For me it is White Castle, Nathans and Burger King. Burger King just their onion rings are great, their fries terrible. Nathan’s has superb fries. And White Castle has both excellent onion rings and fries. One time I peaked behind the counter of White Castle and saw their bottles of frying oils and it said “LIQUID LARD”. Hope they still use that.
Nope McDonald’s ruined their fries long ago when they stopped using natural beef tallow because of some silly case who made it his mission to force an industry change to promote toxic man made oils. Follow the $$$$. Happens every time.
p.s. as a child I was one of the taste testers for Burger King. They had me try two or three types of new fries and wanted to know which one I liked the best. Had me eat a saltine cracker and drink some water between each type of fries I tried. Then they paid for my dinner
and my mom’s dinner. We lived in a professional upper class area at that time. So for some reason they chose that Burger King to do the testing. Even back then their fries were awful. Only liked McDonald’s fries in those days. Which were pre-change for the worse.
For me Del Taco and Jack in the Box have the best fries in terms of major fast food chains. Unfortunately I live in Chicago now, and we have neither of them out here.
I rarely have onion rings unless someone orders the appetizer sampler when we’re out at happy hour, so I don’t have a strong opinion about those one way or another.
I do agree that Nathan’s has good fries. Burger King is just meh, and I think White Castle is complete garbage in general, which I know the latter part is an unpopular opinion lol.
Interesting and appreciate the insight. No Del Taco’s anywhere around where I am on Long Island. And Jack in the Box is long gone. It is a shame. All the good places disappear. Same like Roy Rogers, which had excellent burgers chicken and that Gold Rush chicken sandwich. The Double R-bar was great too. Their bbq sauce had a hint of cinnamon in it. Unique and no one has similar. Today it is places like Wendy’s with blah food. Cold burgers and crappy fries. All for those without enough taste buds. But I digress.
You know everything Nathan’s makes is awesome. Except I don’t care for their dogs. Imagine that, the one item that made them famous LOL. And White Castle, you either love them or hate them. I love them. In fact I am going there on the way home from work. I have a coupon for 50% off. That is the only time I go now - with coupons. Last time I was there was like in January. Coupons are few and far between. I refuse to pay regular price.
I have found that local diners have the best of both. They are probably supplied by some big distributer and the diner’s take good care in frying them up. Just the right crinkle, taste and real onion rings and not the diced kind. To be honest, the golf course restraurant has the best onion rings. The serving size is obnoxious as a side for their lunch fare.
I agree that recreational establishments made wonderful rings and fries too. There was a bowling alley that years ago when I was a child made the best fries I ever had along with a public swimming pool concession stand that my Aunt worked at back then. They both used animal fats for the frying oils. Whether it was tallow or lard, I am not sure but the taste was off the charts at both locations. Crisp outside and soft inside. Without the grease soaked problem. Natural fat seals the outside preventing the sponge effect like vegetable oils give. Those days are long gone at them places today.
I went to Five Guys once and never returned. That was around the year 2005. My burgers were bland and cold. The fries were in a grease soaked paper bag and mushy without taste. And the cost was super expensive.
Agreed. Our local course has pretty amazing food… from their breakfast burrito to their club sandwich. Plus all their lunch fare comes with your choice of chips, fries, or onion rings.
Five Guys fries aren’t manufactured/processed which makes them different from most fast food fries. You can ask for them to be cooked well-done. That might make them more to your liking.
Five Guys is definitely too expensive. One opened here a few months ago, and I haven’t even been there, yet. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to a Five Guys.
I eat too many frozen fries from my air fryer anyway, so I rarely order fries from a fast food place. Onion rings are a different story. Freddy’s and Culver’s are much better than air fried frozen onion rings. Can’t agree with you on Burger King’s rings. I don’t like onion rings made from minced onions. Are they still made that way?
Yes Burger King still uses the minced onions. I like them both ways. The whole sliced onion is awesome too. BUT some diners use a batter that is smooth and tastes horrible. They are greasy too from the vegetable oil. I never order them but sometimes they appear on top of my cheeseburger so I remove them and leave them on the plate. Another problem with whole sliced rings is that you need to cut them with a knife because if you bite them - you end up pulling out the whole piece of onion from its coating. That is why the minced onion is better. But like I said I like both. Diners should supply scissors at the table. Those would be ideal to cut up the rings first.
