Wendy’s recently decided to take on soggy fries, solving a true societal issue. According to Wendy’s website, “Fries should be hot AND crispy. Period. That’s why we guarantee our new fries will be both of those things. And they are significantly preferred over McDonald’s fries.*” The note next to the asterisk read: “Taste preference based on a national taste test by an independent research company. If your fries aren’t hot & crispy, we’ll replace them. At participating U.S. Wendy’s.” The statement ended with “so, to be clear, if we somehow give you fries that aren’t both hot AND crispy, we’ll get you some that are. Period-but-this-time-with-even-more-emphasis.”

Wendy’s is making some bold claims here. From the fact that their fries will be both hot and crispy (a difficult task for fries that are not made-to-order), to the fact that they are better than McDonald’s fries (an industry classic). Can we also talk about the fact that they are allowed to call out their competitors like that? Anyway, of course, being the avid Wendy’s lovers we are, we had to try their new fries. The fries cost $1.19, $1.99, $2.39 and $2.79 plus tax for a junior, small, medium and large respectively.   

John 

So Wendy’s has been giving out some sweet deals over the last week by giving out some free food to promote their new french fries. One of these deals was a free classic chicken sandwich with the purchase of a medium fry, so of course we had to go and try it (at least if we didn’t like it we got a free chicken sandwich, right?).

Anyway, I know that Sasha disagrees with me but I think that the fries were great! I definitely do think that they were a little bland and probably could have used a bit more salt, which is weird for me to say since I usually think that fast food fries are too salty. But the new Wendy’s fries do live up to their promise: they were hot, and oh yes they were crispy. To be honest, when we first got them they were maybe a bit too hot. You know how when you get hot Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and it basically burns your tongue off and you have to wait like an hour to actually start drinking the coffee? Yeah, think of that, but less extreme. But on the bright side, the fries were not soggy at all and were super crispy and really did seem fresh!

I feel like so far, I have focused on mostly the negative aspects about the fries, but overall they were definitely great! I think that the benefits (crispiness and hotness) definitely outweigh the costs (blandness), though it would be nice to unify the benefits of both. However, while this definitely does not compare to the KFC fries (which are so underrated, they are so good) I still think that they are an improvement from the old french fries. I just might need to, for once in my life, make use of their packets of salt to improve the flavor a little bit! Overall, I would give them a solid eight out of 10, an improvement from the old ones!

Sasha 

Hot and crispy? More like mouth burns and blandness guaranteed. 

I should start this off by saying that I’m not a huge fan of fries. I’m not big on potatoes in general, I’d take rice or pasta over them any day. Even if I get fries with my meal, usually John will be the one to eat them. The only exception I can think of is KFC: their fries are great. I was hoping that these fries would join the ranks of KFC’s as fries I would actually eat. 

The fries were definitely hot, so much so that I still have burns in my mouth 48 hours later. I guess they did promise me “hot” fries so you get what you pay for I guess. In terms of crispiness, well it was hard to judge because we were eating the fries right after we got them, so they did not have time to get soggy. But they definitely were crispy like promised.

So Wendy’s definitely delivered on their two promises: hotness and crispiness, unfortunately for them, it takes more for fries to be good. The fries were bland. Like no flavor whatsoever. I was just eating hot. I never dip fries into sauces, but I actually asked for a sauce for these because they were just so bland. Usually my issue with American food is that there is too much salt (or other seasonings) on food, but these guys didn’t even seem to remember what salt is. Seriously, these didn’t taste like fast food fries, these tasted like those soulless fries that health conscious restaurants make.  

Overall, I would rate these a four, and would like to remind Wendy’s what salt is. I will definitely not get these again, and won’t even recommend you to give these a try. Go to McDonald’s (or KFC) instead.  

While Sasha may be upset with the new fries, this is definitely good news for John. This means that when we order food that comes with french fries, this means that he will get some extra fries! Who can say no to that? Additionally, while this will not stop us from going to Wendy’s by any means, we do both wish that the fries were a bit more flavorful and had more salt to them.