S&S Fries

Address: 2421 Greenbank Rd, Nepean, ON
Hours: 11am – 7pm (Mon, Wed – Sat); 11am – 6:30pm (Sun); closed Tues; (hours may vary during/after pandemic)
Website: Nada. Not even a social media page!
Green factor: Styrofoam containers for poutine, paper bag for burger, plastic utensils, garbage and recycling bins on site

My first-ever trip to Barrhaven was for a birthday gift for my wife. Only love could bring me to this desolate carbon copy of North American suburbia, but while I was there, I had to try out neighbourhood chip wagon, S&S Fries.

They’re pretty easy to get to, located in the corner of the Canadian Tire parking lot at Greenbank and Strandherd.

Their menu is mostly standard chip wagon fare, although they do have some less frequently seen items like chicken fingers, chicken burgers, onion rings, and the option to add bacon to things. Honestly, I don’t know why more chip wagons don’t have the bacon upgrade – it’s popular, and they can have a huge margin on it.

Even if this picture was fully in focus, the burger wouldn’t have been any better

That said, I stuck with my usual chip wagon barometer, a cheeseburger platter with the fries upgraded to a poutine ($10.25 + $2.25 for the upgrade).

I find that chip wagon burgers are usually better the further you get from the downtown core, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case here. A somewhat small, from-frozen patty was a grey-ish disappointment.

Luckily, the poutine was a huge improvement over the cheeseburger. Every time that I’ve gotten my fries upgraded to a poutine, I’ve received the standard little Styrofoam cup of poutine. At S&S Fries, I got a large 8×8 container, and although it wasn’t packed to the gills, it was still a lot of poutine for one person.

Not only was the poutine large, but it was also an excellent example of Ottawa’s favourite snack. The fries were thick and hand-cut, and perfectly crisp. I was impressed that the fries that I couldn’t finish (again, this was a BIG portion!) maintained their crispness after the 30-minute drive home! To top things off, the cheese curds were big and plentiful, and the rich, dark gravy brought it all together.

I assume that the sign celebrating their win of Foodpages.ca awards in 2016 & 2017 is for their poutine, and for that, you’ll hear no argument for me. S&S Fries has their specialty right there in their name, and even if they are in Barrhaven, their poutine is truly destination worthy.

***They are cash only.