What Happened To Beef-A-Roo’s Fries?

If you’re from Rockford, you probably have strong opinions on Beef-A-Roo.

Personally, I love Beef-A-Roo. I’ve been going to them since they had a salad bar. It is a local favorite and I advise you to keep it local.

Just a warning, do not recommend Beef-A-Roo to outsiders. They don’t understand it. They didn’t grow up on cheesy fries and roast beef sandwiches. Beef-A-Roo is more than just a dining option for Rockford residents, it’s part of the social fabric.

If a visitor from out of town happens to try Beef-A-Roo, that’s fine, but it will never live up to the expectations that you, a local, will put on it.

And that’s especially true now.

Here are my 5 favorite things on Beef-A-Roo:

5. Pork Tenderloin Sandwich: A comically large pork schnitzel on a bun. I get mine without pickles or tomato sauce because they are gross and I rub it with barbecue sauce. A great snack.

4. Harvest Chicken Salad – The salads at Beef-A-Roo are a hidden gem. They are all great, but this is the best. I’ll mix in a chopped or southwestern salad every now and then, but the Harvest Chicken Salad is eaten at least twice a month.

3. Root Beer Smoothie: They have a ton of smoothie flavors, but this one is the best. Blue Raspberry is in second place. They also have some new ones that I haven’t tried. You can’t go wrong with any smoothie option at Beef-A-Roo.

2. Wild West Beef – An incredible sandwich. Roast beef, bacon, bbq sauce and onion straws. It makes my mouth water at the thought of that. If you want to mix it up, you can go with the wild west burger and swap out the protein, but the meat is where it is.

1. French Fries: Growing up, Beef-A-Roo had the best French fries in the game. This is going to be controversial, but I don’t really like cheese fries. It’s too much. The soggy ones at the bottom are pretty gross and the cheese masks one of the best flavors in the fast food business, its seasoned salt. The seasoned salt in Beef-A-Roo may have some illegal substances in it, it is so good.

And this is where I think Beef-A-Roo has slipped a bit in the last two years. There is something different about French fries. Either they stopped using so much seasoning or they are using different fries that don’t retain the seasoning as well. I’m not sure, but I know it’s been about a year since I’ve had some really good fries at Beef-A-Roo.

To be clear, this won’t keep me away. I’m a SOLID once a week Beef-A-Roo guy. I’m just a once a week Beef-A-Roo guy who wants his fries the way they were 20 years ago.

Now I look old. Could you please get off my lawn while you put too much seasoning on my fries? I appreciate.