A salty, golden crisp of happiness…also known as the french fry. French fries can be purchased nearly anywhere as well as go along with all different kinds of meals. The process of making a french fry may seem very simply…find a potato, cut it into a rectangular shape, throw it into a deep fat fryer, and, finally, dump an unhealthy amount of salt onto the finished product. That being said, shouldn’t all french fries taste nearly the exact same if they undergo the same process of being produced? The answer to that question is a no. We all have our favorite place to purchase this treat as either a full meal or a side to accompany a big, juicy burger. But, maybe you’re undecided to where your favorite place to get french fries are or maybe you just haven’t gotten the chance to experience everywhere in Pella that you can purchase them. Zach Vande Weerd and I (Trevor Argo) are here to present you the best place to buy french fries at a fast food chain.

McDonalds: The Golden Arches are iconic for their quality french fries and to some may be an automatic winner, but Zach and I came into this competition level headed. As always at McDonalds, the size/price ratio was excellent, scoring a four of five. Not only were we happy about the price, but we also were pleased with the appearance of our product. The fries were perfectly cut, and salt was crystallized onto the tips of them. Going into the first bite, Zach and I were expecting a great result for the taste, crispiness and temperature category, but we were thrown for a loop. The fries were lukewarm, at best, soggy, and had a good taste, but they were nothing spectacular. All these factors gave McDonalds a total score of 14/25.

Culver’s: The new guy to Pella…Culver’s. They have really made a mark with their food, but when it comes to their french fries, we found them to be below average. With their light brown outside, our expectations were set high. With our first bite, we found them to be needing a sauce due to the thick potato taste, which made for an overwhelmingly dry fry. Although the fries looked official with their perfect cut and light salt, they still fell to the end. With these, they ended up earning a 13/25.

Arby’s: Rolling up to the drive-through window, we faintly smelled a fried goodie. Their classic curly fry was freshly fried to perfection for us when we pulled up. When we got our bag of fries, we both stared at the perfectly darkened golden circles. With high expectations just from looking at the outside of them, we took our first bite and we were amazed. It was a perfect crunch, perfect taste, perfect overall. The fries were perfectly warm, crispy and had amazing taste. Gathering the facts and the scores, they pulled out the victory with a 20/25, a convincing win for the obvious winner.

Arby’s came out of nowhere and surprised us with their french fries, but they took the crown fair and square. Not only does Arby’s produce great fries, but where else can you buy a shaved roast beef sandwich as tasty and as big as theirs?

*Total scores were cumilated by a variety of judging areas including appearance, taste, crispiness, size/price ratio, and temperature based off a rating of 1-5 (5 being the best score)