NORFOLK- My best friend Kelsey Kelley and I both have always had a deep love for cheese fries. We thought it would be a great idea to go to all the different fast-food restaurants in town that serve these fries and challenge ourselves to determine the best one.  

We judged the cheese fries based on a few things. First, the cheese. We expect the cheese to be melted and that the restaurant does not go skimpy on it. The fry.  Everything needs a good foundation and the original fry is very important. The cheese to fry ratio. This is a necessary piece to determine the best cheese fries. It needs to be balanced well. We also judged the flavor.  We expected a rich cheesy flavor, but also to be able to taste the original fries and the other components that may also come with the dish. Last but not least presentation. We did not want the dish to look too sloppy, we preferred the placement of everything to be thought out and well put together. In each category we gave a score of one to 10, 10 being the best.   

Culvers– Culvers technically does not have cheese fries, only chili cheese fries, so we asked to get them without chili to make the competition fair, but we ended up getting the original fries with a side of the Wisconsin cheese, this will be affected in the judging. This came to a total of $5.21 with tax and an iced tea. 

THE CHEESE- 9 

THE FRY-9.5  

THE CHEESE TO FRY RATIO-7 

THE FLAVOR- 9 

PRESENTATION-6 

TOTAL SCORE- 40.5 

I was really looking forward to having the fries and cheese originally together, but they were really accommodating by giving us two cheese sauces. “The cheese was a very good flavor to go along with the fries, it was a really good consistency, thick but not too thin,” Kelley said.  

Wendy’s- These Baconator fries have been a top favorite for us prior to this experience, so we have a special place in our heart for these fries. As presented in the name these cheese fries also feature bacon The total of these fries with tax is $2.82.  

THE CHEESE- 9 

THE FRY-8.5 

THE CHEESE TO FRY RATIO-8.5 

FLAVOR-9.5 

PRESENTATION-7 

TOTAL SCORE-42.5 

Upon our first impression after receiving the fries, we were both a little disappointed at the cheese not being melted to our standards especially because these have been our number one. However, the cheese did continue to melt as time went on. “The fries are a very good match to be paired with cheese and bacon,” Kelley said. 

Sonic- Like with Culvers, Sonic has chili cheese fries, so we had decided to personally request the fries and cheese alone. We have both agreed that Sonic does not have the best fries around, so we were not expecting these to be anything incredible. This total came to $2.71. 

THE CHEESE- 4 

THE FRY-5 

THE CHEESE TO FRY RATIO-3 

THE FLAVOR-2 

PRESENTATION-8 

TOTAL SCORE-22 

First of all, the cheese seemed to peel off in a thick layer on top of the fries. It seemed melted, but it was just in a chunk on top and no cheese was on the fries at the bottom. It appeared they took a slice of cheese and stuck it on top and put it in the microwave. “The whole experience was subpar, only the top fries were covered and they didn’t have any flavor, I felt like I was chewing nothing,” Kelley said. 

We both thought the cheese smelled good, and it looked to be very well melted, but this was misleading, as the cheese had little flavor. Because of the appearance of melting, it earned high presentation points. 

Arby’s- We had tried these loaded curly fries once before in the past but needed a refresher going into this experience. These curly fries also include bacon as well as a parmesan peppercorn ranch sauce. The total of these fries with tax came to $3.26.  

THE CHEESE- 8 

THE FRY-8.5 

THE CHEESE TO FRY RATIO-8 

FLAVOR- 9.5 

PRESENTATION-9.5 

TOTAL SCORE-43.5 

“I would say it has a very good smoky, barbecue-like flavor too it,” Kelley said.

I was pretty impressed and did not expect the loaded fries to be this good. The flavor was incredible, the ranch really added something innovative. It gave it a unique taste that other places did not have. The bacon pieces included were large in size. We also thought that the price was a good value because it came in a decent-sized dish.  

Tastee Treat- I personally have had these fries before and currently think very highly of them. However, Kelley has not had these fries before.

“I always love trying new foods, especially cheese fries, so I am excited to experience them from a new place,” she said.

These crinkle-cut fries include their famous tastee meat as well. The total of these tastee cheese fries came to a total of $6.88 along with two drinks and tax.  

THE CHEESE- 5 

THE FRY- 9 

THE CHEESE TO FRY RATIO- 6 

FLAVOR- 8.5 

PRESENTATION- 7 

TOTAL SCORE- 35.5 

“Reminds me of my moms cooking, it has that homestyle feel,” Kelley said.

We both did agree that the Tastee meat was a little too much in contrast to the amount of fries and cheese. Compared to the other restaurants, the cheese was completely melted and had a creamy consistency. The improvement we would make is to add more cheese. However, they had an overall good taste and we highly recommend these as well.  

All in all, Arby’s won by a score of 43.5, winning over Wendy’s by one point. We think this is well deserving because of how original the Arby’s loaded fries are. No matter what, all cheese fries are a great side dish to have (except maybe Sonics). Leave a comment if you have had any of these fries and your opinion on them.