Less Than 15% Of People Love This Type Of French Fry Best
The oft-repeated saying "there's no such thing as bad pizza" could just as easily be applied to French fries. So established are French fried potatoes as a classic comfort food side dish that, it's almost impossible to imagine having a hamburger without them. This opinion appears to be shared by an overwhelming majority of Americans, since according to National Geographic, the typical American consumes almost 30 pounds of them each year.
But wonderful as they are, let's be honest, not all French fries are created equally. There are now a rich variety of French fry cuts and styles, from standard and shoestring to waffle, wedge, and beyond ... all more or less delicious. Which one is best? That's a good question. So good, in fact, that we decided to poll our readers to see if there was a public consensus.
The results of our Tasting Table survey of 515 people were both highly revealing and somewhat surprising. Four of the five options we shared on the poll garnered more than 15% of the vote. Standard and curly fries finished as the two favorites, but the vote was very close. The former received 27.77% of responses (143 votes), while the latter finished with 26.02% (134 votes).
The most (and least) popular French fry styles
Standard fries also finished first in The New York Times' rankings. Perhaps Americans place a high value on history and tradition or maybe this is simply a nod to McDonald's, whose thin-cut fries have been a beloved benchmark in the category for decades. McDonald's French fries are so popular, in fact, that per the South Florida Reporter, they account for an estimated 7% of all U.S. grown potatoes.
Standard and curly are thus the undeniable favorites when it comes to French fry styles. The least favorite, by contrast, was wedge cut, which found support from only 11.07% of our respondents (57 votes). Finishing in third and fourth place, respectively, were waffle and shoestring French fries. Waffle was the favorite style of 17.67% of those polled (91 votes), while shoestring finished just behind that mark with 17.48% (90 votes).
You may not agree with the results, but if they've inspired you, we'd suggest celebrating with your own favorite style for National French Fry Day, which according to the National Day Calendar, is coming up soon on July 13.