Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a Boozy Root Beer Float OR a Classic Root Beer Float, the perfect drink to go with today’s food holiday, National French Fry Day!
National French Fry Day arrives every second Friday of July, inviting everyone to indulge in crispy, golden potato perfection. Whether you prefer them as shoestring, waffle, Belgian, steak, thick-cut, crinkle-cut, cottage, wedge, curly, shoestring, tornado, and of course, smiley face, today is the day when fries of all kinds are celebrated. It’s truly amazing how all these variations of fries can taste different and have their own softness & crunch-factor. Try as many as you can today without worrying about your waistline. Grab a basket, try a new restaurant, or perfect your own homemade recipe!
Origin Of National French Fry Day
While the exact origin of the holiday remains unknown, research shows it began to be celebrated around the turn of the century, in the early 2000s. Begun as a fun independent grassroots idea, mostly online, it later gained significant corporate attention as major fast food and restaurant chains started offering free fry promotions on this date.
This year, there are a lot of restaurants that have free or discounted french fries available - so if you try one and don’t like it, remember the National French Fry Day maxim: If at first you don’t succeed, fry, fry again.
Originally, the holiday was celebrated annually on July 13, a date which could shift to different days of the week - which is silly. If you’re going to have a holiday to celebrate these golden nuggets of goodness, wouldn’t it make sense to celebrate french fries on FRY-DAY?
Thankfully, the marketing mavens at large restaurant chains (who try to capitalize on this holiday) agreed that National French Fry Day should be Fry-Day. So they began lobbying online calendar sites like National Today to shift the holiday, and starting in 2022, the holiday was moved permanently to the second Friday of July, according to Parade magazine.
History Of French Fries
While their exact origin of french fries is a subject of friendly debate between France and Belgium, most culinary historians point to 17th-century Belgium. According to a manuscript by French Catholic priest Joseph Gerard, the residents of the Meuse Valley, located near the town of Dinant in Belgium, consumed a lot of fish, since they lived near the river. During winters, the rivers would freeze and fishing would become difficult. So the idea to slice potatoes like fish fillets and fry them in hot fat was born.
You might think the Belgians didn’t call them “fries” in the beginning - but you’d be wrong about that. Belgians have three official languages, one of which is French. And when these fried potatoes began to be a common food, they called them “frites” - a French word that simply translates to “fries” and comes from the French verb frire, which means “to fry.”
The French also get credit for popularizing frying foods and selling them in public on street carts, starting in the mid-1700s. That’s where Thomas Jefferson, serving as a diplomat for the fledgling United States, fell in love with fried potatoes and brought the recipe home, famously serving "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner in 1802.
The term "French fries" likely originated during World War I, from American soldiers stationed in Belgium. That’s where they first discovered the popular finger food. At that time, the official language of the Belgian Army was French, and it’s believed the American soldiers put the two ideas together and dubbed them "French fries," a name they brought home, and that quickly caught on in the United States. That’s when French fries really took off and became mainstream in the U.S.
French Fries By The Numbers
A 2025 survey of 5000 Americans by Talkers Research found some surprising statistics regarding French fries in America.
Favorite Fry Shapes, Ranked By States:
Classic “straight and seasoned” is the favorite type of fry across 28 states.
Classic shoestring fries were the most popular in 5 states: Hawaii, New Hampshire, Michigan, Maine, and Texas.
Curly fries reigned supreme in 4 states: Alaska, Kansas, Connecticut, and Oklahoma.
Crinkle-cut fries also earned the top spot in 4 states: Nebraska, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, & Illinois.
And waffle fries got top billing in only one state: Colorado.
Chomping Champion: Virginia takes the crown as the U.S. Fry Capital of Consumption, where residents eat a whopping 21 pounds of fries per year.
Fast-Food Champion: McDonald’s is the undisputed king of fast-food fries, with 51% of Americans voting them the best.
Rules of Engagement: 65% of Americans admit to stealing fries from someone else’s plate, and 60% order extra fries just so they don’t have to share.
Well-Seasoned: Top seasonings ranged from the classic salt (77%) and garlic powder (31%) to the less orthodox — parmesan (22%), Old Bay (19%), paprika (10%) and cayenne (9%)
Big Dippers: Classic ketchup reigns supreme (68%), with ranch (33%) and cheese sauce (28%) the next most favorite.
French Fry Heroes
The true “heroes” behind french fries span centuries & continents, starting with the South American Andean civilizations who domesticated potatoes between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago. Of course, as we mentioned above, the Belgian and French street vendors who pioneered deep-frying must also be mentioned in this list. In America, Chef James Hemings, an enslaved man purchased by Thomas Jefferson when he was 8, was the first American to cook French fries, so he’s clearly a French fry hero too. Finally, entrepreneur J.R. Simplot revolutionized the fast-food industry by popularizing the frozen fry in the 1940s. Some even consider social media personality darth to be a hero of French fries and fried potato products in general, especially his legendary Smoosh Potato recipe.
Five More Delectable Facts About French Fries
Name Dropper
French fries were originally known as ‘French fried potatoes’ in the U.S. — by the 1930s, the ‘potatoes’ was dropped.
It’s In The Skin
The skin of potatoes has important nutrients and vitamins that are at times not peeled when making French fries.
Larger Doesn’t Mean Fatter
Surprising, steak fries generally have a lower fat content than regular cut French fries
Dig Your Spuds
The slang term for potato, ‘spud,’ comes from the spade-like tool that is used to dig up & harvest the potatoes.
Bye Bye Fries
To burn off calories from consuming a medium-sized order of McDonald’s French fries, one will have to bowl for 90 minutes, bicycle for 58 minutes, or engage in high-impact aerobics for 50 minutes..
A Magical Combination
While we clearly love French fries, it’s always good to have something to drink with your fries. And according to multiple surveys, 14-20% of Americans love to eat their fries with ice cream-based drinks, like milkshakes or today’s Drink Of The Day, the Boozy Root Beer Float OR a Classic Root Beer Float. There’s even science that proves eating french fries with ice cream drinks is a combination that stimulates taste buds and gives reactions that can’t be achieved by sugared foods and drinks alone.
With that in mind, let’s get to today’s Drink Of the Day!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
