How to Turn a Classic Side Into a Premium Opportunity

Have you heard of fry sauce?

It’s a simple enough combination, mixing together ketchup and mayonnaise. But it became big business in Utah, where multiple restaurants claim they were the original inventors of the sauce. Don Carlos Edwards, of the Arctic Circle chain, claims he invented the “pink sauce” at his Salt Lake City drive-in, a story that has led to them selling 120 gallons of the stuff every single day.¹

Today it’s also a key part of Utah culture, dubbed “Utah fry sauce” by those who miss it when they move away.

Now the entire country is catching on. Driven by social media, our sauce-driven trend culture, and an interest in all things “Utah” after the dirty soda trend took the country by storm, variations are showing up from coast to coast, on menus and retail shelves.

The lesson isn’t that mixing mayo and ketchup together is particularly groundbreaking. It’s that consumers absolutely love the combination of a crispy fry and a craveable sauce. And they’re mixing and matching those two favorites more than ever before, creating an opportunity for a premium menu experience that can benefit your bottom line.

Fries are the perfect starting point

Just about every operator is looking for the same thing right now: a way to increase the check average without increasing other costs. Operators say that increasing the average check is a top five business concern for them (28% agree), while a whopping 71% say food costs are a top operational challenge, followed by labor costs at 54%.²

So how do you get the average ticket to increase, without adding new equipment, more labor challenges, endless new SKUs, and a lot of additional headaches?

French fry upgrades.

Side dishes are already the single most universal category offered in American foodservice, menued by 97% of operators and nearly equally found across every segment.² Whether you run a QSR, a full-service restaurant, a convenience store, or a college dining hall, the odds are you have a side dish already on the menu.

What’s more, side sales continue to increase, with 1 in 5 operators saying their side dish sales increased in the last month versus only 10% who said they decreased.²

The odds are also good that one of those side options is an order of fries. Fries are nearly universally beloved by consumers, with 89% saying they love or like them.³

In other words, you already have all of the elements in place to create a more premium offering: a menu option that consumers already love in a category that is only getting more popular.

From side dish to star of the menu

While we talk a lot about price and value when it comes to the menu and what consumers want today, it’s important to understand what “value” means to the consumer.

When asked what the top factors that contribute to value are, consumers named “great taste” number one, with more than half (54%) calling it out.²

In order of importance, the top five options were great taste (54%), low price (41%), quality/freshness of ingredients (33%), portion size (23%), and how filling or satisfying a meal is (21%).²

It’s never just about a low price. Actually, going too cheap can actively work against you. Two in five consumers (40%) say that when a menu item or deal is cheaper than they expected, they assume the quality had to be sacrificed.⁴

What does that mean for you? When taste beats price, it showcases that there is a clear opportunity for premium side options on the menu. A loaded fry or a fry sampler with lots of craveable sauces and dippers can be perceived as a better value to the guest, even if it’s a higher price, because it tastes great.

Operators are noticing. A quarter of restaurant operators (25%) say that unique or signature menu items that customers can’t find anywhere else are critical to delivering value.⁴

When it comes to your fries, it’s time to go all in on more premium, exciting options.

The power of flavor remixing

What’s the best seasoning for fries?

Trick question; there isn’t one.

Fries work as a canvas on the modern menu, carrying everything from crowd-pleasing favorite flavors to the on-trend options younger guests are seeking out. The same fry can be the platform for a tried-and-true favorite like BBQ, which the vast majority of consumers say they love or like (78%).⁴

Or it can showcase the hottest flavors on menus today, like chamoy, which is up a staggering 226% on menus.⁵

That’s key to creating the flavorful, premium options that appeal to every generation, because different generations do want different things:³

• Gen Z loves bright, bold flavors like cilantro lime.

• Millennials lean into craveable heat like spicy garlic.

• Gen X gravitates towards a rich, smoky flavor profile, like BBQ.

• Boomers often look for familiar, herb-forward classics like basil and dijon.

Creating a completely separate menu item for each generation is a losing game. But choosing a base they all love, like fries, and offering four different flavor options is a much easier lift.

That combination – a familiar favorite with a fun flavor option – is a tried-and-true recipe for creating a “best of all worlds” menu option that consumers can’t resist.

That’s why the latest edition of Simplot’s Trend Feast® offers a wide range of innovative builds that combine fan-favorite fries with craveable flavors. Think Backyard Smoke Fries with a smoky, sweet heat; approachable yet upscale Blackened Bistro Fries with Caesar aioli; or on-trend Candied Ginger Chamoy Fries with a bold flavor profile younger consumers will love.

The value equation

Operators know what makes a menu item succeed: simple pricing, easy execution, craveable and popular items, and the ability to cross-utilize ingredients.⁴

That’s where a fry upgrade makes a lot of sense. You can probably create a fry upgrade option with the SKUs you already carry, with no additional labor. Can you cross-utilize the sauce that’s already being offered on a sandwich? Can you dust them with your favorite seasoning blend that’s already in the kitchen? Can you use toppings like veggies and proteins that are already offered in salads and bowls?

It doesn’t have to be a heavy lift. That famous Utah fry sauce came from mixing mayonnaise and ketchup.

Here are a few ideas designed to win:

• Build a sauce flight. Three sauces and an order of fries create a simple, exciting upgrade.

• Use flavor as the focus of your LTO program. Rotating new flavor profiles on fries and other items creates a cohesive LTO option without expensive new SKUs and labor.

• Focus on the language. “Backyard Smoke Fries” immediately conjure up a place and flavor profile that earns the premium.

Endless possibility

A familiar format. Bold flavor. Low complexity. High margins. When done right, a premium fry upgrade option delivers on it all.

Are you looking for more menu ideas? Simplot’s latest edition of Trend Feast® not only includes more menu inspiration for taking fries to the next level (check out the recipe for the Sweet Ginger Fries), but also dives into all of the latest trends impacting consumers and operators, from the rise of mini and combo meals to more ideas that resonate with every generation.

¹ KUER, “Fry sauce is unquestionably a Utah thing, even with its questionable origin,” December 2024 ² Datassential, Table Stakes Tracker, January 2026 ³ Datassential, Consumer Preferences, May 2026 ⁴ Datassential, The Value Equation, November 2025 ⁵ Datassential, Menu Trends, May 2026