Worked McDonald's as my first job at 15. I can tell you that McDonald's and Wendy's both have/had excellent fries but there were bad incentives for cooking them

Worked McDonald's as my first job at 15. I can tell you that McDonald's and Wendy's both have/had excellent fries but there were bad incentives for cooking them properly and having them fresh. The fries need to be cooked for a specific time(well duh, but the sweet spot is less than a dozen seconds). They also cook better in small batches. The times are off for full baskets and perhaps they don't cook well like that at all; you want the fries to be "swimming" on the basket. Problem is the same as every fast food restro; the employees get antsy and don't want to wait for them to cook all the way. Managers and employees alike think(or don't think TBH) the customer would rather have their meal 20s sooner with undercooked fries. Same reason sandwich shops pull the sandwich before it has been properly toasted. When I was younger and frequented these places I used to ask them for "..fresh fries, cooked the full time. I don't mind waiting". Go inside, the drive-through has bad quality incentives(wait time).