Instagram Food Wars: The Curly Fry Conundrum

Because sometimes, plain old french fries are just not enough, you get a craving for something different. If Sonic was still in town, you could go for tater tots, some other places go for onions rings but if you want to keep yourself in fry territory, you could go for curly fries.

Wikipedia (the font of all knowledge) describes curly fries thusly:

Curly fries are characterized by their spring-like shape. They are generally made from whole potatoes that are cut using a specialized spiral slicer. They are also typically characterized by the presence of additional seasonings (which give the fries a more orange appearance when compared to the more yellow appearance of standard fries), although this is not always the case. This seasoning also gives the fries a slightly spicier taste than standard fries.

So in reality, there's not much difference- save for the slicing technique and the extra seasoning- though I wish Wikipedia would have let us know exactly what some of those extra seasonings are.

In the I.C. Metro area, you've got two main choices- Arby's and Hardees. First up, we've got Arby's...

I was pleasantly surprised. The only kind of fries that Arby's has now are curly fries- talk about dedication! They're pleasantly orange in color, nicely curly- and always a plus for fries in my world, not that salty or greasy. Some people are a fan of salty fries- I'm not- I like a little bit of spice and actual potato flavor and Arby's hits all the right notes.

Next up, we've got their counterpart in curly fries- Hardee's

There's a lot I like about Hardee's. While a lot of other fast food joints went healthier, Hardee's doubled down on their commitment to making a good burger- they didn't flip their middle finger at everybody like the infamous Heart Attack Grill but they did say that they were making burgers and they weren't about to apologize for it. I like that and their curly fries are pretty damn good too.

Correction: their crispy curls are pretty damn good too.  They're curlier for one, better seasoned for another and that, ultimately gives Hardee's the edge in the curly fry conundrum.

The Winner: With curlier curls and better seasoned fries, Hardee's takes the prize.