How To Get The Freshest Fries At A Fast Food Restaurant

We've all been there before. You pull up to your favorite fast food restaurant — McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, what have you — anticipating hot, crisp, fresh french fries. But when your order comes, and you take a bite, you're disheartened to find that your fries spent a little too long under the heat lamp and have now taken on the texture of julienned cardboard. The light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth quality of fresh fries seems so far away in those moments, and it's understandable that you'd want to avoid these kinds of chewy catastrophes from that day forward. But how?

The usual advice you're given for fresh fries is to order them without salt — that way, specifically, the employee will have to make a fresh batch instead of pulling from the general supply. But bear in mind that if you do this, chances are that the employee will likely resent you for it. In order to prepare fries with no salt, employees have to scoop the fries out instead of just dumping them, which is slower and risks burns — which is one thing if it's for someone on a low-sodium diet, but quite another when said person then asks them for salt packets.

Thankfully, there's an easier way to get fresh fries without giving the fry cook a headache (or worse): Just ask them for fresh fries. It's allowed! Sure, this somehow feels like you're being even more of an inconvenience than just asking for fries without salt — who are you to ask for your own special batch, the King of England? — but it's seriously not that much of a problem. So long as you understand that it will take extra time and you remain polite and friendly to the employee, they'll be happy to dunk a fresh batch in the beef tallow for you.

If you're the socially anxious type, you could also go to the fast food place (preferably one with higher-quality fries, like Burger King or Five Guys) around peak hours, where there will be plenty of activity and, therefore, plenty of fresh fries. Or alternatively, you can just take the gamble and order as normal. It's just fries, after all — and if you go to In-&-Out, you probably won't be able to taste the difference if they're stale, anyway.