4 McDonald’s sites testing Gilroy-style garlic fries
If they’re a hit, more of the 250 locations in Bay Area could add them to the menu
SAN JOSE — You may hear a new question when you order a fast-food burger:
“Would you like garlic cloves with that?”
McDonald’s is test-marketing “Gilroy Garlic Fries” at four South Bay locations as part of an experiment with regional flavors.
The move comes more than 20 years after local brewer Dan Gordon, co-founder of GordonBiersch, first created garlic fries and introduced them to a hungry brewpub and ballpark audience.
At McDonald’s, employees are making the fries to order, tossing the crisply fried russet potatoes with chopped gar-
lic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, parsley and salt. The garlic is grown by Christopher Ranch, headquartered in Gilroy.
According to Nick Vergis, co-op president for McDonald’s Bay Area region, customer response has been positive.
“I came here just because I know they are trying the garlic fries at this location,” Felix Lee, of Cupertino, said at the McDonald’s at 3509 Homestead Road in Santa Clara. “They’re really good.”
Another patron, Pat O’Neill, of San Jose, sampled the fries with both honey mustard and ketchup and decided they went better with the ketchup. But, she said, “they need to be a little hotter; they’re going cold already.”
Garlic-tossed fries cost an additional 69 cents at Homestead, though a spokeswoman said pricing could vary by location during the test period.
The three other sites, all in San Jose, are 1398 W. San Carlos St. near Meridian Avenue, 2191 Monterey Road and 4838 San Felipe Road.
If enough patrons clamor for the stinking rose- scented fries, they could be offered in 250 Bay Area McDonald’s by August, the company said.
Elsewhere, McDonald’s regional efforts include rolling out dishes featuring chorizo, kale and Greek yogurt in Southern California, where company execs think those ingredients will sell, and offering a special bratwurst promotion in Wisconsin. In Los Angeles and San Diego, an egg white and turkey sausage bowl has 250 calories, and a Tex-Mex bowl with chorizo and pico de gallo has 460 calories; both are priced at $4.39. Chobani Greek yogurt is being tested in the McDonald’s smoothies and parfaits.