Charlotte neighborhood restaurant named for the city’s best french fries
Charlotte foodies have spoken. In a city-wide search for the tastiest french fries around, a fan-favorite restaurant has come out on top as the golden, crispy champion.
More than 50 fast-casual eateries, sandwich shops and pubs were nominated for our CharlotteFive Readers’ Choice best french fries contest. After several rounds of voting, a longtime local restaurant has claimed the coveted title for best fries in the area.
A CharlotteFive reader, Mark Colone, put it best: “The French Fries Final was great. Both Cafe Monte and Angry Ales are worthy finalists. The Top 4 was like all the #1 seeds in the NCAA Tourney bracket advanced!”
In a city where there’s arguably no such thing as a bad french fry, we couldn’t agree more.
Best fries in Charlotte: Angry Ale’s
Location: 1518 Montford Dr, Charlotte, NC 28209
Boasted as “a true Charlotte original,” Angry Ale’s has been a staple neighborhood bar and restaurant for more than 20 years. With a menu designed to have something for everyone, Angry Ale’s has classic bar bites and a blend of comfort food with elevated, high quality dishes — including its fry lineup.
“People love our food. We’ve got a big variety of stuff. We’re known for chicken tenders and burgers and, of course, our french fries,” general manager Rich Lange told CharlotteFive.
“What I think what people love about our fries is that they’re always hot and crispy, and we also have seasonings you can choose from, so they’ve always got a topping on them.”
Along with seasoned steak fries, here’s a look at the other loaded fries on the Angry Ale’s menu:
Dirty South fries, loaded with house-smoked pulled pork, queso cheese, barbecue sauce, grilled onions and charred jalapenos
Luigi’s pizza fries, loaded with pepperoni, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese with homemade pizza sauce
Montford hot fries, loaded with Montford hot fried chicken, fried pickles, mixed cheeses and honey ranch drizzle.
“We get recognized in a bunch of these polls that [CharlotteFive] and The Observer does, but french fries — we’re really excited to be at the top,” Lange said.
Finalist for best fries in Charlotte: Cafe Monte
Location: 6700 Fairview Rd #108, Charlotte, NC 28210
Bringing a bit of French flavor to the Queen City, Cafe Monte is a casual-gourmet concept meant to be an “escape from the everyday.”
The restaurant offers “upscale cuisine at a cafe-style level,” Ned Parker, assistant general manager, told CharlotteFive. “It’s a very relaxing atmosphere.”
The bakery and bistro is located in the SouthPark area, offering fresh food and “from-farm-to-table” specialties, including its pommes frites — a popular dish alongside its steak and mussels.
“The pommes frites is one of our faves in the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s the crunchiness and the crispiness — and usually we serve it with our mussels. We have mussels and frites, so that’s the best way to eat it, or steak and frites. That’s how I would eat it.”
Hungry for some recommendations? Here are the places CharlotteFive readers have voted as best:
Best of Charlotte: Coffee Shop | Chicken Wings | Doughnuts | Burgers | Ice Cream | Brewery | Pizza | Sushi | Tacos | Food truck | Bar | Ramen | Brunch | Patio | Barbecue | Pie | Fried Chicken
Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
.jpg)