Our favorite fast-food fries

The main story about our favorite french fries can get a little frou-frou with the pomme frites and all that jazz, but most fry fans got their starts at chain-restaurant drive-throughs. We honor a few of our first-love faves.

Five Guys

The emphasis is on both quality of potato (the farm from which the spuds came is listed every day) and quantity. The regular fries are crispy and well-spiced, so there’s no reason to go for the more aggressively seasoned Cajun version. Bonus: The portions are the potato equivalent of The Neverending Story.

Mooyah Burgers

Like Five Guys, Mooyah goes for quantity: A “small” serving is served in a cup that’s so overflowing, it’s practically a double order. But the emphasis here is on softer, non-crispy skin-on fries with a strong potato flavor, an addictive saltiness, and, if you get a to-go order, an aroma that will have you eating out of the bag well before you get home.

In-N-Out Burger

Now, hear me out. Order your fries “well-done,” In-N-Out parlance for extra-crispy, and you won’t be sorry. Unless you order them as cheese fries (with two slices of cheese melted on top). That’d be OK, too.

Chick-fil-A

The waffle shape yields a greater surface area for frying. Hence, the crunch. But you already knew this. You’re probably in the drive-through lane right now.

McDonald’s

Of course, consistency may vary, but who can hold a shoestring-shaped candle to the perfection that is a salty, crispy, fresh-from-the-fryer fry from McDonald’s?

—Anna Caplan

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Our favorite fast-food fries."