i heart Carl's Jr crinkle cut fries

April 9, 2008 8:26 PM

Remember the crinkle cut fries that Carl's Jr used to serve? I suddenly have a craving for them. Is there anywhere in Southern California (or heck, anywhere in the U.S., for my future travel reference) that has fries that are even remotely similar?
posted by edjusted to food & drink (16 comments total)

I just read an article about someone bringing back these types of fries - which I hadn't heard of formally (not been to Carls Jr), but am familiar with. Search for "extruded fries" and you will (hopefully) find what you seek.
posted by SassHat at 8:39 PM on April 9, 2008

Del Taco has crinkle cut fries.
posted by equalpants at 8:47 PM on April 9, 2008

Maybe an OreIda crinkle cut? That's as close as I can get, other than Del Taco whose fries are just a sloppy, flacid mess in comparison. Carl's used to make the best apple pies, too!
posted by malocchio at 8:48 PM on April 9, 2008

Alexia makes some decent crinkle cut varieties. Straightforward ingredients there also.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:22 PM on April 9, 2008

This blog attempts to deconstruct Carl's Jr fries.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:24 PM on April 9, 2008

CrissCut fries?? Carl's Jr. still makes them. I'm confused.
posted by clh at 9:41 PM on April 9, 2008

Chick-Fil-A has them. Store locator.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:48 PM on April 9, 2008

Friendly's used to have these types of fries but their online menu shows only 'waffle cut' fries and normal fries.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 9:49 PM on April 9, 2008

There seems to be a bit of confusion. Carl's *crinkle* cut fries were made from reconstituted potatoes. Basically...imagine potatoes made into sort of like a ground beef consistency, then extruded through a play-dough french fry maker. Super crispy on the inside, really fluffy and airy on the inside.

Del Taco's is a tiny bit similar but not close enough for my craving and Chick-Fil-A's is unfortunately totally different. I'll have to check out Alexia's and OreIda actually comes a bit closer than Del Taco's. And I shall search for "extruded fries."

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Keep 'em coming!
posted by edjusted at 9:56 PM on April 9, 2008

Chick-Fil-A has them

Nah, you're thinking of waffle fries. Carl's Jr had weird potato dough fries. See the blog post I linked to for more info.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:58 PM on April 9, 2008

Del Taco, as said. Also, I seem to run into them at non-chain fast food joints, like truck stops or mom and pop greasy spoons.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:23 PM on April 9, 2008

Not sure, but what you're describing sounds very close to something called "crispy fries" in most frozen food sections. The OreIda name is "Crispers." Look for something like this at your supermarket. It's an extruded potato and dehydrated potato product engineered to be crispy whether you bake them or fry 'em. In cross-section, it's obvious that they're made by forcing some kind of paste through a die (like Play-Doh goodies.)

Check it out. I think this may be what you're looking for. The bad news is I don't know of any FF places that serve 'em so you're on your own for prep.
posted by Opposite George at 1:11 AM on April 10, 2008

I agree with everyone here about the frozen fries that are like this, those are the kind you're talking about.

I know of a bunch of local fast food joints that have these kind of fries where I live in the Midwest, but none of them are national chains. The biggest chain I know of that has them is Culver's, but they don't have anything in California. One thing that I've noticed is that that this style of fries tends to be very common in places that specialize in hotdogs.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:57 AM on April 10, 2008

Everybody goes to Milo's. At least, everybody in Alabama does.

Plus, they are easy to eat when you're driving in the dark because the fries glow safety orange with all the seasoned salt.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:01 AM on April 10, 2008

Del Taco

Locations
posted by jabberjaw at 4:12 PM on April 10, 2008

Shake Shack in NYC has them.
posted by o2b at 12:52 PM on April 11, 2008