fries
At Fri Guyz,
Business is Sizzling
Owner Louis Vita cooks up over 100 varieties of fries
WRITTEN BY REBECCA KING | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN R. WEXLER
L
ouis Vita, owner and
chef of Fri Guyz, is a bit
of a recipe hoarder.
The 32-year-old
Totowa resident fears he
offers almost “too many
things” at his specialty French fry
joint. Like 22 varieties of fries (23 if
you count plain ol’ salted fries): They
fill up one quarter of his four-page
menu. Plus, every week he offers a
special fry of the week, announced
on a blackboard near the counter.
Should a customer come in and
request a fry that was once on the
blackboard, Vita is more than happy
to accommodate.
“We’re constantly evolving. I actu-
ally make over 100 variations of fries.
If you can remember the ingredients,
I’ll make it,” says Vita, whose wife
Danielle and staff of 10 help him
run the shop. And a friendly bunch
they are. A pleasant chat at the coun-
ter is not uncommon at Fri Guyz.
Vita and company cook in a strip
mall restaurant that looks like every
other strip mall restaurant from the
outside. But walk inside and you
may wonder if you stepped into a
man cave with a deep fryer. Simple
tables and chairs are surrounded by
bright red walls that fade to orange,
then yellow, as they reach the ceil-
ing to imitate flames. Comic book
figurines of the Hulk, Harley Quinn,
Wolverine, the Joker and more line
shelves and counters. Framed Giants
and Jets jerseys hang on the wall.
And then there’s all that fried food
— much of it fried sticks of potato.
44
MAY 2019 WAYNE MAGAZINE
LOUIS VITA AT
THE FRI GUYZ
LOCATION —
1210 HAMBURG
TURNPIKE,
WAYNE
Take the Jersey Fries that (of
course) feature Taylor ham, egg and
cheese sauce; or the Crab Attack
fries with Old Bay and jumbo lump
crab meat; or the Zombie Fries with
a spicy quartet of jalapenos, buf-
falo sauce, sriracha and pepper jack
cheese. Order any of these at the
counter and they’ll be brought to you
in a paper-lined red basket. Rolls of
paper towels are stocked at every
table to help with the mess.
And don’t let the name Fri
Guyz pigeonhole you into thinking
fries (albeit fries with essentially a
full meal on them) are the only belt-
loosening foods there. Vita is just as
proud of his wings and cheese steaks
made with thinly sliced rib-eye. His
customers agree.
“Fri Guyz not only has amazing
food, especially the Jersey Fries, but
the owner and his wife are there
making it a great family business,”
says Wayne resident Jen Chinksey.
“The personal touch is what makes
them so special.”
Vita’s dream from a young age
was to own a restaurant. His father
was a dentist in North Jersey who
owned his own office, and his
mother was a real estate agent with
a penchant for cooking. He spent his
weekends watching Wolfgang Puck
and Emeril Lagasse on the Food
Network. Inspired by his dad, Vita
knew he wanted to be the propri-
etor of a business, too, and inspired
by his mom and all those cooking
shows he watched, he knew he