Fatburger Fries Review: Doesn't Matter, Fat or Skinny

Fatburger proudly claims to be "The Last Great Hamburger Stand". They've been around since 1952 but only recently have started a rapid expansion. Currently they have over 200 stores across 20 countries with a focus on California and the West Coast. Apparently, they now have plans to launch 40 stores in Florida and 30 in France, so clearly they are on a tear. But given how rare it is to come by a 200 store chain, when we discovered a Fatburger in Manteca, CA, we had to pop in and try their fries.

Fatburger chains are often bundled with Buffalo's.

The special thing about Fatburger is that they have 2 kinds of fries: their "skinny" fries, which are your standard sized fries, and the "fat" fries, which are basically flat, long wedges. Obviously, it is clear that "Fat"burger wants you to try out the fat fries so naturally we accepted the quest. We ordered both variants so that we could make a fair comparison of just how fat these fries were. For this review, we will primarily score the fat fries (as that is their flagship) but will also provide the scores for the skinny (or regular) fries. Here is our review of Fatburger's fat and skinny fries.

First time we are seeing different fry sizes offered in a restaurant. This side-by-side will lead customers to go for the fat fries.

Texture (2/10)

For both of the fries, there was no crisp nor crunch. And this was prominent especially on the fat fries (where the skin to innards ratio is tiny), which were literally just lumpy sticks of potatoes. The insides were pretty mushy, and the fries barely held together. The skinnier ones are slightly better, but that's mainly because there's more crisp area rather than innards. We do not think that Fatburger is cooking the fat and skinny variants differently, but they definitely should. A cold, sliced, raw potato would have more structure and crunch than these fries.

Texture of both fat and skinny fries. The size difference is huge!

Flavor (1/10)

There was absolutely no salt on the fries. Again, these were literally just sticks of potatoes. The inside of the fries are super mushy and lukewarm, like mashed potatoes that have been chewed and spat out. There's nothing special about the oil, and there’s no seasoning. It's just potato. This was really disappointing.

Shape (3/10)

For the skinny fries they're your average McDonald's fries shape, but the big ones are basically a 2x4, but made with a potato. Roughly 6~8 of the skinny fries can be compacted to create the behemoth of a single fat stick. We are impressed that Fatburger could find potatoes this big to accomodate. Unforunately, we don't think there’s much effort that goes into making these fries. You just take some potatoes and you put them through a wider grid cutter. But because you can only get a few perfect stick from a single potato, many sticks are not consistent, and some of them even flop on their own weight.

Shapes are not consistent. Some of the fat fries are huge.

Presentation (4/10)

Both the fat and skinny fries came out in flimsy paper bags, sort of like the recent McDonald's large fry bags. These bags were built with wax paper and had their logo. We can see the intention of vertical insertion of the sticks but not much attention to detail has been made, and this shows in the fat sticks; there really aren't that many sticks so one screw up is visually prominent. Othere than this, there is nothing special about the presentation.

Both the fat and skinny variants are served in the same flimsy paper bag. There's really not much of a presentation here.

Experience (4/10)

The fries came out pretty late. It took quite a bit of time to get the fries to you, though you could argue that the fries are freshly prepared. Even if they are freshly made, that doesn’t make the fries worth the $4 we paid. The quantity and the quality are just simply not worth the price. We do have to give Fatburger kudos on the innovative idea of sticking to the "fat" theme and offering these huge fat fries. Out of all of our reviews, these must be the largest fries we have reviewed, and they stand their ground even compared to some of the wedges we reviewed (KFC, Greggs). For this, we're adding a booster point.

Texture	2
Flavor	1
Shape	3
Presentation	4
Experience	4
Overall	2.8 / 10

It may be the last great burger stand. But clearly not for fries.

Conclusion

Overall, we think that while this idea of a thinner and thicker fry was novel and fun, there was a lot to be desired in the way they executed this concept. Both fries definitely need more crisp and crunch, and the innards need to be less mushy, which means different cooking methods are needed for the fat variant. In terms of flavor and shape, some salt and consistency would be appreciated. There is definitely a potential in these uniquely huge sticks of potato so we hope Fatburger continues to innovate here.