French fries have always held a special place in Freddy Glassner’s heart.
His love for crispy spuds started at a young age. He remembers fondly how his mother would take him to McDonald’s for fries in exchange for good behavior.
That, he said, made fries a special treat to be sought after for the rest of his life. So it should come as no surprise that when he heard about the annual West Reading French Fry Festival he jumped at the chance to attend.
The seventh annual festival drew thousands of hungry attendees who crowded the 600 and 700 blocks of Penn Avenue for a taste of offerings ranging from traditional fries to elaborate creations with multiple toppings inspired by cuisine from around the globe.
Saturday was the first trip to the festival for the Glassner family — Freddy brought along his wife, two sons and granddaughter. While they live nearby in Bern Township, they had never heard about the event until a few weeks ago.
They said they were pleased with what it had to offer.
“We’re impressed so far with the variety of all the food,” Patti Glassner said. “This is a beautiful day to do something like this with the family.”
Standing near the West Reading Tavern tent, Glassner and his family took turns tasting the restaurant’s fries from a paper cone. The fries were one of the more traditional options at the festival, but they were special in that they were cooked in duck fat.
“I don’t really want a whole bunch of stuff on my fries,” said Freddy, who described himself as more of a potato purist.
He said the simplicity of the fries offered by the West Reading Tavern hit the spot.
“These are excellent fries, and I know what I’m talking about,” he said.
Unlike Glassner, Sheryl Lohman likes her fries loaded.
She and her son John sat on a bench behind the Spuds food truck eating their first fries of the day. They had chosen to go with Spuds because the fresh cut shoestrings featured a lot of interesting ingredients on top.
Their pick was covered in truffles, bacon and goat cheese.
“I love french fries, and the more stuff I can put on them the better,” Sheryl said.
John said he was pleasantly surprised with all the different takes on fries. It was the first time at the festival for both of them.
Sheryl said she enjoyed the festival so much that she will absolutely be back.
“We’ll have to do this again because there is no way I’ll be able to eat everything that I want today,” she said with a smile.
The festival certainly had something for every kind of taste bud, with dozens of tents and food trucks lining Penn Avenue.
Comalli Taqueria had a line half a block long before the festival officially kicked off. They had advertised a promotion that the first 50 customers would get specially designed swag that included a T-shirt, cup, stickers and a voucher for a free beer.
They offered seasoned waffle fries piled with housemade queso, pico de gallo, red cabbage and jalapeno, and for a little more dough you could add a meat topping.
Gabby King and Jean Gomez made sure they were in the front of the line when the Comalli truck opened for business.
The Reading couple have been coming to the festival for the past three years and said they look forward to it each summer.
“It’s nice being outside in the summertime, enjoying all the different kinds of options that the festival offers,” Gabby said.
“We are really into food and trying new things,” Jean added.
Gabby said they normally take a lap around the festival to see all the offerings before they plan out their meal. They try to limit themselves to something savory and something sweet.
Gabby motioned that the fries at Comalli Taqueria get a big thumbs up as she dug into the food piled high on the plate Jean was holding.
“It’s pretty good, and I haven’t even gotten that deep into it,” she said with a chuckle.
Source: Berkshire mont
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