The Fast Food Chain That's Known For Its Baked Potatoes

If you're hitting up a fast-food restaurant, the usual fare, of course, is burgers and fries. But if you feel like branching out, one chain serves an alternative unique among quick-bite eateries. Wendy's is noted for its square beef patties and salty fries — but it's also the only major fast-food chain that serves baked potatoes across all its U.S. locations.

Wendy's whole spuds are a popular choice among its patrons. The chain reportedly sells upward of 1 million baked potatoes weekly (per Reader's Digest), which are convection-baked onsite. The U.S. menu includes a plain potato, a sour cream and chives tater, one with cheese, a bacon and cheese option, and one with chili and cheese. A broccoli and cheese baked potato formerly offered at Wendy's is no longer on the U.S. menu, although it's still available in places like the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Wendy's restaurants also serve baked potatoes with diced ham and ranch dressing.

Other fast-food brands have tried the baked potato route. Burger King, for instance, once offered them on its value menu but discontinued the practice. Though not a franchise-wide item, some Arby's locations do serve baked potatoes, including sites in Canada and a handful of chains in Richmond, Virginia. But fast-food outlets on the whole don't mess with full baked spuds — and there are reasons.

Logistically, baked potatoes don't fit the fast-food M.O. They take a long time to cook (Wendy's spuds bake for an hour), and it required installing convection ovens at all locations. Purchasing special equipment across all stores to accommodate one menu item has been enough to discourage other chains from following suit. So, for now, Wendy's has the market cornered on baked potatoes.

Wendy's has seen enough value in its baked potato sales to continue offering the spuds — which is great, because baked potatoes always seem to taste better at restaurants — though discussions about making a change have arisen in the past. The brand strives to differentiate itself from the rest of the fast-food pack, and offering baked potatoes fits with that image. The company prides itself on delivering "Fast Food Done Right," per its website — a commitment that includes providing menu items that are fresh, contain real-food ingredients, and are responsibly sourced. For instance, Wendy's is among the fast-food restaurants that serve always fresh, never frozen hamburgers, and the ingredients in its baked potatoes are simply potatoes — they're not brined in anything or coated with additives — which is in line with this endeavor.

Keeping with consumer trends is one reason the company started selling baked potatoes to begin with. As the public began embracing low-fat diets in the 1980s, Wendy's was right in stride with the introduction of its baked potato, which was launched on the menu in 1983. The chain's fries have also emerged as an option considered to be more natural among fast-food french fries, since Wendy's revamped them in 2010 to be a skin-on, natural-cut version with sea salt.