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Home » Meal of the Week » Taste Test: French Fries On United Airlines
Meal of the WeekUnited Airlines

Taste Test: French Fries On United Airlines

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 17, 2023November 13, 2023 30 Comments

a bowl of french fries

While United Airlines gets an A for effort, the French Fries served in first class left much to be desired.

French Fries In United Airlines First Class

This month, United has introduced a cheeseburger with French Fries on its domestic first class pre-order menu. On narrow-body aircraft, you can pre-reserve your meal between five days and 24 hours in advance of your flight. The cheeseburger with French Fries option is only available on hub-t0-hub flights. I decided to give the French Fries on my recent United flight from Houston to Los Angeles.

While taking meal orders, the flight attendant confirmed my meal had been loaded, prompting my seatmate to ask for the same dinner. The flight attendant explained that it was a special pre-order, much to his chagrin (the regular options were a glass noodle salad, tofu, or beef and broccoli with rice).

As an aside, United has previously said that the cheeseburger is its most popular food item onboard. While some decry cheeseburgers in premium cabins, they are always a crowd-pleaser.

My tray arrived and included a “four-cheese skillet burger” with caramelized onion and jalapeño served with a side of crinkle-cut fries, a side of lettuce, tomato, and pickle, and a hot “Pie in the Sky” cookie pie. Two packets of ketchup and one packet of mustard were also included on the tray.

a plate of food on a tray

The cheeseburger was delicious – it always is.

a burger with lettuce and tomato on a plate

The French Fries? Not so much.

a bowl of french fries and ketchup

a bowl of french fries

a bowl of french fries

They reminded me of the Ore-ida French Fries my father used to always buy because they were on sale or the sort of French Fires served in a school cafeteria. They were salty and warm and therefore not totally inedible (I ate them anyway because I was famished after the 2.5 hour delay), but quite soggy. I do like the effort, but an air fryer would greatly help in making them crispier.

a plate of food on a table

CONCLUSION

Overall, I quite enjoyed this meal and would order it again. But are the French Fries great? No, as expected they were quite soggy. That said, other airlines (like SWISS, for example) are able to offer crispy French Fries onboard, so it is possible and therefore hopefully something United will continue to experiment with.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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30 Comments

  1. Mr. Marcus Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 1:25 pm

    The popularity of the cheeseburger in United’s premium cabins may be more related to the undesirable nature of the alternatives, rather than the quality of the cheeseburger. Simply put, if the cheeseburger is the best of a series of no-so-good dining choices, that still doesn’t make it a great burger.

    As for the fries, I don’t mind soggy fries, so I’m looking forward to this soon.

  2. John Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 1:40 pm

    On the day United devalues its frequent flyer program, affecting millions of consumers, Matthew chooses to instead brief us re a ‘taste test’ of its french fries.
    #classic

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 17, 2023 at 1:48 pm

      Oh honey child, patience is a virtue.

      https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-2023-mileageplus-devaluation/

  3. Jared Houser Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    How does the four cheese skillet burger stack up vs other ones? Haven’t had it, but it doesn’t look as appetizing in the picture as previous ones.

    The last one, the beer cheese pretzel one, was fantastic. By far the best one I’ve ever had. Was disappointed when it got rotated out but doesn’t seem like they keep any of them for that long.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 17, 2023 at 7:18 pm

      This was good – though you can see I left half the bun. I agree the pretzel beer cheese one was the best of the best.

  4. Jay Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 9:50 pm

    I could have written the exact same review. I just had this meal last night and my fries were similar (the bun was a bit crispy though) and also only ate them because of a 2.5 hour delay.
    One thing I think might need verifying is the hub-to-hub exclusivity. I believe it’s only available on flights originating from a hub. I pre-ordered mine for IAH-DSM, and had done so on the same flight a week earlier (flooding at IAH prevented me from enjoying it on that flight, though).

  5. Tom jackson Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 11:02 pm

    Live and let’s fry

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 18, 2023 at 12:21 am

      hahaha!

  6. Chris Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 11:08 pm

    French Fires? Oh no!

  7. TA Reply
    May 17, 2023 at 11:57 pm

    I had the burger and fries last Friday on ORD-DFW, so it seems it’s not exclusively hub to hub flights. I agree mostly. The fries weren’t great, but my expectations were low and they weren’t that bad. I’ve certainly had worse fries before. Fries that aren’t deep fried are just never going to be that great.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 18, 2023 at 12:21 am

      Interesting data point. Memos have specifically said only availble on hub to hub flights. I did not have this option from PIT-IAH, only IAH-LAX. Maybe from hubs only?

      • MeanMeosh Reply
        May 18, 2023 at 12:31 pm

        FWIW, I’m flying IAD-DFW next Tuesday and the cheeseburger is available for pre-order (and you better believe I got my order in). Maybe it’s a recent change but sure looks like it’s available FROM hubs, not necessarily hub-to-hub.

        Now, I’ll almost certainly be a beached whale after eating in the Polaris lounge and then downing that cheeseburger, but hey, no pain, no gain…

        • Matthew Klint Reply
          May 18, 2023 at 12:33 pm

          Nice. Where are you starting from?

          • MeanMeosh
            May 18, 2023 at 1:17 pm

            Starting in MAD. Delta PS on the way over, Polaris on the way back. Miraculously I got a reasonable connection in IAD without having to pay the full flex J award rate. Maybe I’ll actually write about this one less than a year after taking the trip!

  8. Dan Reply
    May 18, 2023 at 12:12 am

    Why are wide bodies excluded from pre ordering? I have never understood this. I always try to get on a 777 with lie flats as opposed to a 737. Why no pre orders?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 18, 2023 at 12:20 am

      I know – it’s ridiculous – but I’ve been told UA’s catering contractors cannot handle it.

      • Jared Houser Reply
        May 18, 2023 at 2:49 am

        Wasn’t it available for a very brief month or so like a year back, and then it went away again? Orettt sure you reported on it if I recall correctly.

  9. Aaron Reply
    May 18, 2023 at 3:25 am

    “United has previously said that the cheeseburger is its most popular food item onboard”

    Given the low standards that UA’s catering has fallen to, is that really saying much? The burger in the first picture looks like it also is something served in a school cafeteria…but hey, at least you enjoyed eating that.

    I wonder if they figure out how to make the fries work, if it will be added to the pre-arrival beef wellington meals as well…

  10. Sal Reply
    May 18, 2023 at 9:51 am

    I love a good cheeseburger, but it’s just not what I’m looking for in a premium cabin meal. It’s low hanging fruit.

  11. Bo Vaughan Reply
    May 18, 2023 at 1:37 pm

    Swiss, french fries…?!?

  12. N1120A Reply
    May 18, 2023 at 3:54 pm

    Airplane ovens are convection ovens, as are “air fryers.” You’d think they could get the fries right.

    No interest in the burger. I don’t eat beef and never really was super into burgers when I did. Would be nice if United did a grilled chicken sandwich.

  13. Tony N Reply
    May 18, 2023 at 3:57 pm

    My taste buds just won’t work well at 37.000 feet after seeing this!

  14. Dale Reply
    May 20, 2023 at 11:22 pm

    The onion and jalapeno would be a deal breaker for me. In late 2004 I flew Continental from SNA-IAH and was served a complimentary cheeseburger (no onion or jalapeno) and it was pretty tasty.

  15. Michael Reply
    May 25, 2023 at 12:37 pm

    The ovens are convection ovens able to crisp food, they should have been on the highest setting for the French fries to make them crispy for 10 minutes.

  16. GRI, N Reply
    May 31, 2023 at 10:33 am

    Had that yesterday. Burger tasted good, but the bun was a little overcooked and hard. The fries were awful. Cold and tasted freezer burned.

  17. Seth Elliot Reply
    June 4, 2023 at 1:11 am

    Seriously!? An air fryer would have made them crispier? How stupid are you? Of course that is the case and of COURSE an airplane can’t plug in an air fryer. Ugh…. What a stupid review.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 4, 2023 at 1:12 am

      Shabbat Shalom to you too.

  18. William Cook Reply
    June 4, 2023 at 11:15 am

    Matthew, I was just on a UAL Dulles to SMF upgraded to first class and was offered the cheese burger and fries, and /or one other dish. The flight had an extra hour plus delay begun by incoming flight was 45 minutes late. Burger please was as advertised tasty, however I received 2 mustard and 1 ketchup. Fries were beyond soggy mushy and I only ate three. I asked if any other condiments were available. No! The reason we were late taking off by additional time was waiting for catering loading. What was supposed to be 5.5 hrs flight was 7.25 hours. Nor all snacks were loaded either. UAL has lots of competition but they are at least working on improving.

  19. Tony N Reply
    June 5, 2023 at 3:02 pm

    That’ll be the day when (we’ll be driving by) and see a hamburger outlet named ‘United Fries and Burgers.’ Mmm, sound like a business idea.

  20. Sean K. Reply
    June 7, 2023 at 8:15 am

    Airplanes get you from point A to point B safely…all else is a bonus, period.
    It was never meant to satisfy every discriminate pallet, seriously.
    Go to a restaurant and see if they can get you to Paris when you step out the door!

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