In my humble opinion, there is no fast food side dish better than Wendy's baked potato. It is a decidedly wholesome offering in an industry that doesn't put a lot of stock in wholesomeness (ahem, Doritos tacos). Now Wendy's has introduced what I previously never thought possible–an item that almost tops the baked potato.
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The new Baked Sweet Potato is part of a trio of Signature Sides recently introduced by the number two burger chain, and not only is it odd choice for a fast food outfit like Wendy's, it's great one, soft and hot and tasting like Thanksgiving. It comes equipped with a thimble of cinnamon brown sugar butter to melt into the thing, which turns what's already sweet into an almost-dessert. If I have one gripe, it's that the Baked Sweet Potato is nearly three times the price of the baked potato.
All the other sides (also offered at $2.79 each and not advertised at all at my local Wendy's) are passable. The Mac N' Cheese is so watery it's more like cheese soup with macaroni. The Chili Cheese Fries utilizes their always tasty bean soup-like chili, but I still much prefer it poured over the baked potato. Do I dare pour the chili over the Baked Sweet Potato? Oh yes, I do.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.