Two Chains in MN Now Serve the Best Fries in the Country

Here in Minnesota, we're famous for our 10,000 lakes, but it turns out the North Star State is also a premier destination for the nation's most elite, golden-fried treasures. And you don't need a five-star reservation for this world-class side dish, just a stop at these two familiar local favorites.

Why French Fries Are One of America’s Favorite Foods

Is there a more popular side dish here in the North Star State and across the country than French fries these days? Reader's Digest recently ranked French fries as the fifth-most popular food in the U.S., and said the average American consumes 48 pounds of fries a year!

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While that seems like a lot, that estimate seems to make sense, seeing as French fries have been around for a while. AllRecipes says that the origin of the familiar French fry dates back to the 1700s in either France or Belgium, depending on which story you believe.

Chefs Reveal the Best French Fries in the U.S.

So, yeah-- we eat a lot of French fries. So it also makes sense that a lot of places serve French fries, right? But where are the BEST fries in the country? That's the question, Eat This, Not That! tried to answer. They did so by surveying professional chefs and culinary experts about just which places were their favorite spots for fries.

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The bad news for us here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes is that of the top ten places they mentioned that served the best French fries, only two of them can be found here in Minnesota. The good news, though, is that those two restaurant chains have multiple locations here in the Gopher State.

The Top Places to Get French Fries in Minnesota

So, where ARE the best places in Minnesota to get some fries? Coming in first in the survey would be the Golden Arches of McDonald's. Eat This, Not That! said, "Of course, this classic fast-food pick is a favorite, even among chefs with sophisticated palettes," and continued saying, "Other chefs we polled previously seem to agree, with multiple pros choosing McDonald's as their go-to fry spot."

McDonald's restaurants are, of course, fairly easy to find across Minnesota, as well. In fact, this story notes that there are around 216 current locations open here in the North Star State.

Meanwhile, coming in at #2 on the Eat This, Not That! list of the Best Places to Get French Fries was the Five Guys chain. Several professional chefs in the survey noted that the peanut oil Five Guys uses to fry its fries gives them a unique flavor. The Five Guys website says there are currently 23 locations open throughout Minnesota.

But that's where our luck runs out. The remaining restaurant chains noted on the Eat This, Not That! survey do not appear to have any locations here in Minnesota. Check out the full Eat This Not That list below:

The Eat This, Not That! 'Best Places in America To Get French Fries, According to Chefs' List 

1. McDonald's
2. Five Guys
3. Nathan's Famous
4. Friskie Fries
5. Balthazar
6. DNB Craft Chicken
7. The Backyard Public House
8. Pommes Frites NYC
9. Wood Ranch
10. Zinc Cafe & Market