Eating

Rudy's

372 Elm St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 865-1242

Rudy's French fries are hand-peeled, hand-cut and cooked fresh all day long. And they're not fries - they're Belgian frites. They're served hot and crispy with little plastic forks and for some Rudy's regulars are merely salty, starchy vessels for the many tasty dipping sauces (which incidentally taste equally good at happy hour or after a boozy night on the town). The Samurai sauce, perhaps the most famous, is Belgian mayo with crushed red peppers, bartender Emily Robichaud reveals, but when paired with Rudy's frites becomes something altogether magnifique. The sauce list is long, but other greatest hits include aioli-garlic, mango mania and pesto mayo. New this year is 10 varieties of Belgian specialty beers for pairing, manager Jeff Petrin says. "We recently decided to bring in more high-end craft beers. A lot of people look at Rudy's as a dive bar but we have a lot of stuff that high end, classy joints around here have." Plus one thing they don't: the best frites in town.