Best restaurant for French fries in Sarasota and Bradenton? Here’s the vote winner!

Following National Hamburger Day, and my pick for the best burger restaurant in Sarasota and Manatee counties, we recently turned our focus to everybody's favorite beef side dish: French fries, or frites, as the French call them.

A multitude of restaurants serve French fries in Sarasota and Manatee counties, but which one serves the tastiest French fries?

Ahead of National French Fry Day on July 12, and the 2024 Summer Olympics taking place in Paris from July 26 to August 11 — with France, of course, being the original home of the French fry (unless you ask the Belgians) — we asked you to submit your picks for best local French fry purveyor a month ago.

Here's our Sarasota-Manatee winner, which will be featured in a national results story by our sister publication, USA TODAY.

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Central Cafe voted best restaurant for French fries in Sarasota and Bradenton

Voting took place June 7-20, and the winner, which earned more than twice as many votes as its closest competitor, was Central Cafe in Bradenton. Fast food chain Five Guys finished second, followed by one of my favorite Sarasota-based chains, Food + Beer. When I'm craving a quality French fry, I totally agree with the poll winner, Central Cafe.

What makes Central Cafe in Bradenton stand out?

It has been about seven years since Marsha Forrest purchased Central Cafe and very little has changed at the restaurant. And that’s a good thing. Occupying the first floor of the brick building just east of downtown Bradenton that was once the Manatee Hotel and is now within walking distance of Riverwalk East, Central Cafe offers two full-liquor bars for sipping cocktails, wine and beer, a spacious dining room with high ceilings (and curtains to minimize the noise), and a cute, covered patio. It’s the kind of handsome, historic setting that makes each visit feel like a special occasion.

What to order at Central Cafe

While I'm a big fan of the restaurant's burgers, pizza, and blue cheese-laced tomato soup, Central Cafe’s essential dish is the French fries. The thin, hand-cut fries are adorned with chunks of coarse salt and offered to guests as a heaping pile of decadent deliciousness. Lightly fried, smartly salted, and served warm with a soft center and just the right amount of crispiness, each fry is somehow more fabulously addictive than the last.

Central Cafe's fries are perfect on their own, but I do enjoy them covered in the Heinz malt vinegar the restaurant provides while dipping the occasional fry into ketchup. Another great option is to dunk the fries into a bowl of the cafe's brilliant tomato soup. It’s a bit messy, but totally worth it!

Did you know?

The menu at Central Cafe remains almost identical to the one created by Forrest’s friends, restaurateurs Donna and Chef Marc Cripe, who continue to thrive at Jennings Downtown Provisions nearby on Old Main Street. In fact, both Central Cafe and Jennings are excellent places to enjoy the Cripe Family's award-winning wine, Lola, known for its outstanding pinot noirs and rosés, which are among my favorites.

If you go

Central Cafe is at 906 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton. For more information, call 941-757-0050 or visit centralcafe941.com.

Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.