Review: HopCat

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This week, we review the long awaited “Crack Fries” from the new HopCat restaurant in Westport. We went in with high expectations from glowing reviews, a mention on the “Top 10 Fries in America” list by Food Network Magazine, and even a neon “Crack Fries” sign outside the restaurant (see a picture of that beauty below).

For the most part, we found these fries stood up to the hype.

Fries are beer battered and seasoned with special “crack” seasoning (we speculate a combo of black pepper, sugar, and lemon pepper) then served with a side of warm cheese. Those facts alone should make these fries the honorary side dish of the Midwest.

However, due to the these fries’ name, we do not feel this review would be complete without a shout out to the iconic Office scene where Ryan yells at Pam for comparing breadsticks to crack. I guess if we were to compare these fries to something in our world, we would say they are like a fee-for-service reimbursement contract in a value-based market or like a good game of frolf on a nice Kansas day.

Either way, we found these fries to be very delicious.

This sign is 100% FF-approved aesthetics. It would look classy in any basement (or dining room).

The fries were crisp and crunchy- probably from being beer battered (whatever that means) and the seasoning received rave reviews all around the table. The main consensus was sugar was what made them so delicious, not the cheese surprisingly!

But despite the positive reviews of the fries, we at Frequent Fryer felt HopCat didn’t meet the same marks as other restaurants we reviewed. The food we ordered for our entrees was just “meh” and the service wasn’t the best. On top of that, one of our beers came out 30% foam, which was less than ideal. We know HopCat is new and still working out the kinks so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt there, but our experience left us wanting more.

I hate to nitpick as much as the next person, but when your beer only comes 70% full it throws off the entire fry to beer ratio that is essential for proper fry consumption.

Overall, these fries get their highest marks for taste, environment, and style/flair. We, however, couldn’t give them high marks for value (plain crack fries were $5.50 with only one dipping sauce) or experience as we felt that it probably wouldn’t be a place we would return to again.

Regardless, the fries were delicious and they still receive a great overall score of 3 stars. See the complete breakdown and overall rating below:

Final Rubric (scored out of 5 for each category- see FAQs for more details):

Style/flair:	3.5
Value:	2.5
Overall taste:	5
Environment:	4
Experience:	2
Bonus:	None
Average/overall rating:	3.4 → 3 Stars