Review: Wendy's New Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt

In the world of fast food, fries are an important factor in the constant battle between fast-food restaurants, vying for hungry customers. For those who venture that world often, we recognize a change in taste and pay mind to the price (at least I do). Changes both good and bad.  Let's see how Wendy's new fries fared!

I visit Wendy's somewhat regularly, I must admit. There are two Wendy's conveniently located on my college campus, and I end up having a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger as my lunch when on-the-go and hungry. So I tried the fries on my own on one of those busy days and noticed different fries. The change was not unpleasant, like sudden change in pickles. (The new pickles give the whole burger a weird taste, so I now remember to order stuff without pickles.)

First Impressions

Compared to the old fries, these fries were crispier, more visually appealing, and saltier. My eating buddy definitely saw an improvement from the previous fries, which, he said "tasted like they came from a grocery store." The fries were a bit too salty for me, but they were fine for him (he loves salty food). You know when you're in for a big dose of salt when you see a sea salt crust along the edge of a fry. I try to scrape it off and distribute it to other fries. Salt overload!!

The second time I visited for another taste of the fries, I was disappointed. The fries appeared crispy and golden, but were mushy on the inside and hard on the outside. They were terrible! I gave them another shot in the same location and found them to be the same crispy and delicious fries I encountered on my first visit there. There is a major inconsistency of fries, at least at that Wendy's location. 

I tried the fries once more as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, after receiving a gift card to Wendy's that I used to order the fries. I went to another Wendy's location (off campus) with the same eating buddy, and we ordered large fries. I was happy to find that these were tasty, and me and my eating partner agreed that these were better than the old fries and some of the other fast-food fries out there (like McDonald's fries...they've really gone downhill). I like that the Wendy's fries has potato skin (like the old Jack in the Box fries used to be). The Wendy's chicken club was also great (first photo). It was the homestyle chicken with bacon, Swiss cheese, and lettuce. No pickles, so it was good! A welcome change to the burgers I always get.

Final Thoughts

I think that Wendy's will need some time to get used to making the new fries and have them consistently delicious at all locations, but we're seeing improvement. As for dealing with the saltiness? I'd recommend pouring the fries out of the box onto the paper-covered tray in order to better distribute the sea salt. 

Happy eating! 

Smez

What do you think of Wendy's new fries? Too salty or just right? What kind of fries do you like? Which fast-food joint has the best fries?