This Burger Chain Was The First To Serve French Fries As A Side

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

A hamburger and french fries — is there a more natural pairing? It's hard to imagine a world in which the two weren't inextricably linked. And yet, the combination is only about a century old, and the chain responsible for popularizing it is still alive and well, its name immediately evocative of road trips, frozen meals, and, to a certain generation, a stoner comedy classic: White Castle.

The impetus for this beloved chain becoming the first American restaurant to serve french fries with its burgers came during World War II. By then, White Castle had established itself as a powerhouse of cheap, tasty burgers sold by the sack. But thanks in part to World War I food shortages, and as World War II advanced, so did meat and cheese rationing. Restaurants were allotted between 20 and 30% more rations than private citizens, but that still left a sizable deficit in food that could be sold — and money that could be made.

Enter the french fry. Potatoes were described in a 1942 cookbook, "How To Cook a Wolf," as "one of the last things to disappear in times of war" — making them a natural way to fill out a sack of burgers that was now, conspicuously, significantly lighter than in the pre-war days. Not only were they an inexpensive food source, but they also had a long shelf life. The company's menu expanded to include hot dogs and fried eggs as well, but nothing would have the lasting impact of the fateful decision to start serving fries with its famed burgers.

French fries were not exactly a novel concept in America. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin reportedly attended potato-themed dinners in France, and upon Jefferson's return, he brought the concept home with him, even serving them at the White House. While it took a while for the spuds to morph into the form we know today, newspapers as early as 1904 were swapping cooking tips and tricks while referring to them as french fries. However, it took a global crisis for the dish to begin its meteoric rise to culinary stardom in America.

White Castle opened in 1921, making it the first fast food restaurant. This was just three years after the end of World War I, a period during which many American soldiers had been stationed overseas and exposed to European food trends. One such popular item: the fried potato, which soldiers encountered while stationed in France or alongside Belgian troops. When these veterans returned home, they brought with them an appetite for the crispy, salty treats.

However, it was the 1940s that ushered in a new age for the humble fry, as it marked the invention of chef-approved frozen fries, pioneered by the J.R. Simplot Company. While Reddit ranks the fries from McDonald's as some of the best available in fast food, White Castle came first. McDonald's, in fact, wouldn't begin serving fries until 1954.