When I first talked to my mom about visiting New Jersey, she told me there was one place we absolutely had to go: The Windmill.

The Windmill is a simple gourmet fast food joint, with hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and apparently veggie burgers. Typical American fare.

One thing I can recall clearly is the quality of their incredible pickles. I don’t know what it is, but their pickles are SO GOOD. They have little condiment dishes sitting out, and my sister and I would snatch pickles and put them directly in our mouths.

The Windmill we used to go to (there are several around the part of New Jersey I lived in) had a carousel and a little arcade inside. My family loved the Windmill so much, I celebrated one of my birthdays there! If I had access to the embarrassing pictures, I would totally put them up. Alas, no such luck.

I looked up the menu before we went, so I knew they had a vegetarian option for me. Veggie burger with a side of cheese fries? Greasy deliciousness.

The cheese fries were the usual suspects topped with totally artificial cheese. Great for a once in awhile treat, completely not an every day food. The veggie burger was flame grilled and actually tasted a lot like meat! Wasn’t the best veggie burger I’ve ever had, but I was starving so I ate it all. The hard roll it came on was stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles (duh) and mayo. Classic.

As I was eating, I was thinking of ways to “health-ify” or “gourmet-ify” cheese fries. Any ideas/suggestions? I’m thinking something with bleu cheese..?

Apparently the Windmill is Zagat rated..? Who knew!

My mom, grandmother and I left the Windmill so completely stuffed and so completely satisfied.

I think I had my Windmill fix for the next year or so. If you’re ever in the area, stop by for a flame grilled hot dog (which is what my mom and grandmother both had. They gave it two thumbs up!), some cheese fries, or a veggie burger. So delicious!