Waterville Restaurant’s Fry Battle Has Officially Gone Worldwide

We all had a bit of a sad chuckle last week when we heard about how folks were freaking out over Bolley's Famous Franks in Waterville changing their french fries from crinkle-cut to straight fries. The public outcry became so fever-pitched, that one customer even came into the restaurant to argue with the owner about it, and challenged him to a fist fight when they asked him to leave!

Needless to say, the internet took over and the story of this has gone completely viral. To the point where now, according to the Associated Press, Bolley's is getting contacted by a Chinese newspaper wanting to try their fries. And even by famed TV chef/personality Rachel Ray! I'm not really sure how they're going to be able to try them fresh without coming all the way to Maine from China, but....not my problem.

You'd think at this point, all the bizarro negativity over this would've died down a bit, since the change was made back in June. But now it looks like the fry oil is just starting to heat up on this one. The change was made for the most practical of reasons....it became too costly to replace the fry cutter blades on a monthly basis. Straight cut fry blades are a much cheaper item, and don't need to be replaced as often. I'll totally vouch for this, having been in the restaurant business for a couple decades myself.

Here's Bolley's Facebook post from a couple of weeks ago:

Are the crinkle cut fries better? Maybe. You do increase your surface area on the fry, making a potentially more crispy fry, but is it worth fighting over? Is it worth flying from China to try them? Has Rachel Ray never had a crinkle cut fry? Well, probably not in Waterville.

But seriously, let's all just chill out and stop picking on these poor folks that are just trying to make a living. I love tradition as well, but this just has to stop. On the other hand, all this "bad press" has probably done them more good than harm, in the end. So my suggestion? Head to Bolley's, order some fries, and shut up and enjoy, bub!!!