If I had a choice, I would pick fried pickles over french fries any day. They are one of my favorite snack foods and my go-to every time I try a new restaurant or bar that happens to have them on the menu. I happen to love pickles in general and having them fried and dipped in a ranch-based sauce is pretty much my version of heaven.
In recent years, some fast food restaurants have tried extending their menu offerings to give customers fried pickles, though in many cases they're only available for a limited time. Having tried many of them, this is my ranking of the worst-to-best fast food fried pickles.
4. Burger King
I really do love Burger King burgers and some of their dessert pies are amazing, but sadly, they can't get fries right. The regular fries aren't the best, though sauce goes a long way to fixing that, but their pickle fries are kind of sad. For starters, I just don't think pickle "fries" work as well as fried pickle slices.
They're too thin and they don't have enough pickle in them, leading every bite to be more about the batter and skin than the actual crunchy tang of a pickle spear. The few times I've tried Burger King's pickle fries they were weak and soggy, or barely had any pickle in them. This is a limited item though, so maybe if they ever become a permanent addition to the menu, they will improve the recipe.
3. Sonic
Similar to Burger King, Sonic serves pickled fries rather than fried slices of dill pickle, but Sonic's are a step up from Burger King. While I still don't like them as much as the traditional fried pickle dish, I do think Sonic tends to serve thicker cuts of pickles, allowing for a more savory bite to enjoy.
2. Zaxby's
Zaxby's is a popular place to get chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches but they also offer fried pickles as a side item. While they're not bad, I would say Zaxby's are a big step up from Burger King, yet a step down from some of the other offerings on this list, not quite hitting the greatness of Shake Shack or Red Robin.
Using cornmeal batter for their dill pickle slices, Zaxby's biggest problem is that their fried pickles are way too salty. It helps to slather them in the ranch dipping sauce, but even that isn't always enough.
1. Shake Shack
I'm not a big fan of Shake Shack's french fries, so I didn't necessarily have high hopes for their fried pickles. I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by their crunchy menu offering.
The bad news is that they don't always have fried pickles on the menu, they seem to be a limited-time thing, but that was the same thing with Zaxby's. Maybe someday they'll become permanent staples because they're really good. When it comes to fast food and drive-thru restaurants, Shake Shack's fried pickles are the best you can get.