Great Leap Forward for Fast-Food French Fries

Published on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, by James Norton / Edit Post

Wendy's Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt

Wendy's Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt

I Paid: $1.79 for a medium order of fries (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 4 stars

Marketing: 4 stars

The McDonald's restaurant chain conceived of a marketing masterstroke in 2006 when it started serving—drumroll here—decent coffee. A new move by Wendy's echoes the McDonald's plan: Take an unsexy linchpin product with big profit margins, shrink those margins a bit to offer a premium product, and see what it does for the brand overall.

Wendy's stab at this is the recent introduction of its Natural-Cut Fries. They're sliced up, skin-on russet potatoes that are cooked in non-trans-fat oil and sprinkled with sea salt, and they're a welcome change from the typical fast-food fry. These thinner, smaller fries are legitimately crispier, the potato flavor has real depth, and despite containing more salt than normal Wendy's fries (probably because the smaller fries actually have more collective surface area per ounce), they taste less aggressively salty than most of the competing products on the market.

It's not clear if consumers are necessarily searching these fries out, but here's hoping the new Natural-Cuts catch on—they're a breath of class and quality in a business sometimes dominated by a race to the bottom of the supply chain.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster Daily videos, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. (Click here to see all of James's previous Supertaster work.) You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook.

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POST A COMMENT |12 Comments

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  • I caught these hot out of the frier around lunch time and I had to concede they were better than Mickey D's fries which were the fast food standard. Dave Thomas would be proud:)

  • For NativeforSF's benefit - I have tried them at least 3 times at 2-3 different locations, including different cities :P

    While I like them in general and appreciate what Wendy's is trying to do, I find that the quality of the fries is less consistent than the old ones. I always seem to come across one or two mushy fries in the batch, which is decidedly unpleasant, even though the sea salt is...+READ

    For NativeforSF's benefit - I have tried them at least 3 times at 2-3 different locations, including different cities :P

    While I like them in general and appreciate what Wendy's is trying to do, I find that the quality of the fries is less consistent than the old ones. I always seem to come across one or two mushy fries in the batch, which is decidedly unpleasant, even though the sea salt is enough to make me happy with them most of the time. I suppose you could say it's from switching to a more natural product, which is bound to have more variations, but I don't come across as many mushy ones in diners/restaurants. Maybe it's a time thing.-COLLAPSE

  • i used to love wendy's fries, but since they changed, i thoroughly dislike them now.

  • Had the new fries today. Husband preferred their taste.While I thought they were ok, I liked the old ones better.

  • Like how many actually read James Norton's article? Like the dude deserves better...sheesh!

  • these fries taste horrible--all i taste is the skin of the potato and they always taste burned. I LOVE Mickey D's fries I have HOT fries every time I go because I always ask for them. I loved Wendy's old fries. I don't go there now because of the change.

  • First of all, you can't get hot fries at Mickey D's. EVER - no matter what you do. Everything is the same temperature - room temperature.

    Wendy's French fries are light years ahead of ANY competitor. They actually taste like potatoes and the sea salt adds a layer flavor that really sets them apart.

  • i didnt try them but i loved wnedy's thick fries before. they were the best.. oh well

  • The new Wendy's French fries are head and shoulders above ANY competitor, including Micky D's. They actually taste like potatoes and the sea salt adds a depth of flavor missing from competitive products. I recommend that people that have not had a good experience to ask for a fresh batch. It makes a BIG difference.

  • I love these! I can't drive by a Wendys any longer without stopping.
    They taste like real potatoes and I don't even have to dip them in Honey mustard sauce like I do with McDonalds ff. You do need to eat them hot!!

  • I tried them and while they certainly weren't limp and tasteless, I strongly prefer McDonald's fries. Nothing special to see here.

  • I was very disappointed with this product. I generally do not eat fast food but I love fries and got sucked in by the commerical. They were limp and tasteless.