Resolved: Herr's Potato Chips are the best in the country.

[silenus]

I'm sitting here at my desk snacking on a bag of Herr's Pizza-Flavored potato chips, and they are truly awesome. So have been every other flavor of theirs I have ever tried. Buffalo Wing? Great. Steak & Worchestersire? Beyond great. Creamy Dill Pickle? Better than Tim's Cascade, and that's saying something!

It's a good thing they are cheap shippers, because I buy these things buy the multiple case-load and they have to be UPSed to me out here. The stores in California have never heard of them.

Don't get me started on Herr's Hot Fries. Andy Capp, move over. You've been replaced.

[BB Rodriguez]

I found the Steak & Worchestershire to be like eating a spice cabinet. Couldn't eat more than a handfull. I ended up crushing them and using them as a coating for baked chicken. That was great!

[MsRobyn]

Herr's is OK, but Utz is better. I wish I could find salt and pepper, but I haven't been able to.

Of course, being in the middle of Snack Food Central means I have a lot to pick from. (See my location!)

[jali]

Wise Onion and Garlic Potato Chips cannot be omitted from any list of best potato chips.

http://www.slashfood.com/2008/05/19/...rgotten-chips/

[Julie]

Herr's Horseradish and Cheddar, or maybe it's Cheddar and Horseradish. The nasal-cringing burniness is divine.

[bouv]

Cape Cod cracked black pepper and sea salt takes the cake. It barely qualifies as a chip, it's more like a God amongst the lesser chips.

[Hostile Dialect]

There is not a single potato chip in America that can top Utz. It's just not possible. Sorry.

[jali]

There is not a single potato chip in America that can top Utz. It's just not possible. Sorry.

You sound somehow... hostile.

[Erguotou]

Smallish regional potato chip makers are nearly always better than huge national brands. It's too bad that so many of them have gone out of business or been bought out in recent years.

When I was growing up near Springfield, MA, we had State Line Potato Chips, made in Wilbraham MA. The company had its own rail spur to bring in boxcars of potatoes grown on local farms, and the chips were as good or better than Utz or Herr's is today. They were bought out by a Boston company back in the 80's, though, and production moved to who knows where. The chips haven't been the same since.

Same with Humpty Dumpty chips, formerly of Scarborough ME. Once upon a time you could drive up Route 1 in Maine and smell potatoes frying from Old Orchard Beach to Portland. They had a huge variety of flavors, too, and they were probably the best chips I ever had. They got bought out by a Canadian company in the 90's and production was moved north of the border. They still sell the chips in Maine, but damn they suck now. It was a sad day when I drove past the factory and found nothing but a pile of rubble where it had been torn down.

Luckily, where I live now I can get Cape Cod, Utz, and Herr's. Utz is my favorite, but all three are decent brands and I'm glad to have the choice. Still wish there was a really local company, though.

[danceswithcats]

There is not a single potato chip in America that can top Utz. It's just not possible. Sorry.

Heh. I drive past at least one of the plants daily. Between them, Snyder's, Renovah (acronym of Hanover), Martin's, Bickels, and the Frito-Lay facility in east York, you'll understand why south central PA is the snack food capitol of America.

[Hostile Dialect]

Anagram, not acronym.

You never got back to me on that preposition thing, by the way.

[danceswithcats]

Crap. Thanks for the correction.

[What Exit?]

There is not a single potato chip in America that can top Utz. It's just not possible. Sorry.

I have to agree with my esteemed colleague Hostile Dialect. Utz is the best and the various Utz kettle cooked the apex of their chips.

[Chefguy]

Cape Cod cracked black pepper and sea salt takes the cake. It barely qualifies as a chip, it's more like a God amongst the lesser chips.

Kettle also makes this and it's great. They also make a Thai Spice chip that's pretty firey.

[silenus]

[quote=What Exit?]

There is not a single potato chip in America that can top Utz. It's just not possible. Sorry.

I have to agree with my esteemed colleague Hostile Dialect. Utz is the best and the various Utz kettle cooked the apex of their chips.[/quote:1yp5twj0]

Meh. I've had just about every flavor of chip Utz produces. They're good, don't get me wrong, but across the line I would rank Herr's higher.

Route 11 makes some great chili pepper chips, but their product line is still rather limited in scope.

[What Exit?]

[quote=silenus]

There is not a single potato chip in America that can top Utz. It's just not possible. Sorry.

I have to agree with my esteemed colleague Hostile Dialect. Utz is the best and the various Utz kettle cooked the apex of their chips.

Meh. I've had just about every flavor of chip Utz produces. They're good, don't get me wrong, but across the line I would rank Herr's higher.

Route 11 makes some great chili pepper chips, but their product line is still rather limited in scope.[/quote:3kgyolfk]
I do like Herr's pretzels better. The make a whole grain with flaxseed and honey that is great.

[Hostile Dialect]

I have to agree with my esteemed colleague Hostile Dialect.

That was good for a big smirk. :mrgreen:

silenus, you clearly need to bring some of these chips to the first SoCal Domefest. I only ever get to eat Utz anymore (grew up in the DC area) because my mom goes to DC fairly often and always brings some back.

[silenus]

Deal. I order Herr's by the case for my debate team. The web site allows you to mix and match cases with ease, so I can customize to my heart's content.

Maybe I'll order up some Utz before the Fest as well. That way we can have a Taste-Off.

[Wheresgeorge04]

Don't get me started on Herr's Hot Fries. Andy Capp, move over. You've been replaced.

Can you still get Andy Capp or Herr's regular, non-hot Fries? When I lived in NJ, they had Capp's Hot, Cheese, and Plain fries, and man, I LOOOOOVED the plain. Out here, We didn't have ANY fries, now, all of a sudden, we have Hot fries, but not the others. Do non-hot still exist?

Joe

[Wheresgeorge04]

Missed the edit window trying to figure the URL command out...

Incidentally, my favorite chips are, and likely always will be, Frito Lay Munchos

Joe

[silenus]

Don't get me started on Herr's Hot Fries. Andy Capp, move over. You've been replaced.

Can you still get Andy Capp or Herr's regular, non-hot Fries? When I lived in NJ, they had Capp's Hot, Cheese, and Plain fries, and man, I LOOOOOVED the plain. Out here, We didn't have ANY fries, now, all of a sudden, we have Hot fries, but not the others. Do non-hot still exist?

Joe

Herr's has Salt & Vinegar, Cheddar, Ketchup and Hot, Hot, Hot Fries. I have seen Andy Capp Regular and Hot from my supplier.

[GingerOfTheNorth]

If I recall correctly, Herr's makes Ketchup chips. I want some RIGHT NOW.

I like Herr's. And Snyder's of Hanover. And Utz. Mostly because chips make me happy and so does supporting smaller regional businesses.

[Julie]

Yes, Herr's makes Ketchup chips. There was an incident in my household where Herr's Ketchup chips turned a white cat pink. It was a good look.

A chip company local to me is in the love-it-or-hate-it category. Conn's chips aren't super crunchy, so many people don't like them. But I love them, especially their green onion flavor. Mmm. Green onion.

[Hostile Dialect]

Julie, what kind of chip selection is there in Ohio, even? I didn't think there were many of the smaller chip makers up there.

Sounds like you have more than we do, though. It must be hard to pick when you're at the grocery store! We've got the national brands and....veggie chips. Which, granted, are actually pretty good IMO, but they're not really the same.

[Julie]

Julie, what kind of chip selection is there in Ohio, even? I didn't think there were many of the smaller chip makers up there.

Sounds like you have more than we do, though. It must be hard to pick when you're at the grocery store! We've got the national brands and....veggie chips. Which, granted, are actually pretty good IMO, but they're not really the same.

I honestly don't know which brands are local and which are national.

Lays is national, I know. Pringles (if they count as a chip at all) is.

Otherwise, we have:

Mikesell's
Conn's
Shearer's
Herr's
and at least one other brand I can't recall.

We should do a chip round-robin.

[Julie]

Others I just remembered:

Snyder's of Berlin
Tom's
Wise
Cape Cod
Poore Brothers
Miss Vickie's