Great American Fries Co at the Santa Monica Pier

The Great American Fries Co. has to be one of the more interesting “restaurants” in Santa Monica  for a number of reasons.

The first is the menu.  Remember the old Saturday Night Live skit with the restaurant that regardless of what you ordered they gave you a cheeseburger?  Well this place does the same with French Fries  Except you can choose between two kinds of them.  That’s it.  Nothing else on the menu.  Oh, wait, you can choose between a number of gourmet french fry sauces to dip them in.

The second is the venue itself.  It’s in a permanently located food truck located directly across the street from the Santa Monica Pier.  I suppose that makes it all the more appropriate it be in a food truck since the Santa Monica Pier is also the official terminus point of the historic old Route 66.

Needless to say, they caught my attention and do the same with a lot of other people.  I noticed their sign says “Established 1776” and that is why I Googled them.  I thought there must be a lot of these french fry shops around if they have been around that long.

Nope. And Nope.

Their website says this is their Flagship store… and it’s their only store.  As for beginning back in 1776, well according to how it started one of the founders was discovered by BBC on YouTube.  I don’t think YouTube was in the picture back in 1776.  I’ll have to ask them what they are referring to with the date sometime.

Anyway, the Great American Fries Co got it start when a chef named Caroline met a real estate developer named John Warfel and they decided to start the business.  Caroline actually has a strong background as a chef. She is the author of 2 cookbooks and was the executive consulting chef for the Gorgeous kitchen Restaurant in London Heathrow Airport.  The restaurant was voted the number one airport restaurant in the world by the Daily Mail and Conde Nast.

They only cook one thing.  French Fries.  And from the line that is always in front, they must do it well.  Check them out while you are visiting Santa Monica and strolling back from the Santa Monica Pier.