French fry eaters, worry no more. In celebration of National French Fry Day — which apparently exists — CNBC undertook a survey of fast food chains to see where customers get the most fried potato bang for their buck.
According to the report, “large” doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere. At Burger King, customers ordering a large serving of fries are given 190 grams of the greasy goodness. McDonald’s customers ordering the same size fall 22 grams short. The trend persists across each fry serving size, with Burger King’s servings more generous than Wendy’s, and Wendy’s more generous than McDonald’s.
The french fry disparity is most alarming in the case of small serving sizes, where McDonald’s offers customers 75 grams of fries compared to 128 grams at Burger King. It’s also been widely noted that Burger King fries tend to be thicker than competitors’ fries.
Burger King also ranked the best for the cost in cents per gram of fries, averaging slightly over a cent per gram. McDonald’s declined to give CNBC price estimates for this comparison, since franchise locations set their own prices. The margins between the two compared companies, Wendy’s and Burger King, are less than a cent per gram. So, while the comparison might make customers slightly resentful, it’s not worth the extra gas.