A food that pairs perfectly with any meal is french fries: A nice crispy potato that originated in the late 1600s in Belgium. Life was never the same after they were created. Whether it’s a salad, a burger, or even a slice of pizza, you can never go wrong with some hot french fries. We were curious what the students of Ipswich High School thought about the french fry options in the area. So we sent out a survey asking students to choose what restaurant has the best French fries in their opinion. 

The runner up in our french fry debacle was Zenos. Here you can buy a large fry for $6.95. This may have been the runner up because of the costly price. However, in my opinion you get more bang for your buck. At Zenos you receive a bigger portion of fries compared to other restaurants. Junior, Avery Brown states, “Zenos fries are my personal favorite. I like them because they’re salty and not too crispy.” But, like everything in life, even Zenos has a downside. Brown added, “I would like Zenos more if the fries weren’t expensive.” A large fry at Zenos costs $6.95 which is almost double the price of a large fry at McDonalds. 

Just around the corner from Zenos is McDonalds, where you could get a large fry for only $3.19. According to our survey, McDonald’s won as Ipswich High’s favorite french fry by a long shot. Is this because of the price? What makes McDonald’s fries so cheap? After diving into this subject it is shown that the reason McDonald’s is so inexpensive is because of the ingredients used. They use lots of ingredients you cannot even pronounce, proving that although McDonalds is the cheapest option, it is not the most nutritious. Ella Stein chimes in on this topic, “McDonalds feels like fake food to me, I like Zenos because it feels a lot more real.” But Ella says she likes McDonald’s the best because they are the cheapest option. No one needs to be buying fries that are seven dollars. 

In third place, Pomodori’s makes an appearance. Coming in with 30 votes out of 165 responses. Pomos is normally known for their pizza, so their fries could be somewhat forgotten about. They have a nice variety of different types of fries which is an added bonus. While every other place has only two different versions of fries, Pomos has three. They have steak fries, curly fries, and normal fries. A lot of people have said that their favorite type of fry from Pomos is the curly fries. The taste isn’t the only reason that Pomodori’s fell into third place. The price is a big factor as it is the highest out of all the other restaurants. A small fry at Pomos is $4.75 which is more expensive than a large fry at McDonalds. Meanwhile, the large fry is being charged at $7.75. If the prices were lower, I think more people would have voted for it.  One good thing about Pomodori’s is the convenient location as it is only three minutes away from the high school.

Last but not least is Ipswich House of Pizza. It can be considered as the most underrated french fry of them all. Although I am not a fan of their fries myself, I thought I should chat with someone who is. Sophomore, Bella Bruno believes they are the best fries around. She stated, “Ipswich House has the best fries; the consistency and salt to fry ratio is unmatched.” A large fry there costs the same as it does at Pomodori’s: $7.75. I wonder why Ipswich House isn’t getting the recognition it deserves. Location of the restaurant could be a prime reason why this is. With the restaurant being located right next to Zenos, there is the possibility that it gets under looked. Zenos does seem to have an overall cheaper menu than Ipswich House which could also be an important factor. 

Through our surveys and interviews, it is shown that McDonald’s is the overall school favorite as it took 40.6% of the votes. McDonald’s won by far with the next runner up being Zenos Roast Beef, then Pomodori’s, then Ipswich House of Pizza. What might play into these factors? We looked into some possible reasons for this like the driving distance from Ipswich High, price of a large fry, if you can order online, and lastly, if the restaurant delivers. All results are shown below.