Does your tummy ever crave something naughty, but you just don’t know what on earth could fill that void? Look no further! Friskie Fries will fulfill every desire using one starchy veggie we all love: potatoes! All those fast food titans look like kittens playing with a ball of yarn when compared to lion that is Friskie Fries.
Friskie Fries is a food truck that specializes in french fries with toppings. Simple enough, right? They also created a storefront to meet the high demand for their savory and sweet treats.
Tom Wright, owner of Friskie Fries, told me the story behind the truck. He and his business partner, Randy D’Antuono, who also owns the Dark Lady and Alley Cat, were on vacation in Amsterdam where they stumbled upon a fry shop, which inspired them to make their own version here in Rhode Island. They wrote their idea on a napkin so it wouldn’t escape their minds, and soon after, Friskie Fries was created!
The food truck and storefront have such a funky and retro vibe you can’t help but fall in love. The decor colors are infused with energy — robin’s egg blue, sunset orange and lemon yellow — and looking over the whole place is the Friskie Fries cat sitting on a pile of fries, dazed and confused due to being overstuffed. Over the speakers they play old songs from over the decades to get you feeling nostalgic. To top it all off, the staff and Tom himself were so kind and welcoming that I couldn’t imagine anyone leaving in a bad mood.
During our interview, Tom was kind enough to let me sample one of their popular items: Miss Potato Head. With smoked bacon, sour cream, sharp cheddar and fresh chives, just reading the ingredient list made me salivate. Seeing it in person is a whole different experience. First off, it came in a huge container that probably fit about two to three potatoes — enough for a family. Then there are the toppings. Those sweet, sweet toppings. Cheese was melted all over the fries, making them look and taste like liquid gold. Sour cream added that creamy and cool flavor while the bacon provided a bit of crunch. The chives topped it all off by providing the dish a pop of color and pizzazz, exactly what you would expect from a Friskie Fry. It was a classic baked potato, but perfection.
Besides the ravaging Miss Potato Head, they have so many other mouth-watering fry recipes. There’s Rhode Kill, which is basically a New York style weiner converted to french fry form. There’s also their signature Friskie Fries smothered with beef chili and cheese. They even have dessert fries; the Cinn-Fully Sweet is sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and whipped cream, and the S’moresome is draped with melted chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers.
They also have a variety of styles for those folks not feeling in the mood to get fully dressed fries. There’s the Buck Naked Fries, which comes with just sea salt, or you can get Dusted Fries, which have a sprinkling of seasoning such as old bay, bbq, mojito lime or cajun.
Starting back up on St. Patrick’s day, the food truck will be back at its home base on the corner of Snow and Washington in PVD on Friday and Saturday nights right next to its feline friend Alley Cat. And when those cravings hit before mid-March, head to their storefront in Johnston at 751 Hartford Ave. So become a Friskette as they call their fans, and get frisky.
To see the current locations of local food trucks, visit motifri.com/food-truck-locator, brought to you by FoodTrucksIn RI (foodtrucksin.com), a Providence-based company allowing users to find local food trucks or food trucks in over 1,300 cities nationwide.