Johnny Fries, Ortley Beach, NJ

Where: Johnny Fries, Ortley Beach, NJ

What: 8oz Angus Cheeseburger, Fried Bologna Sandwich.
Burger Build: 1/2 lb. burger with lettuce, onion, mayo, American cheese, Ciabatta roll.
Sandwich Build: Bologna, American cheese, mustard, Ciabatta roll.

Comment: I found this place through a colleague at work and just happened to be passing through the area on business with my father-in-law for the second time this month. Let me just say, I LOVE this place. It's a nice, clean, family run Ma & Pa joint built in what was once a gas station. It's the kind of place you'll love to patronize - often. I ordered the burger, my father-in-law ordered the fried bologna sandwich. After I ordered the burger, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear the counter girl ask: "how would you like that cooked"? In today's world of: "here's your well done burger because we don't want a law suit but we swear it's juicy" that was music to my ears. This is the second time I've reviewed a place where for some reason I ordered my burger medium. No idea how or why I stepped away from my usual medium/rare, but I did. (my bad). Johnny's has two very impressive grills, one charcoal style, and one 6ft flat grill. I have to say, I was quite disappointed to see my burger placed on the charcoal grill while that gorgeous flat grill lay empty. Especially in our new "fast casual" burger world of 5 Guys and Smashburger who are producing killer sales with old fashioned flat-grilled burger flavors. Maybe giving the customer their choice of flat or charcoal grill would be the best option? I'm just sayin...
In any event, the burger was fresh and great tasting despite my stupid choice of temperature. It was delivered to our table a perfect medium, but by the time I was done taking photos it sat and cooked itself into a medium/well burger. This happens to me all the time - damn photos - so when you see the pics, remember, it's my fault, not Johnny's. Not sure if the roll was actually a Ciabatta roll, it could have been a small Portuguese roll, but again, it was fresh and great tasting. And the fried bologna was stupid good. (Just the fact that it was on the menu was very exciting - to hell with all you bologna haters).  Johnny Fries is cooking up some great food at the Jersey shore so get over there, it's on Rt 35 N in Ortley Beach and if you see the giant Paul Bunyan, you've past it....  I'm giving Johnny Fries Burger a solid 9/10. I'll be back soon, thanks for the great food and service!

UPDATE: 7-21-2013
In my excitement to write up this review, I forgot to mention the awesome hand-cut Freedom fries (you know how we feel about the French) and you also know how I don't get excited over fries, well, these are amazingly fresh and flavorful - and YES, they are waaaay better than 5 Guys fries.....