Wendy’s is bringing the magic of shaker fries to the United States with its Takis Fuego collaboration. I’m mostly familiar with the concept as something McDonald’s offers at international locations (McShaker Fries, or Shake Shake fries), but the premise is you get a bag of fries, add a packet of seasoning, and then shake them up until the fries are super coated. I saw this at a McDonald’s up in Canada last year, but Wendy’s is bringing the idea stateside.
I’m not the biggest Takis fan, but I had high hopes for the “Takis-Inspired Fuego Fries”. Takis have such a strong chili-lime flavor that there was little chance of a boring result. What I didn’t expect was the brilliant way that Wendy’s packaged the fries. They come in a paper bag with a dusting of the “Takis inspired seasoning”, and you’re left to shake it up yourself. The interactive nature of the gimmick is fun, but it’s also a great way to absolutely coat the potatoes with seasoning. Wendy’s was thinking 5 steps ahead and created a perforation about halfway up the bag so that you could shed the top and more easily access the fries. This makes it much easier to eat without getting Takis dust all over your forearms.
How did the fries taste? Well, Wendy’s serves one of my favorite fast food fries (if not my absolute favorite), so they were starting in a good position. After shaking the fries thoroughly I peered into the bag and was immediately hit with a wave of chili-perfumed citric acid volatile compounds that instantly made my mouth water. The taste was aggressively consistent with Takis, but of course you’re going to sacrifice the trademark crunch of the rolled chips for the softer texture of a French fry. It was good, though! I tried dipping them in Ghost Pepper Ranch sauce and realized that these are supposed to be raw-dogged. Any sauce you attempt will just take away from vibrancy of the Takis inspired seasoning. The only downside was that my fries weren’t particularly fresh, and this would have elevated it so much more. Even so, they were great.
I decided to purchase the full Takis Fuego Combo Meal, so I also received the Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich. There’s quite a bit happening with this, but you get a spicy chicken filet, crushed Takis Fuego chips, creamy corn spread, Chili Lime sauce, and cheddar cheese sauce. Honestly, I couldn’t taste the corn spread or the chili lime sauce. The dominant flavors were the crushed Takis and the cheddar cheese sauce. Those other flavors may have come through a bit, but Takis are not shy and tend to steal the spotlight. The chicken filet was delicious, and I liked the overall flavor of the sandwich. My only issue with this item is that the Takis are always going to be soggy and it detracts from the experience. I would have preferred for them to toss the chicken filet in the Takis inspired seasoning instead. Even so, it was a good sandwich.
You also get a drink and a very small bag of Takis Fuego chips. Since Takis are a rolled chip and look like a tiny straw, I thought it would be funny to drink my soda through them. I opted for a Pineapple Sprite from the Coca-Cola freestyle machine and then nearly choked myself by aspirating Takis powder while trying to suck it through the chip. It wasn’t good, but if Takis made a chamoy sauce then I could see that swirled around the cup as a unique offering.
I’ll give the Takis-inspired Fuego Fries a 4 out of 5, the Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich a 3.5 out of 5, and the Pineapple Sprite through a Takis straw a 1 out of 5. It’s not technically part of the combo, but I wanted to be complete. Big question, though. Does this open the door for more fast food and snack collaborations? We already the Doritos Locos Tacos at Taco Bell, but could we get several versions of chip flavored shaker fries in the future? It feels inevitable. What collaboration would you like to see? Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheddar has potential, but some Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips would knock my socks off.
Sodafry 