauce and optional in-house made Meatballs. One of my sons called this Fry-ghetti.

Pie Frys - Freshly fried Frys topped with Strawberry Pie Filling, Whipped Cream, and Graham Cracker Crumbs. A surprise marriage of things we already love! -mj

1/24/2020 - Today I feel like we tried 1,000,000 different cheeses and I think we finally settled on one. -mj

1/25/2020 - Today is MEATBALLS day at ILF! We are making meatballs all day.

We will be adding more menu items as we create them and we’re so excited to have you try them all!! Just a little bit longer. -mj

1/26/2020 - Today we had a SECRET OPENING. Hope you didn’t tell anyone.

We were cooking up some sloppy joe and we had some things warmed up so why not treat someone who just wanders in! Thank you to those that did wander on in and to those that missed us…

We will see you tomorrow 11-7pm for our soft open where we will have a somewhat limited menu.

Our GRAND OPENING will be Valentine’s Day! -mj

1/31/2020 - We bought all of our vendors chili in the Chicago-land region and they didn’t believe me when I said I’d be back for more. WE ARE OUT OF CHILI :(

The chili was so good I chose to buy it instead of making it in-house. We will see if they come through.

Today we are introducing Louisiana Gumbo Frys. I love Louisiana. Most people think of New Orleans, and rightfully so, but I can assure you that the entire state is full of great eats from Baton Rouge to Rayne, LA… This gumbo reminds me of the great Mississippi Delta.

Mac & Cheese Frys is also available starting today, and why not!

Can’t wait to see you! -mj

2/1/2020 - Today a funny thing happened. We were working on a Garlic & Butter Frys when a food scientist came in. It just so happened we asked him to try some of what we were working on when he made a suggestion we took!

Today we have GARLIC & BUTTER Frys available and THEY ARE DELICIOUS! Made with fresh & real ingredients then topped & tossed with fresh Parmesan cheese. -mj

2/3/2020 - Today we created a BREAKFAST FRYS! Fries, Grits, Gravy, & Bacon!

We also made up something called TURTLE FRYS which is basically a chocolate turtle in french fry form. Frys, chocolate, honey, caramel, & pecans! Its real good! -mj

2/4/2020 - We are running out of room on our menu! Our mac & cheese was good at first, but we got tired of it quick. It was too bland so today we came up with CHILI MAC & CHEESE FRYS.

While tinkering in the ‘ol kitchen today we also put NACHO FRYS on the menu. I mean we already have the ingredients, why not just put ‘em together, right.

2/7/2020 - Today we are introducing some light heat. HOT HONEY FRYS are drizzled in a chili-pepper infused honey. Its glorious! -mj

2/9/2020 - We are adding our food notes. Personally speaking, I would eat a brick if it tasted good so please feel free to let me know if I’ve made a mistake about certain dietary restrictions. We cannot certify or guarantee that our products are made in facilities following dietary guidelines, but we are working diligently on contacting our suppliers to find out for our customers. Its a bear of a task, but give us time and we’ll get it all down.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we introduced FRY S’MORES today! They too, are glorious! We’ll have them in a limited amount for a few days. The s’mores trucks don’t run on Sundays. -mj

2/10/2020 - Our IRISH CURRY came in today and it tastes as good as I remember it being! It took a while to get here and its here for a limited time, hurry and try it today!

2/12/2020 - Today we finally got in some really good Ancient Grain Minestrone that pairs well with our featured frys. The minestrone is VEGAN & ORGANIC, but the frys are not organic. If we ever become a dominant player in the fast food industry we will demand that someone provide us with a quality organic french fry and our entire menu will be certified organic. Until that time comes, we will do our best to have these options available.

-mj, 2020