mmm-yoso!!! is a blog. About "food". Sometimes we stretch the definition of "food" and "meals" we ate. This is one of those times.
Hi. Cathy here again, with a kind of "research" food post. All done with the purpose of informing you, our dear readers, about some sort of food item…
The following are ranked in ascending order.
It seems everyone is offering chili cheese fries as a side, or as a meal lately and I thought I would give you my take on this kind of meal or side dish. 
So, lets start out with the "original" in a sense…Weinerschintzel. As you can see, in order to fully enjoy the meal at "Der Schnitz", we indulged in corn dogs and a chili dog (the beef one: I went crazy with my tax refund this year and decided to spring for it) topped with mustard and onions. Let’s just say the chili is…um…’meaty’, with many chunks of the same shape and size of ‘meat’ in it….very manufactured. You can see the cheese is not melted (but that eventually happened) and the fries are…skinny and not crispy. Not my favorite. But, for $1.59, what should I expect? I do love the Tastee Freeze ice cream and shakes here, though.
Del Taco has jumped into the fray and is offering a $1 off coupon to try the Chili Cheddar fries, making the final price about $1.50. I do like the Del Taco quesedillas because they are made with Cheddar…and the cheese part of this meal was indeed excellent. The fries stayed crispy. The chili was OK, not too spicy ( I ended up adding some hot sauce after a while) and the overall effect was that I thought if I was at Del Taco, I should get something a bit more ‘Mexican’ in style to eat here…although, as you can see, I got a burger to round out the flavors…
Now, the most popular ad campaign going. Carl’s Jr and the Chili Cheese Fry extravaganza. Messy, sloppy, all over your face.
The fries stayed crispy, the cheese is real and good…and the chili- it is hot dog chili, Coney Island chili…*really* good chili. I could eat a bowl of this stuff with some oyster crackers and be *very* happy.
As a side order, $2.79- and worth it. But, I saw that you can substitute for an additional charge with any Combo meal. Lovely stuff.
I could not help but mention a similar "meal" based with fries that you can purchase for a mere $2.89 at In-N-Out. It is the only reason you get the hermetically sealed fork/salt napkin packet.
Yes.
Animal Fries.
Not on the menu you look at. You must know there is a "Secret Menu", right ?(Hint: Google "In-N-Out Secret Menu") 
Why do these fries taste superior? In-N-Out does not have a freezer. The potatoes are cut fresh- you can watch the people doing it before they dump them into the fryer.
The fries are topped cheese. It melts. Then topped with grilled onions. Crispy, burned grilled onions…so that sort of helps with a "chili" flavor, since onions are part of the base of chili…right??
Then all of it is topped with the sauce that is normally used on the burgers. Pretty much a nice, fresh Thousand Island-ish sauce…relish and that pinky-peachy salad dressing.
All good. Some better. Hope you are having a nice middle of the week.
Just looking at the photos is making my cholesterol level rise!
The ads for Carls Jr. chili cheese fries have had me think of trying them (the coupon helps). Haven’t seen the coupon for Del Taco; maybe because there isn’t one near me.
“Just looking at the photos is making my cholesterol level rise!”
It gave me the ****.
Hi Sandy- the ones at Carl’s are great, but I have not seen any coupons for them. There is a Del Taco in Santee and the coupons came bothin the mail and with the newspaper.
C’mon TLB- It’s a blg about food and we try to be gentle about gastrointestinal things. I really do tell you if food was bad, but in a subtle way…like I would not eat there any more. Everything is good in moderation.
It was a joke.. I’ll eat anything. I have never been to the Weinersniz I need to try it out.
I’d have to say the Carl’s are the best, the chili is nice and spicy. They could be a little more generous with the chili. I’ve been disappointed by Der Shniz, the chili tastes really industrial, and they are really skimpy with it on the dogs, burgers and fries, plus the fries are always limp and greasy.
Thanks for the post, Cathy.
It’s OK Tommy- I’ve been in a mood lately and it is showing up in a bunch of sarcastic ways for me in person and in writing. http://www.DerSchnitz.com is the website. I really like that they have a Tastee Freeze more than anything, but the all beef dogs with chili, mustard and onions are wonderful sometimes.
Thanks for commenting, Stephen. I am trying to do a variety of stuff to keep people interested while Kirk is away. I grew up with coneys in Detroit, and crave the simple chili/mustard/onion topping on a good hot dog or loose burger. The fries are kind of bad here though.
Gosh I feel like we are in sync this week;-) I had a Tommy’s double chilly cheese burger with chilly cheese fries and to top if off with a order ColdStone coffee ice cream to thicken up my arteries and at the same time wake me up. Now I really got to try Carl’s chilly sounds so yummy!
What about diners like Denny’s?
Oh yeah, chili cheese fries, baby!! I’ve got to try the Carl’s Jr. one and the “secret” In-and-Out (which looks awesome). I don’t eat these too often cuz 1) I’ll get hooked, and 2) I’m too busy stuffing my face with other artery clogging kind of food. 🙂
Don’t forget Tommy’s Burger on Clairemont Mesa!!
Thats not a “Tommys” as in TOMMY”S is it?
Hi, Bill- Yes, I eat a variety of stuff and just blog about it. Apparently I am random like you. I like your analogy of Coldstone. You know, I have never gotten anything there…hmmm….another post (when it gets warmer out)
Hello, Eric. I never even thought to go to Denny’s in about two years…I may have to do a second post… Hi there Carol- Don’t be afraid of a little cholesterol. They make drugs to take care of that…:) Hey, George- Completely forgot about Tommy’s. Definitely have to do a follow up post. I do like the chili there. I must be busy or something…
I used to go crazy for Wienerschnitzel’s chili fries during high school years. It was one of my fav after school treat =)
The chili from Weinerschnitzel is a classic, YummieYummie. I have cravings for it, but sometimes not with fries, just on a hot dog… (P.S. Congratulations!)
Thank you =)
Tommylovebottom – Yes, it’s THAT Tommy’s. They finally made it down to San Diego. When my wife or I need chili cheese fries, that’s where we head. Chili tamales, too (and of course the burgers).
What a GREAT POST about Chili Cheese Fries — I did a comparison on my food blog too. Thanks for the bonus info!
Shelly Borrell,
Nibbles of Tidbits
http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1110
Thanks for the compliment, Shelly, and welcome to the coments side of our blog. Iliked your unique selection. I will be heading to Pasadena soon and definitely will try some up there.
I’ve done it before to Californians, but if you feed one of them an In-N-Out item in different packaging, it suddenly becomes, and rightfully so, an “average fast-food item”. It’s only a “great fast-food restaurant” if they know it’s In-N-Out.
If In-N-Out expanded nationally in a big way, Californians would lose interest in the place. It wouldn’t be “hip” anymore to pretend to like.
Thanks for taking the time to comment and welcome to our blog, Reg. You do realize the post was describing chili cheese fries with a tossed in a comment about In-N-Out animal fries, right?
Oh. No, you didn’t read the post.