SIDES & STARTERS • 6 min read
The Appetizer Menu, Explained
Twenty items, and the interesting half is the half people skip because they are not sure what it is.
Corn nuggets are creamed corn in a fried batter shell. Gyoza are pan-fried dumplings. Fried okra is a Southern classic, fried donuts are dessert on the wrong menu, and the Philly Steak Roll is cheesesteak filling wrapped and fried. Order by texture rather than flavour.
Twenty items on the appetizer menu, and about half of them are things everyone recognises. The other half get skipped because people are not sure what they are. Corn nuggets, gyoza, fried okra, fried donuts — each of those is a real thing worth ordering, and none of them is what a first guess suggests.
Here is what is actually on there.
The potato section
Four items, and the difference between them is entirely what is on top:
- French Fries — the baseline, and the right call next to anything already sauced
- Cheese Fries — fries and cheese, nothing else
- Loaded Fries — jalapeno, bacon and cheese. Effectively a meal in its own right
- Onion Rings — not a potato, but it lives in the same decision
The one worth calling out is loaded fries. With jalapeno and bacon on them they are not a side dish so much as a shared plate, and ordering them alongside something already rich is the most common over-order on this menu. Our guide to what to eat with wings goes into the pairing side of that.
Onion rings are the one people under-order. They do something fries cannot — sweetness and a distinct crunch rather than softness — which makes them the better choice next to anything sauced. They also turn up as a topping on the Smokehouse Burger, so if you are ordering that, do not order them alongside it as well.
The things people are unsure about
Five items that get passed over, and what they actually are:
| Item | What it is | Eats like |
|---|---|---|
| Corn Nuggets | Sweet creamed corn in a fried batter shell | Sweet and savoury at once — closer to a fritter than a nugget |
| Gyoza (8) | Japanese-style filled dumplings, pan-fried | Soft, savoury, crisp on one side |
| Fried Okra | Sliced okra in cornmeal batter, fried | A Southern staple — crisp outside, soft inside |
| Fried Pickle | Battered and fried pickle | Sharp and salty; the best palate reset on the menu |
| Fried Donuts (10) | Ten small fried doughnuts | Dessert, hiding on the appetizer menu |
Fried okra is the one that divides a table. Okra is a pod vegetable, and Britannica describes it as native to the tropics of the Eastern Hemisphere and long since naturalised across the American South. Cut and battered it loses the texture people object to, which is exactly why the South fries it.
Corn nuggets are the one most worth trying if you have not. They are sweet in a way nothing else on the fried side is, and they work far better than they sound alongside something hot and sauced.
Fried donuts deserve a word too, because ten of them is more than it sounds and they are listed among the starters rather than at the end of the menu. They are a dessert. Ordering them first, alongside wings, is a decision people make by accident roughly once each.
They are also the only thing on this menu that is not battered or fried the whole way round, which makes them the single most useful order for breaking up a fried spread. There is more on what they are and how to eat them in what are gyoza.
The rolls
Two items that read like each other and are not. The Vegetable Roll comes as two pieces, and the Philly Steak Roll also comes as two — that one is essentially cheesesteak filling wrapped and fried, which makes it the only thing on the menu that is a smaller version of something else on the menu.
If you want to know what a Philly tastes like before committing to a whole sandwich, that is the cheapest way to find out. The full sandwich is on a different menu entirely.
The chicken and seafood
- Chicken Nuggets (12) and Chicken Fingers (5) — nuggets are smaller and there are more of them; fingers are whole strips
- Mozzarella Stick (5) — five, with marinara alongside
- Fried Mushrooms — battered, and wetter inside than they look
- Fish Stick (6) and Fried Fish — catfish or tilapia on the fillet
- Fried Shrimp, Buffalo Shrimp and Garlic Fried Shrimp — half a pound each, three treatments of the same shrimp
The three shrimp options are the most overlooked decision on the menu. Same shrimp, three completely different plates:
| Fried Shrimp | Buffalo Shrimp | Garlic Fried Shrimp | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Plain, fried | Tossed in buffalo sauce | Garlic |
| Coating | Stays crisp longest | Softens as it sits | Stays crisp |
| Heat | None | Yes | None |
| Order it | With a sauce cup, so everyone chooses | When the table wants heat | When you want depth without heat |
| Portion | Half a pound | Half a pound | Half a pound |
If you are ordering for a table, one of each beats one and a half pounds of any of them. The buffalo version is covered in more detail in buffalo beyond wings.
Ordering three or four appetizers for a table? Pick by texture rather than by flavour. Two battered things, one sharp thing and one soft thing makes a better spread than four things that all crunch the same way.
Building a spread
For a group, the mistake is ordering four items that are all coated and fried, which is easy to do here because most of the menu is. A spread that works:
- One potato — fries or loaded fries, not both
- One sharp — fried pickle, or a plain salad
- One soft — gyoza, or fried mushrooms
- One protein — shrimp, wings or chicken fingers
- One sweet, at the end — fried donuts
That is five plates for four people and it covers every texture on the menu. Scale it by adding a second protein rather than a second potato — the potato section is the part that fills people up fastest and gets left on the table most.
For portioning across a bigger group, our guide to how many wings per person works through the same arithmetic.
The short version
Twenty items, and the interesting half is the half people skip. Corn nuggets are sweetcorn fritters, gyoza are dumplings, fried okra is a Southern classic and fried donuts are dessert on the wrong menu. Order by texture rather than by flavour, and do not order two potatoes. It is all on the appetizer menu.
Twenty things to start with
Fries, rings, dumplings, shrimp and a good deal you have probably never ordered.
Frequently asked questions
What are corn nuggets?
Sweet creamed corn inside a fried batter shell. Closer to a fritter than a nugget, and sweet rather than savoury.
What is gyoza?
Japanese-style filled dumplings, pan-fried so one side crisps. Ours come eight to a portion.
What is a Philly Steak Roll?
Cheesesteak filling wrapped and fried, two to a portion — a smaller version of the sandwich on the Philly menu.
How many appetizers should I order for a group?
About five plates for four people, chosen by texture: one potato, one sharp, one soft, one protein and one sweet.
What is the difference between chicken nuggets and chicken fingers?
Nuggets are smaller and come twelve to a portion; fingers are whole strips and come five to a portion.
More From the Kitchen
