There have been many French Fry Flame Wars on this fine site. I watched Joshua Weissman's evaluation of every fast food French fry in America and found it the best analysis I've ever seen, and having time to goof off due to a cancelled work call this hour, figured I'd get this documented for CB posterity.
Now, for full disclosure, I've got some skin in this game. My ancestors were among the first people to plant the Russet Burbank potato in Idaho and my great-grandfather and great-uncles helped JR Simplot invent the industrial process which produced V1 of the McDonald's frozen fry - using beef tallow to impart flavor to the fries. I've traveled to over 90 countries around the world and have tried fries influenced by every culinary culture on Earth. I think that Weissman's ratings system is a good one to evaluate the king of all fast foods - the noble French Fry!
In order to make Weissman's analysis, the fry purveyors involved had to have:
- more than 300 locations
- must have a true nation-wide presence
Weissman's team established a 10-point scale for analyzing fries based upon:
- Flavor
- Texture
- Salt level/seasoning
Here are the surprising results:
Rank |
Establishment |
Score |
1 |
KFC |
8.75 |
2 |
Freddy's |
8.55 |
3 |
Carl's Jr. |
8.5 |
T4 |
McDonald's |
8.35 |
T4 |
Dairy Queen |
8.35 |
5 |
Jollibee |
8.15 |
6 |
Jack In The Box |
8.0 |
7 |
Bojangles |
7.85 |
8 |
Rally's |
7.8 |
9 |
Shake Shack |
7.6 |
10 |
A&W |
6.95 |
11 |
Whataburger |
6.6 |
12 |
Popeye's |
6.5 |
13 |
Del Taco |
6.3 |
T14 |
Culver's |
6.0 |
T14 |
Wienerschnitzel |
6.0 |
15 |
Habit Burger |
5.5 |
16 |
Sonic |
5.35 |
T17 |
Steak 'n Shake |
5.25 |
T17 |
Arby's |
5.25 |
18 |
Chick-Fil-A |
4.85 |
19 |
Five Guys |
4.6 |
20 |
Church's Chicken |
4.4 |
T21 |
In-N-Out |
4.15 |
T21 |
Zaxby's |
4.15 |
22 |
Raising Cane's |
3.35 |
23 |
Wendy's |
3.25 |
24 |
Burger King |
2.1 |
25 |
White Castle |
0.0 |
The true suprise for me... Dairy Queen outperforming compared to my previous expectations. Also, In-N-Out is rated based upon their 'well done' fries, not the slop the masses eat without knowing the secret cult language to ask for their above-abomination fries.
Full video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVyJMz5nLd8