Shore 2009: Junk Food

There’s something wrong about eating a bucket of thick, salted fries in a bikini, but there it is. We’ll get to Jilly’s French Fry Factory in Ocean City anytime we can, fat rolls be damned. (And we’ll tack on one of the light, powdered fluffs of funnel cake while we’re there.) Oh, and that Potato Tornado from Hot Dog Tommy’s? Wowie. You can get this Cape May specialty, with chili, cheese, mashed potatoes, banana peppers and sour cream, with either the “big bad dog” or the “leaner wiener.” (Either way, pair it with a frozen Stewart’s root beer.) Also: A sweet-tart, neon green, strangely refreshing Lime Ricky is to Wildwood as water ice is to Philly, and Lime Ricky World has the cheek-pinching best. And speaking of water ice: All year we crave the Polish version served at the countless TLC’s outposts in Cape May, Ocean City and Wildwood, where it’s pumped out of a soft-serve machine so it’s both creamy and icy. Mmm, cherry-mango. For dessert: a gargantuan, pecan-studded, cinnamon-dusted elephant ear on LBI, at Beach Haven’s Crust and Crumb Bakery. (Owners Anna and Lew Richards have been known to sell more than 1,000 on the Fourth of July.) (Jilly’s French Fry Factory 12th Street and the Boardwalk, Ocean City, 609-399-2869, jillysarcade.com; Hot Dog Tommy’s 319 Beach Avenue, Cape May, 609-884-8388, hotdogtommys.com; Lime Ricky World 2206 and 3409 Boardwalk, Wildwood, 609-231-6039, limericky.com; TLC’s Multiple locations in Wildwood, Cape May and Ocean City; polishwaterice.com; Crust and Crumb Bakery 9th Street and Bay Avenue, Beach Haven, 609-492-4966).