"Soggy Fries" and 7 Other Restaurant Reviews to Avoid

Soggy fries can easily ruin a meal. In fact, that customer may never come back. If that sounds like an exaggeration to you, check out reviews of restaurant fries online. Here’s just a sample of what we found:

Clearly, patrons are passionate about their fries and vengeful online when restaurants disappoint. In this article, we share some of the most commonly-aired complaints about french fries and what you can do to prevent them before your reputation takes a hit.

Soggy fries, the granddaddy of customer complaints

As Americans, we have certain expectations. The sun will rise in the east. The World Series will be played in October. And french fries will be crisp. Woe to the restaurant that serves limp fries.

How do you fix soggy fries?

To ensure your crispy fries maintain their quality as long as possible, opt for battered or clear-coated fries like Simplot’s Conquest These fries boast a 40+ minute hold time, ensuring a crispy exterior, fluffy interior and delicious potato flavor. Plus they’re versatile enough to use as your everyday, dine-in fry.

Other Simplot fries that hold their crispness include:

• Simplot SeasonedCRISP with 30+ minutes of hold time, available in 11 cuts.

• Simplot Infinity—A fast-cooking option ideal for high-volume operators. Bakeable, too.

• Simplot Megacrunch® Fries—Six cuts featuring our thickest, unseasoned batter for extra crispness, baked or fried.

• Simplot Thundercrunch—The biggest crunch of any Simplot fry. Also bakeable.

For takeout and delivery, choose packaging that lets steam vent

We recommend paper containers like bags and lidded serving containers that offer good temperature retention, strength, and ventilation to allow steam to escape.

Alternatively, plastic containers are sturdy enough for travel but harder to justify environmentally. And while Styrofoam is a great insulator, it’s controversial and prone to making food soggy. If you must use plastic or Styrofoam, always punch holes in them for ventilation.

No one likes soggy loaded fries either

Loaded fries demand a coated fry that can stay crisp under all those moist toppings. For these applications, you can’t beat Simplot’s Conquest and Simplot SeasonedCRISP

As you can see below, not all fries are up to the task.

For crisp loaded fries and appetizers, we also recommend:

• SIDEWINDERS™ Fries Junior Cut featuring Conquest

• SIDEWINDERS™ Fries Junior Cut featuring SeasonedCRISP

• SeasonedCRISP® Delivery+® Slice

• Simplot Megacrunch® Lattice Cut

Cold fries taste like "leftovers"

Fries are a delicacy not easily replicated at home. To enjoy them, you have to go out to eat, so the anticipation builds throughout the day. So, like soggy fries, cold fries inevitably leave diners feeling regretful and angry.

How to keep fries warm after cooking

For dine-in, consider a clear-coated fry like Simplot Conquest to extend crispness up to 15 minutes after frying. To ensure your fries are warm when they reach the table, serve them fresh from the fryer if possible.

Otherwise, keep them warm in a holding station under a heat lamp or on a steam table. But don’t leave them there long. Be sure the first fries into your holding stations are the first fries out, so customers don’t get stale, leftover fries.

And never refry your already-cooked fries to warm them up!

Off flavors: “They almost had a fish taste to them”

One of the least appreciated factors in making great fries is the condition of the oil you use. A well-used kettle of fryer oil should be filtered at least once a day. In addition, any free-floating bits and slivers of fries should be skimmed from the deep fryer by hand.

Together these efforts extend the life of your oil, a very expensive commodity these days. Read more about how to prolong the life of your fryer oil and save money.

Finally, be mindful of the other items you’re frying in the same oil. Deep frying other items like seafood can impart unwanted flavors into the oil that taint your fries. And you can count on your fry customers noticing.

Greasy fries get the “thumbs down”

Greasiness is the calling card for so-called “bargain fries,” inexpensive fries that seem like a good deal compared to premium fries. But bargain fries typically contain much more water than premium fries (which are higher in solids). When bargain fries are cooked in hot oil, all that water evaporates, drawing excessive oil inside the fries. Thus, greasy fries. (Hand-cut fries are often considered greasy for the same reasons.)

To avoid greasy fries, always purchase a premium frozen fry like Simplot SIDEWINDERS™ Fries, Simplot Blue Ribbon, Simplot Classic, Simplot Infinity, Simplot Conquest or any of our seasoned/batter fries like Simplot SeasonedCrisp You’ll save on fryer oil too since they absorb less.

Finally, make sure you’re cooking the fries to the proper time and temperature printed on the case. And never fill a basket to more than half full. An over-full basket causes the fryer to heat the fries more slowly, leading to undercooking.

Your fries matter more than you know

Fried potatoes are America’s favorite side dish—and were the #1 source of delivery complaints during the pandemic.^{1, 2} With online reviews ever more important for a restaurant’s success, it pays to make sure your fries are worth the wait. To help you serve the best fries possible, we’ve created a free, online training that you can share with your staff. The price of soggy fries—and cold fries and greasy fries and fishy fries—is just too high.

¹ The NPD Group/Crest®, Dec. 2019 ² Datassential, Consumer OmniNow, December 2020