No-frills hot dog and burger joint's fries voted best in Fort Myers, Cape Coral area

Matt Syroczynski has been making the French fries at his fast-casual San Carlos restaurant the same way since opening in December 2017.

And that’s a very good thing.

The fries at Matt’s Red Hots — in a former Dairy Queen on South Tamiami Trail in south Fort Myers — were voted the best in Lee County in a recent News-Press readers’ poll.

“That’s so great,” said Syroczynski. “Thank you.”

After Five Guys took an early lead in the weeklong contest, Matt’s surged ahead a few days to finish with a 167-vote victory and 34.8 percent of the votes. Five Guys took second with 22 percent of all votes, while McDonald’s was third at 10.24 percent. Nevermind Awesome Bar & Eatery in Cape Coral and Culver’s rounded out the top 5.

What makes Matt's fries so good?

Just what makes Matt’s hand-cut French fries a cut above the competition?

“We do everything as fresh and as fast as possible,”  said Syroczynski, who hails from Buffalo, New York. “It’s all made fresh daily. We don’t even have a walk-in freezer.”

Matt’s usually goes through three 50-pound boxes of Idaho potatoes daily. That’s 900 pounds weekly (it's closed on Mondays).

Those potatoes go through three steps before becoming the crispy, golden, glorious fries customers crave.

“We take it a few steps further,” said Syroczynski, a former professional hockey player who won the Kelly Cup in 2008 with Cincinnati. “We cut (the potatoes) and wash them twice and soak them in buckets.

"Then we pre-fry at 325 (degrees) for a minute, cool them, and fry them again for another minute to give them a nice texture. Then we cool them again. When a customer comes in, we cook to order at 350. It makes them stay crispy for a bit longer.”

Before being served on a plastic tray in a classic diner-style red and white cardboard box, the fries are quickly tossed in Morton’s coarse kosher salt.

“It’s nice and thick and sticks to French fries,” said Syroczynski who also changes the “fancy vegetable oil” and scrubs out everything every three days.

He admits it would be easier just to open a bag, but is happy to go the extra mile.

“To me, you can’t beat fries made fresh,” he said, although he’s left to “the mercy of the potato.”

“If it’s high in sugar, they come out a little darker sometimes,” he continued. “It depends on the crops. The darker fries are sweeter than the golden brown ones.”

Get them plain, with cheese, chili cheese or served with onion rings.

We asked, you answered:Here are America's favorite french fries

Known for burgers and hot dogs too

Matt’s fries aren’t the only menu item popular with News-Press readers. In March, his never-frozen chargrilled burgers (single, double or triple hamburgers, cheeseburgers or bacon & cheese burgers) received lots of love in the 2024 burger bracket challenge.

Of the 16 best burgers in Lee County to make the NCAA basketball-esque bracket, Matt’s was seeded third and advanced to the Elite Eight.

But that’s not all Matt’s is popular for.

The name Red Hots goes back to Matt’s northern roots.

“So many hot dog stands in Buffalo are called Red Hots,” he said. “It just means chargrilled and our hot dogs are chargrilled.”

Matt’s hot dogs are Sahlen’s (a Buffalo treasure) and come in regular, footlong, all beef jumbo and kids skinless dogs. The signature dogs include chili & cheese, bacon & cheese, bacon & mac, mac & onion rings and “authentic” Chicago style.

In case you missed it:Longtime downtown Fort Myers restaurant latest in recent closings in Lee, Collier

The latter is the only item not on his original menu, which also includes a chicken sandwich and tenders, Italian sausage, mac & cheese and 24 flavors of ice cream.

Customers place their orders at the counter and watch their food being prepared in the open kitchen. When your name is called a few mouthwatering minutes later, grab your tray (or paper bag for to-go orders) and head to one of the 12 bar stools inside or 10 tables outside.

And don’t forget to try the best fries in Lee County.

Matt's Red Hots, 18911 S. Tamiami Trail, No. 24, Fort Myers; open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday; (239) 791-8036; mattsredhots.com or follow on Instagram and Facebook

Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@gannett.com