The Hands-Down Best Fast Food Onion Rings Come From A Diner-Style Burger Chain

Onion rings, while a popular U.S. food for sure, don't have a huge presence on menus at fast food restaurants. You can't get them at most popular chains, including McDonald's, Wendy's, and Chick-fil-A. But, for onion ring lovers, we ranked seven fast food onion rings from worst to best, which included offerings from Carl's Jr., Sonic, Burger King, and A&W. Our favorite was, by far, the onion rings from Freddy's.

The chain is most known for its delicious burgers and frozen custards, but the sides are nothing to sneeze at. The texture in these onion rings was spot on, managing to be both fluffy and crunchy. The flavor — thanks to the delicious beer batter — was the best of the bunch. It didn't overwhelm the onion, either. The onion rings had a nice balance between both onion and batter, and savory and sweet. The quality of the onions also seemed so much better than the other fast food chains in our rankings. At $3.49 for a regular size and $4.19 for a large, Freddy's' onion rings aren't the cheapest we reviewed (that honor would go to Burger King), but the quality and taste more than make up for the slightly higher price.

Freddy's is a relatively newer fast food chain. It opened its first location in Wichita, Kansas, in 2002. Today, the brand operates nearly 600 locations across 37 states — as well as three locations in Canada. Originally known for its steakburgers and frozen custards, Freddy's has obviously figured out how to turn out good side items as well.

Other reviews agree with our take on Freddy's' onion rings. One Redditor puts it bluntly, "Freddy's Steakburgers has some of the best onion rings in the fast food business." Other commenters say similar things about the onion rings, praising the beer batter while mentioning they also appear to be hand-cut (not ground-up onions like some other chains use, including Burger King). An Instagrammer thought the onion rings were delicious and rated them an eight out 10, calling them "hot and fresh with a good ratio of onion to coating."

The runner-up on our list of best onion rings, Fat Shack, is also worth trying. However, with just 31 locations mostly in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado, you might have a harder time finding a location near you. In reality, Freddy's is the best of the best. In a world of mostly mediocre fast food onion rings, Freddy's is a definite winner when it comes to this popular side.