McDonald's Fries Review (2026): Recalibrating the Benchmark

It has been a year since we reviewed the fries from McDonald’s: a classic, everyday fast-food chain that has defined what fast-food looks like throughout the world. Our McDonald's fries review from 2025, scoring 6.0, served as the ultimate benchmark to calibrate all fries thereon after. So you can really say we have emotions when we think about the brand and its golden arches.

In the past year, we have also reviewed McDonald's fries from other parts of the world - Japan (3.0), Korea (3.6), UK (4.0), etc. to name a few, and quickly realized that their fries do not taste equal but rather vary widely in our scoring system. And yes, no country yet has defeated the US benchmark.

However, after 47 fries reviewed and counting, we feel that our palates and rating system could have evolved and drifted. Also, perhaps McDonald's themselves too have tweaked their recipes over time. Since McDonald’s fries serve as the yardstick for all other reviews, it is essential that we recalibrate our benchmark and standards. So here is the recalibration review of McDonald's fries.

Texture (6 → 6/10)

Hot and fresh, the fries were nice and crisp, and although that is true, the crunch was a little bit of a let down, as the satisfying feeling of crunching down on a nice, fresh fry was not fulfilled. Although the crunch was missing some luster, the innards were well done, and the interior to exterior ratio was acceptable, having just enough inside to compensate for the crisp on the exterior.

You really have to make an effort to not do texture well on a McDonald's fries. They have perfected the process for consistency throughout thousands of locations.

Flavor (6 → 5/10)

The outside of the fry was salted with no other seasonings, as this is the classic fries we all have come to accept, although a little bit more salt would have been appreciated. Unfortunately, the crisp on the outside paired with the slight lacking of salt created a dry and arid flavor, which was boring as there were no other seasonings on the fry. However, there was still a prominent enjoyable oily taste to each fry, which helped compensate. McDonald's has kept their recipe just the same, except this branch may have salted it slightly less.

Shape (7 → 4/10)

The fries were slightly thinner than a finger about the length of one, too. Although the fries were easy to grab and did not slip out of the fingers, they were very inconsistent in size, as some were as long as a pencil while others were about as long as a thumbnail. The fries were also floppy, bending and turning at various angles, but surprisingly, keeping shape and not falling apart. This is the category that is taking a 3 points hit. No more are the incredibly long golden sticks primed for dipping in ketchup. Perhaps McDonald's is using a different type of potato or a slightly thinner cutter. Again, quite disappointing to see quality erosion here.

The shape is highligh inconsistent. This means that we have a wider variance in potatoe sizes.

Presentation (3 → 2/10)

The fries were presented in a paper bag, which, firstly for the large size of fries did not give as many portions as thought, but also wasn’t the signature McDonald’s carton, which is made so the fries can nicely fit into the carton and stay standing. The standing fries are indeed the hallmark of McDonald's fries, so much so that the fries emoji 🍟 itself is exactly that. Somehow McDonald's continues to ignore this and carry on the tradition. This paper bag, along with not containing as many fries as it should, also could not stand upright and was small, floppy, and frankly boring. We believe this is truly a missed opportunity and hope McDonald's addresses this fast.

The presentation is quite sad, especially as we know what it used to be.

Experience (8 → 6/10)

Although the fries themselves weren’t as special as this blog is supposed to highlight, they did do a decent job in assisting the other items on the menu. These items  included the burgers, wraps, and especially the nuggets, going well with McDonald’s various dips.

Texture	6
Flavor	5
Shape	4
Presentation	2
Experience	6
Overall	4.6 / 10

Conclusion

In conclusion, this new and updated calibration of McDonald’s fries have proven that fries from the same brand doesn't necessarily have the same flavor and score, whether this be variance between branches or quality of potato changing over harvest years. Also, perhaps, our taste palates may have evolved throughout our journey in running The Fries Blog. This benchmarking has left McDonald’s with a nearly one and a half point score drop from the previous review, which in our overall ranking scale is huge. Out of many reasons to be degraded, the fries missed an essential crunch, were inconsistent in size, and failed to be delivered in the classic carton that is so well known visually and useful for making it stand. For these reasons, McDonald's, although still the benchmark, has significantly lowered the bar for what we would call an “average” fry.

This is a sad moment for fries lovers as the average American will now have to consume a lower scoring fry as their everday benchmark.