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Did Wendy’s just ruin their bestselling menu item, french fries!? That’s what customers who are flooding Reddit, Twitter and other social media platforms are saying. In case you missed it, the restaurant re-launched this popular menu staple at the end of the summer, and now patrons of the food chain are coming out with all kinds of complaints about the new taste and texture of the classic side. According to the online reactions we’ve seen so far, people have a *very* strong dislike for the new “takeout-friendly” fries. Yikes!
New Delivery-Friendly Fries
The Ohio-based chain introduced a new French fry recipe in August that was meant to be more takeout-friendly in the pandemic era. As customers have stopped dining-in amid Covid, and are receiving their orders increasingly by takeout or delivery, Wendy’s like other U.S. food chains have had to evolve its menu accordingly.
The goal of the re-launch was to create a crispier, longer-lasting fry that would hold up in the car ride from the restaurant to the customer–whether that be in the customer’s car or a delivery driver. A “senior specialist of culinary” for the company named Emily Kessler said at the time,” We had to make sure that our fries stood up to the delivery experience, so they have the same fry texture and crispiness.” Which totally makes sense.
The company even put their money where their mouth was, offering to replace customer’s orders if the fries aren’t as hot and crispy as promised, and launching an ad campaign targeted at competitor McDonald’s “cold and soggy” frites. “They’re even preferred 2-to-1 over McDonald’s,” the voice over claims in the ad.
Well, we're not sure how they conducted their polling, because the Wendy's community on Reddit and Twitter had some very un-nice things to say about the new formula. First, the criticisms were benign enough; some called the new fries a copycat of Burger King's. "I've had enough Burger King fries to know that these Wendy's fries are in fact Burger King fries," one user Tweeted on September 20th. Then things quickly went downhill from there. "The new Wendy's fries are horrible," another agreed this week. A Reddit thread titled, "The new fries are complete garbage," has been upvoted 86% of the time. "Who else thinks Wendys "new" fries are gross and taste like Burger King?" bemoaned a Twitter user.
Who else thinks @Wendys "new" fries are gross and taste like Burger King? #oldfrieswin
— (@Exquisitefeast) October 8, 2021
Even the food bloggers were disappointed. The Takeout author Dennis Lee wrote, "Unfortunately, just because a fry is crisp doesn't mean it's good. A crisp cold fry is almost as disappointing as a completely cold soggy one, and mine were cold." Oh, the horror!
"They have like a bleach, chemically taste now," a Reddit user railed. "Not too mention the icky starchiness you get in your mouth after eating. I’ve totally stopped going." Yikes--soggy or damp french fries are starting to sound pretty good right now, aren't they?
