French Fry Favorites From All 50 States

You want fries with that? A phrase often used as a pejorative when addressing someone or something that failed to reach a higher level of potential or accomplishment.  But let's be honest, most of us DO WANT fries! We love fries and on average we each eat about 30 pounds worth every year.

I'll go first...Here's my Top Three Favorite Fries

1.)Wendy's

2.)King's Row

3.) McDonald's

The Daily Meal has a fun article about french fries..."The Brits eat their chips thick-cut with salt and malt vinegar, Canadians eat theirs drenched in brown gravy, and Belgians eat fries dipped in mayonnaise...There are at least 15 different styles of fry in existence: standard, waffle, thick-cut, Belgian, curly, steak, shoestring, crinkle-cut, sweet potato, cottage, side-winding, tornado, wedge and smiley face, in addition to tots, if you count those as fries."

Fox News reports that just about everybody in every state has a favorite. A search of google trends by Spruce reveals the state-by-state most popular choice. The Northwest's fav's are  AK – Taco Bell, ID – McDonald’s, MT – McDonald’s, OR – McDonald’s and WA – Dairy Queen. (Washington is the only state preferring DQ fries as the first choice)

How do you take yours?  "Broken down regionally, the Midwest was split between waffles fries and curly fries. The South was all-in on waffle fries. The West was also split, but between curly fries and cheese fries. The Northeast favored home fries."

I had my very first McDonald's fry (North Dakota's top choice) on a college basketball road trip to Minot, North Dakota in the early 1970's.

When you think Dakota agriculture you probably think wheat but the Red River Valley is the nation’s largest producer of red potatoes for the fresh market, producing over 500 million pounds. The region as a whole is the third largest potato-producing region in the country, producing potatoes for all four of the major markets: chip, fresh, seed, and processed.  Only Idaho and Washington grow more.

In fact, the largest fry feed in the world, the Potato Bowl, takes place in Grand Forks, North Dakota, 60 miles east of my childhood farm.   According to their website, up to 10,000 people attend each year!

You want fries with that?  Absolutely we do?  What's your favorite?