National French Fry Day is Friday. Who has the best fries in Wayne County?

RICHMOND, Ind. — Who doesn't love fries?

Clearly not Wayne County, as there are dozens of local options to get your french fry fix for National French Fry Day on Friday, July 12.

According to Aaron Smith, the DeLoach Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of California, Berkley, Americans eat about 110 pounds of potatoes each year. Of those 110 pounds, it is estimated that roughly 40 pounds of that consumption are in french fry form.

Although those numbers are visually significant, Smith explained in his 2023 publication that potato consumption has decreased by 15% over the last 20 years, pointing specifically to the consumption of fresh potatoes over frozen or pre-prepared.

Despite those declining numbers, restaurants locally and nationally are seizing the opportunity for promoting their own fried tubers on Friday for National French Fry Day.

Where to find free fries

Penn Station will offer a free order of its fresh-cut fries on Friday and Saturday when promo code "FRYDAY" is used both in stores and online, according to a news release.

Wendy's is offering a free order of fries with purchase of another menu item every Friday through the remainder of the year for customers using the Wendy's app.

McDonald's has branded its Free Fry Fridays for McDonald's app users, where you can redeem the weekly promotion on Friday for a free medium size order of fries with any purchase over $1.

Which french fry do you prefer? Cast your vote up until noon Friday, and we'll report back.

Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email ateweaver@gannett.com. Lafayette Journal & Courier's Jillian Ellison contributed to this story. She can be reached at jellison@gannett.com.