Almost anywhere in the world, you can find a McDonald’s restaurant. And, many areas have a speciality item that’s unique to the location. For example, when we lived in the Netherlands, my family and I loved to order the McKroket. This consisted of a bun, a kroket (meat ragout breaded deep-fried), and a dijon sauce. It was moist, tasty, and had just enough spice to add a nice kick to the flavor. Ah, how I miss that! Here in Northern California, a new offering can be found on the menu — Gilroy Garlic Fries. So what do they taste like and how are they made? I attended an event last week to find out.
Gilroy is about 85 miles south of San Francisco and is home of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. It makes sense, then, that San Francisco Bay Area locations add garlic locally sourced from Gilroy to the menu lineup. Franchise owner, Scott Roderick, told us they ran a 3-month trial at four San Jose locations. This experiment was supposed to be very hush-hush. But, thanks to the power of social media, the test run was anything but quiet. In fact, they ran out of garlic in 72 hours due to the booming popularity.
How to Make McDonald’s Gilroy Garlic Fries
In groups of 3-4, we went into the kitchen to sample some Gilroy Garlic Fries and to make our own. The process is fairly simple but the key is having fries RIGHT out of the fryer. The warmer the fries, the better the mixture will taste.
- Put hot fries in stainless steel bowl.
- Place 3 oz. of Gilroy Garlic Fries sauce in the center.
- Sprinkle 3 oz. of parsley and parmesan cheese mixture over fries.
- Mix by hand 8-10 times until all fries are covered.
Since I’m a huge garlic fan, I asked about customers wanting more garlic. The manager said that too much of the garlic mixture, since it’s wet, makes the fries soggy. Even when I tried to add just a teeny bit more to my fries, he caught it and said to add less. 😛
McDonald’s already serves amazing fries but, when you add garlic, parsley, and cheese, they’re on a whole other level. You do have to eat them right away to get the full flavor. And, yes, the fries will get soggy after a while. But, I’m still sticking to my more garlic is better theory!
Gilroy Garlic Fries & Create Your Taste Burgers
Along with the new Gilroy Garlic Fries, patrons could order a “Create Your Taste” burger at this location. Three locations in San Francisco offer these made-to-order custom burgers. Using one of the oversized touchscreen kiosks, you can assemble choose your meat, premium toppings, and type of bread. Staff will then bring your order to you.
I didn’t notice this option until I was done and already waiting upstairs for my food. The custom burgers that others ordered looked amazing. These are and soooo not what you’d expect to see from McDonald’s. So far, you can try the “Create Your Taste” burgers at the 235 Front Street, 441 Sutter Street, and 255 Winston Drive (Stonestown Galleria) locations.
The Gilroy Garlic Fries are available in 240 stores throughout Northern California. I’m not sure how long Gilroy Garlic Fries will be available so pick up a medium or large order as soon as you can, while you still can! Just make sure you bring some mints with you. 🙂
I was invited to an event with McDonald’s and received a complimentary meal. All opinions are my own.
