10 Chain Restaurant Cheese Fries, Ranked Worst To Best

Ah, cheese fries: The snack food equivalent of wrapping yourself in a big, fuzzy blanket with your favorite show on the TV, your go-to drink in your cup, and nowhere to be. The salty starchiness of the potatoes and the creamy, melty goodness of hot cheese sauce is truly a match made in heaven. Indeed, of all the incredible recipes to try with cheese sauce, cheese fries might be one of the best and simplest.

Although the simplicity of this yummy, feel-good comfort food is an undeniable upside, it also leaves room for potential disaster. Simplicity means there's nowhere to hide. All the flavors and textures have to be spot on, or the entire dish suffers with soggy fries, unnatural-tasting cheese, or an unpleasant combination of the two.

Thus, one has to be careful in assuming every restaurant will master the art of a just-right cheese fry. Not all cheesy fries are created equal, which, of course, begs the question — which is the best? This query sent me on a fry noshing spree across town, where I searched for the crunchiest, saltiest fast food french fries with the most lush, tasty cheese sauces. I delve into how I chose my cheese fry options (and how I judged them) in the methodology section at the end of this article. In the meantime, here are the cheesy fries I would wholeheartedly recommend — and the ones I'd politely suggest you skip.

I entered my taste-testing experiment with Sonic knowing full well that I've never been partial to its fried foods. I've always thought its batter tasted too sweet — a byproduct, I recently learned, of the onion rings that get coated in melted vanilla ice cream during the frying process. Even sides that don't get this treatment still taste oddly sweet to me, leaving an annoyingly cloying taste in the back of my mouth.

Thus, I wasn't at all surprised to find these cheesy fries at the bottom of my list. Although Sonic's Cheese Groovy Fries boasted a pleasantly crunchy texture, this notable benefit is overshadowed by a batter recipe that feels oddly bland and saccharine at the same time.

Economically speaking, Sonic didn't offer much bang for your buck. The cheese sauce was scantily covering only part of my boat of french fries. Considering the importance of the "cheese" element of my "cheese fries" experiment, I would say that this fast food chain failed to deliver.

I had high hopes about Arby's Curly Fries with Cheddar Sauce because, under normal circumstances, I'm a big fan of this fast food chain's curly fries. Arby's curly fries typically have a tasty seasoning blend in their batter, featuring notes of paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne powder. The cheesy fries order I received had an impressive amount of curly fries in the container, and I dug in happily. However, the new-to-me addition of melted cheese left much to be desired.

Upon first bite, I was immediately taken aback by the plasticky flavor of the melted cheddar sauce. I'm not sure how Arby's stores its cheese sauce, and I wonder if the flavor had something to do with the time the sauce spent in a plastic bag before being served to me. In any case, the unnatural flavor was enough to turn me off.

Credit where credit is due, I will say that out of all the cheesy fries I tried in my taste-testing experiment, Arby's had one of the biggest portion sizes. If you can get past the flavor of the cheese sauce, you'd definitely be getting a big bang for your buck.

When I pulled into my local Hardee's drive-thru, I was cautiously optimistic about ordering the cheesy fries. The restaurant wasn't very busy, but it took a considerable amount of time for my order to be ready, which I thought might mean they were making the fries fresh to order. While this could have been true, this freshness didn't translate to a better flavor profile.

Instead, eating these straight-cut french fries tasted like eating food at the fair. There's an undeniable nostalgia that comes with this greasy flavor, but it's not necessarily one that I would seek out on a special, non-fair occasion. Moreover, I wasn't a fan of how underdone these fries tasted — but this might have been a location-specific problem and not a Hardee's issue.

The one saving grace of this particular cheese fry order was the sheer quantity of both french fries and cheese sauce. For only a few bucks, this restaurant gave you plenty of cheese fries to make you feel like you got your money's worth.

As someone who lives in a college town where Cookout is the only restaurant open past 1 a.m., I've spent many a late night in this restaurant's drive-thru, waiting for a tray full of fried food goodness. Prior to this experiment, however, I had never tried its cheese fries specifically. I opted out of Cookout's chili cheese fry options, although I didn't doubt that this additional topping leveled up these french fries.

Instead, I stuck with just cheese fries to keep my experiment as even across the board as possible. Unfortunately, the "just cheese fries" option didn't really hit the mark. The french fries themselves were crispy enough, and I appreciated that the breading didn't add any extra flavors that affected the overall dish. The potato flavor was definitely present, and there weren't overwhelming hints of grease.

Nevertheless, the melted cheese sauce was scant, covering only a small portion of the fries. The sauce also had a sort of plasticky aftertaste, which put a damper on the whole dish.

Prior to this snack experiment, I had never been to a Wingstop. Thus, I was going in with no preconceived notions or assumptions, which was a promising way to taste-test a new dish. Sadly, I wasn't blown away. To begin on a positive note, I enjoyed that Wingstop uses straight-cut fries that leave the potato skins on. The earthy quality that remains in these kinds of natural-cut fries helps deepen the starchy flavor of the potatoes in a way that I really enjoy.

However, I was surprised at the lack of salt. That might be great for some snackers, but for me, salt is a critical component of my favorite snack foods. In some ways, the lack of saltiness helped the flavor of the potatoes shine, so maybe I'd chalk this negative note up to personal preference.

I was a fan of Wingstop's cheese sauce specifically. There was plenty of it, which is always preferred when noshing on cheese fries, and this melty, creamy sauce had a natural flavor with no noticeable plasticky flavors like others I tried.

Taco Bell is a fairly recent addition to the cheese fry game, having only just introduced its Nacho Fries in the late 2010s. I was just as excited as the next Taco Bell lover when these first came out, if for no other reason than novelty. I happily ordered them in their inaugural year, then shortly after that, I went back to my normal, fry-less order from The Bell.

Revisiting them years later, I have to wonder if Taco Bell is wasting precious energy trying to do too many things at once. Restaurants have specialties for a reason. I wouldn't go to Burger King for a taco, and, conversely, I don't picture myself going back to Taco Bell for french fries. The seasoned crunch of Taco Bell's nacho fries is definitely better than nothing, but it's not something I would voluntarily revisit.

One notable plus side of Taco Bell's Nacho Fries is the cheese sauce, which is the classic, slightly peppery sauce you typically get with regular nachos — a mild kick of flavor that takes me right back to late nights in college.

I've been a fan of Wendy's fries ever since the fast food chain restaurant switched over to French fries with potato skins still attached in the early 2010s. While I had never tried its cheese fries before, I was hopeful that cheese would only elevate this tasty snack even further. For the most part, my hopes were proven right.

The most noticeable aspect of Wendy's melty cheese sauce is how natural it looked. Other fast food chains' cheese sauces are perfectly smooth, bright orange concoctions that can't possibly be totally natural. Wendy's cheese sauce had a slightly greasy sheen to it, and, while that doesn't necessarily sound appetizing, it reminded me of the way regular cheddar cheese — a surprisingly satisfying cheese to make, by the way — looks when you melt it down from a solid slice.

Generally speaking, these weren't the best cheesy fries I've ever had. They weren't the worst, either, though, and I would definitely order them again if I found myself back at a Wendy's.

The award for perfectly pleasant, deliciously okay cheese fries would have to go with Culver's French Fries with Cheddar Sauce. This hot and tasty snack is a great example of the inherent simplicity of this dish. Culver's crinkle-cut fries were hot, crunchy, salty, and full of fresh potato flavor — no remnants of the oil it was just deep fried in before making its way to me.

The cheese sauce, though not served directly on the fries, had an exceptionally fresh and creamy flavor. Despite what its smooth texture and bright color might suggest, this cheese sauce didn't taste like it was full of chemicals, though I'm sure it technically is. There was no noticeable spice kick, which I would typically enjoy. However, in this case, I didn't find myself missing this element too terribly.

Overall, Culver's certainly delivered with its cheese fries. No muss, no fuss, just tasty, salty goodness with a delectable cheese sauce for dipping. I don't often go to Culver's, but I might return specifically for this yummy snack.

Buffalo Wild Wings gives you the option to indulge in totally loaded french fries with chili, bacon crumbles, and several dry rub options. The casual food chain also offers multiple cheese options if you're in the market for just cheesy fries, like I was, including shredded cheddar jack cheese and melted hatch queso. I splurged and did both cheese options, because sometimes you have to live a little, you know?

With the addition of hatch queso, I anticipated Buffalo Wild Wings' cheese fries being one of the tastier options I tried during this experiment, and I was correct. The creamy queso was full of peppery flavor that was unlike any other cheese sauce I tried in my french fry frenzy, and the cheddar jack cheese certainly didn't hurt. Buffalo Wild Wings didn't skimp on the cheese, either, dousing the french fries in plenty of it, which made the upcharges worth it.

Speaking of the french fries, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed this restaurant chain's variety, since I don't typically associate Buffalo Wild Wings with its potato side dishes. The fries had a healthy coating of salt and pepper, which elevated the hot, fresh potato flavor nicely.

Penn Station isn't typically my go-to spot for sub sandwiches, though, if I ate red meat, the public praise for Penn Station's best sandwich is almost enough to convince me to eat there more regularly. In any case, this tasting experiment was the first time I ever tried the fast food chain's french fries with cheese sauce. Based solely on looks, I was immediately impressed with how much food I got in my order. I received a massive cup overflowing with french fries and a large cup of hot, melty cheese sauce that had me salivating at the thought of my first bite.

After trying the french fries out, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these cheesy fries tasted as good as they looked. Penn Station's natural-cut fries were the perfect blend of a soft potato center and crunchy outer breading. Some fry bits were crunchier than some might like, but as someone who enjoys things that are cooked just past the point of being done, I enjoyed this well-done flavor quite a bit.

I was also a big fan of this fast food chain's cheese sauce. Full of creamy, cheesy flavor with no plasticky aftertaste, I found myself returning to this cheese sauce over any of the other ones I tried during my experiment.

To begin my experiment, I researched which fast food restaurants in my area served cheese fries. I included some casual dining restaurants, like Buffalo Wild Wings, because I felt this chain was close enough to fast food to count in my ranking. I opted strictly for cheese fries, avoiding additional ingredients, like chili or veggies. One minor exception to this rule were extra cheese sauces, like the hatch queso I included in my Buffalo Wild Wings order. I tried all my cheesy fries options within a half hour of ordering to get the freshest flavor possible.

I ranked all the cheesy fries based on the flavor and texture of the french fries as well as the flavor and texture of the cheese sauce. I then ordered the cheesy fries, from worst to best, based on which fast food chains received the highest marks in either category.