The Difference Between Wendy's Baconator Fries And Bacon Pub Fries

Sometimes only fries will do. You can force your brain into a piercing headache trying to convince it to yearn for the watery crunch of lettuce, but there are occasions when a bite of romaine simply won't cut it. Every so often the brain just wants to be plied with starchy, maybe bacony sustenance. In those instances you may as well embrace the craving – if only fries will do, there's no point holding back. That's where fast food restaurants come in – they are, after all, basically food cravings on tap.

Standing out in the stuffed fast food industry is Wendy's. According to YouGovAmerica, Wendy's is one of the country's most popular dining brands, batting away competition from titans such as KFC, Burger King, and McDonald's in the third quarter of 2022. Wendy's menu boasts a range of fast food fries, including garlic fries, cheese fries, and chili cheese fries. Two of its options have distinctive Wendy's burger equivalents: Baconator and Pub fries. But despite their distinct names and associations, they share very similar ingredients. So what exactly makes them different?

Wendy's lauds its Baconator fries as being "the only fries worthy of the Baconator name," so it's curious that they share strong similarities to the Pub Fries. Both options are drizzled with cheese sauce, shredded cheese, and bacon. The only difference in toppings, according to Wendy's, is that Pub Fries are coated "with warm beer cheese sauce" that has a cheddar base. Meanwhile, the Baconator fries have a non-beer cheddar sauce.

Notably, the ingredients of Wendy's Pub Fries' cheese sauce not only include beer but dijon mustard, which is made with chardonnay wine. No alcohol volumes or warnings are publicized, but considering that the CDC recommends that certain people should not drink alcohol (including those who may be pregnant and anyone under 21), the lack of information suggests that Pub Fries contain very low levels of alcohol.

There are also slight differences in the nutritional content of the two types of fries, with Wendy's Pub Fries having a bit more calories and sodium than the Baconator alternative. Although Baconator Fries contain 460 calories and 1,090 milligrams of sodium, Pub Fries pack 470 calories and 1,150 milligrams of salt. Other nutritional contents such as fat (22 grams), cholesterol (35 milligrams), and carbohydrate (43 grams) are the same for both sets of fries.