Roll-N-Roaster switches up its famous fries to the dismay of vocal locals

The classic Sheepshead Bay beef sandwich spot is updating its French fries, which have been a menu mainstay for 50 years

By Brooklyn Magazine Staff

This is a story about a beef over fries.

The iconic Sheepshead Bay beef sandwich shop Roll-N-Roaster has updated its classic “cottage”-style French fry offering, a menu mainstay for about as long as the 52-year-old outlet has been open. And locals are not thrilled.

Gone are the uniquely round fries and in are wedge-shaped potatoes that the roast beef restaurant said are “fun, crispier, and even more delicious.” Although the new fries can still be smothered in gooey “cheez,” the sudden change has left Roll-N-Roaster loyalists less than happy.

“I don’t want the new fries,” one person on Instagram commented. Another added that it’s just not Roll-N-Roaster are “without the round fries.” Others commented that this “can’t be real!” and “keep them.” An online petition pleading with Roll-N-Roaster to bring back the old version of fries has reached about nearly half of its 500 signature goal.

The restaurant commented to a reply on Instagram that it’s a “possibility” they could come back, but that the new fries are “delicious.”

Unfortunately for hopeful locals, there is a very real reason for fry flip: the supply chain. Lamb Weston, a fry supplier, discontinued production of cottage fries, forcing restaurant clients like Roll-N-Roaster and JG Melon to find alternatives.

Still, some are excited to give them a try. Longtime Brooklyn resident Jordan Cohen is told us that although the cottage fries are a “Brooklyn classic,” he said that he’s looking forward to trying them “as long as you’ve got cheez.”