2025 was a busy year at Sodafry, and I wanted to take a moment to not only share some of my favorite food and drinks from the year, but also give some insights into experience as a content creator. This might shock some of you, but I’m not actually a full-time influencer, model, or food journalist. I’m an accountant with a passion for french fries and non-alcoholic drinks. Here are a few of my favorite things.
Best Fries of 2025
I ate a lot of French fries last year. I created video reviews and rankings for 10 different fast food chains as part of my long-term Best Fast Food Fries project, and Taco Bell is currently in the top spot. You should check out the ongoing blog post about my rankings, or the YouTube playlist.
I also tried a lot of fries that weren’t from fast food chains. One of my favorites was discovered on a fry crawl that I did in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. The most interesting fries from that adventure were from a Nordic themed bar called Skål Beer Hall, and their french fries with a vinegar and dill seasoning were spectacular.
This year also marked my first time trying an Irish Spice Bag. It’s an order of french fries served in a paper bag that’s tossed with Chinese spices, peppers/onions, and fried chicken pieces (usually). The one that I tried was from MARKET Seafood Eatery in Edmonds, WA, and it was elevated with fried rockfish, shrimp, and fried jalapeños. It might be the only spice bag served in the Seattle area, and it’s worth a trip.
Earlier in the year I created my own version of Vietnamese Poutine by sneaking some cheese into a Vietnamese restaurant and modifying a few menu items. This was at Lotus Pond in Seattle, and their pho gravy made this super easy. The concept really worked, and I’d love to engineer some other unique poutine varieties in future.
One more French fry addition to the list, although it’s a bit of a stretch. I visited Canlis in Seattle back in February and ordered their $125 Bloomin’ Onion inspired dish. I know that fried onions aren’t French fries, but it’s close enough, and it was a noteworthy experience. The onions were good on their own, but when combined with the caviar and fancy goat cheese, it was a transcendent appetizer.
French Fry Farewells of 2025
This is a bit of a bummer, but a few of my favorite French fry stops closed down in 2025. Mamnoon has been a favorite of mine for almost a decade, and they closed down their Capitol Hill restaurant in the fall. I reviewed their Harra Frites very early in the blog’s history and revisited frequently. They were also one of my stops on the 24 Hour French Fry Marathon.
Other notable closures were Taku, Bateau, and Boat Bar. I visited Taku and Boat Bar on the 24 Hour Fry Marathon, and Bateau was a different adventure. Chef Shota Nakajima closed Taku to focus on other activities (he does a lot of tv stuff). Bateau and Boat Bar are part of the same restaurant group and are temporarily closed for a reimagining. I’m really curious to see what becomes of them.
Best Drinks of 2025
I need to break this up into a few categories as well. One of the most interesting foreign sodas that I tried in 2025 was Mission Orange. It’s an Iraqi soda that I found in a Korean grocery store in Lynnwood, Washington, and is originally from California. The history was fascinating and it inspired me to start a whole different series of videos and blogs about brand history.
Another interesting beverage discovery this year was the non-alcoholic canned cocktails from No Spirit. The company had just launched and they let me be one of the first to review the drinks. I loved the concept of having a canned version of an alcohol free bar drink (like a jack and coke or rum and coke), and the flavors were phenomenal. Their Cowboy Cola and Caribbean Cola both knocked my socks off.
I tried a lot of tremendous mocktails at different restaurants and bars as well. Canlis in Seattle has an incredible alcohol-free program in their lounge. Williams & Graham is a speakeasy in Denver with some of the best mocktails I’ve tried.
There were a few other cool drinks I was able to try and want to give honorable mentions to. Perfy is a low calorie natural soda that I did a couple of reviews of. They also released a Pepperoni Pizza soda that I had a lot of fun with. Big Marble out of Arizona also impressed me with their line of sodas, especially the ginger-forward flavors.
This was also my first exploration into de-alcoholized wines. I tried a lot of varieties from Misty Cliffs and Lautus. I enjoyed the sparkling ones quite a bit and started to get a taste for the more dry flavors as well.
Other 2025 Highlights
I decided early in the Spring that I would start training for a marathon. It was a combination marathon and food challenge called the Dick’s-a-thon where you run between the 5 Seattle area Dick’s Drive-in locations (26.3 miles) while eating 3 burgers, a milkshake, and an order of French fries. Two disappointing things happened. One, I got hurt around week 9 or 10 of my training and I was unable to run the marathon. Second, I spent a lot of time making weekly videos of my training and no one really watched them. I volunteered at the Dick’s-a-thon and had a great time. Maybe I’ll try running it again next year?
In other news, back in April I launched a company called “HindSight Bidet“. It’s a cutting edge video-assisted bidet with all the features that you never knew you needed. I filmed a promotional video and applied to be on Shark Tank. Still waiting to hear back.
Beyond that, the blog and related social media channels hit some cool milestones this year. The blog had almost 100,000 views from about 63k visitors during the year. That’s a small dip from 2024, but still a huge increase from 2023. My five most popular blog posts were A&W – USA vs Canada, Poutine – Costco Food Court, Dr Pepper Blackberry Reviewed, Hot Dr Pepper Review (and Recipe), and Malta Malta Malta. A couple of those are really old, but I’m planning on revisiting Malta sometime soon.
My YouTube channel recently went above 1,000 subscribers, Instagram is over 1,500 followers, and TikTok is also up above 1,000. I’ll keep working on the quality of the video editing and storytelling through those channels, but I’d love for you to follow along. Those social media companies rely on comments, likes, and shares as indicators that they should promote it more widely, so your support really helps.
I think that’s about it! I’ll leave you with one more link below for a personal favorite recipe that I thought didn’t get enough attention. It’s my Sparkling Chicago Dog Mocktail.
Sodafry 