I tend to like local or regional chip companies and I like "kettle style"- thick cut and crunchy. Utz, Herr's, Wise and Route 11 are great, and Zapp's chips out of Louisiana are starting to appear here too.

Utz has had a "Chesapeake Bay Crab" flavor chip for years but they have moved that Old Bay seasoning flavor from their regular thin chips to their Kettle Classics line and boy howdy I'm in love! Like their Dark Russet, Maui Barbecue and Jalapeno flavors too.

As big a snack food powerhouse as Frito-Lay supposedly is, it's taken them years to get on the thick and crunchy chip train. They've introduced a Wasabi Ginger flavor that's pretty good but those seem to have disappeared from around here.

Anyone else have a good LOCAL/REGIONAL chip brand they're partial to? Yeah, I know chips ain't really good for you, but they're just so good!

 

I have always liked Jays potato chip! I have been very partial to their "hot stuff"

Pat

 

Hot stuff jays are one ofn my favorites . I also love their kettle cooked jalapeno and kosher dill flavor . I also am a big fan of vitners thei style of hot cheetos (hot curls) is notjust how but its a little sweet too . Their triple tangy cheese is the best though. There is also a big number of mexican brand potato chips and snaks showing up on shelves that of course are spicy and their own twist. I'm a junk food junkie so I could go on for days about vivid memories of eating certain candy or chips or even soda pop.

 

Googled Jay's and they're owned by Snyder's of Hanover now, same as Lance snack crackers (forever known here as Nabs in spite of Nabisco's NABS trademark) and Tom's snacks. Maybe we'll see Jay's here someday. I'll be sure to try 'em!

 

I like the Kettle Cooked and with salt only. Although, dipped in milk chocolate makes a good snack too!

 

The Cape Cod kettle style chips are available down there in Texas and are very good. I wish they had a dark russet variety - that type is almost impossible to find at my local stores.

 

Maui by far the best

 

Old Dutch's Ketchup chips, tastes like powdered Heinz Ketchup on chips, way better than Lay's. They also have the thick ripple line and Kettle cooked chips. Hawkin's Cheesies, old cheddar on crunchy corn cheese curls, just awesome. Never changed the recipe despite pressure for no trans fat. The Covered Bridge line from the New Brunswish, mutiple flavors on Russet potatoes. Hump Dumpty's party mix's are awesome. The Got Snax line from our local Dollar Tree is also suprisingly good.

 

Middleswarth bar-b-q is my fav. Uncle rays hot are also high on my list.

 

Kitchen Cook'd Maui Potato Chips. Only available in Hawaii (at least I've never seen them on the mainland), these thick crispy beauties are so greasy they'll soak a paper towel in fifteen seconds. There's a warning on the package to keep them out of the sun. They come in any flavor you like, as long as it's regular. Now that I've thought of it, I may have to fly to Maui for a fix real soon. Thanks.

 

Doritos

 

Those aren't potato chips ...

 

Any reason for going to Maui is good enough for me! Just to torture myself I go to this webcam for where we stayed at last the Westin on Kaanapali beach.
http://www.seehawaiilive.com/maui/maui-luxury-hotels


Pat

 

Tim's chips here in the NW. Lots of great flavors. But my favorite one are made fresh at a local bar joint seasoned any way you lik'em

http://timschips.com/index.php/store

 

Havent seen Bickels here in a while but they were good chips. For flavored ones Wise barbecue are the best!

 

Aldi has Clancy bbq..I had an addiction to them for a while..had to stop when I noticed a slight weight differential. They also have restaurant corn chips are that are pretty good! Pringles has always been a tasty brand!
Sean

 

Never heard of some of those but have to laugh because I live about a mile from Wise potato chip factory which is right off of rt 11. Maybe that rt 11 is made by Wise? I like Doritos, Pringles, and Lays the best.

 

The grocery store near where I live on Vancouver Island was bringing in Herr's chips (Vermont?) for awhile. They must have got quite a buy on them because they were selling them for 88 cents for a 200-gram bag. They were good.

 

You're right. The chips are great, but they're just an excuse.

 

We used to eat a lot of Backers products when I was a youth, local and still in the business.

http://www.backerchips.com/history/history.html

We don't eat a lot of chips, but its usually Lays Wavy, when we do.

I'd rather have a good fried pork rind...im a sucker for those.

I'll have to try some of the suggestions listed.

 

We have local company over on the west side of town that does kettle chips, Poore Borthers, that makes some good chips. I like that many of the area"lunch" restaurants carry them.

Their habanero chips are interesting:
http://www.inventurefoods.com/brand-...thers/habanero
They’re back! Poore Brothers® Habanero Intensely Hot Potato Chips are a real kick in the pants! Made with fiery habanero peppers, these chips are not for wimps. Tear into a bag today, but be careful, these chips BITE BACK!

 

Guys:
Growing up for me, it was Charles Chips. They delivered to your house on their route, you paid a deposit on the can and would swap it out. I have not seen them in years though. The can was about 12" dia X 12" tall.
Thanks, Ron

 

You guys are making me hungry!

 

That's why I asked about local and regional brands! National brands just don't have the taste- Lay's especially are mediocre to me. Pringles? That ain't EVEN a potato chip!

I've seen Poore Brothers around here a couple times and IIRC they were pretty good. A couple of convenience stores have been carrying Uncle Ray's and they're good too- it's just that with those the bags seem a bit harder to open and I end up spilling me chips all over me.

Rt 11 is its own brand; they're in Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Herr's is a Pennsylvania-based brand. They have some "adventurous" flavors, like the Heinz ketchup flavored ones 307and403 mentioned.

Not sure who makes 'em but Food Lion's house brand ripple cuts are very good.

Don71- meat skins, now ya talkin! though I'm told folks in Arkansas feed them to the dog. Some folks don't know what's good...

 

Whall .... If I had to pick one bag as the last I'd ever eat .. nostalgia would have me pick https://www.walkers.co.uk/crisps-ran...sps/saltnshake

But for flavour, I'd go with https://www.walkers.co.uk/crisps-ran...orcester-sauce

 

Get Wise man, Get Wise! Wise potato chips are artery clogging goodness, nothing but the best there! The most robust chip in the U.S.A., made in Berwick, PA.

 

better made,the rainbow special dark chips. not greasyand all of them are darkbrown, lighty salted

 

Anything from Mrs. Vickies is great. They are a kettle style chip.


Also the Canadian Maritime brand Covered Bridge makes some fine chips.

 

Regular Lay's or chili cheese Friros.

 

Good pretzels also, But I still like Maui chips the best

 

Interesting fact about Jay's. They changed their name from Japs to Jays during WW2. I still know the Jap family. They are from my area and are a good influence on it. They sold the company, bought it back for pennies on the dollar and resold it again. Can you say Ka-ching?

 

The chef at our work cafe makes the best chips Ive ever had, unfortunetly for us and me I can only get them occaisionally when he makes them. I tried to duplicate his chips at home and some were OK but lacking the slicer for uniform thickness hurt my efforts

I did just give Lays cheddar bacon mac and cheese a try and likes them.

My regular favorite is tri sum a local brand that i think was bought out by frito lay a few years ago

 

I think the Russet chips have fallen out of favor for some reason - maybe a cost or supply issue? They're not available anymore, from what I can gather. I did find it on Utz's website, but only via mail-order.

Cape Cod was my first taste of kettle chips, and it's hard to go back to generic Lay's after that (although Herr's was the popular brand at home). During that time, Eagle Snacks came out with kettle- and Russet-style chips, which I think were popular for awhile until A-B decided to sell their stake in the snacks segment.

 

Most grocery and convenience stores here still have big bags of Utz Dark Russets, but not the lunch-size bag. My trouble is if I get a big bag I will eat half of it at one sitting.

Cape Cod has a few flavors of lattice-cut kettle chips which are also mighty tasty. The only places I ever saw Miss Vickie's were Subway and Quizno's, but their Jalapeno chips were good.

Ham's Restaurants here make their own chips which are devastating, and of all places Golden Corral makes them too- ya just don't expect to see something like that at a chain buffet joint.

http://www.hamsrestaurants.com/menu.html

 

A mandolin does the job ... just be damn careful when you get the potato down to a stub .... when you're going fast you can take three layers of skin off before you even feel the first nick. The toughest part is to keep the oil temp consistent. When you first add those cold slices to the oil, it's temp drops dramatically. Naturally you then bump it up ... but then the slices warm up and then the oil is too hot. Small batches is the key.

 

Don't ask me how I know this but when storing your mandolin. put it in a bag instead of just loose lying in a drawer OUCH

 

Jamesbo, you sure you don't just call that "extra special seasoning"?!

 

Actually, I called it bleeding like a stuck pig

 

LOlz i just google imaged mandolin and some of the top matches were chopped up fingers w stitches ouchy.....Ill hav eot pick one of the those up and give it another go !!!

 

http://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/...boulder-canyon