Despite being off by only one letter, steak fries and steak frites have notable differences. Steak fries are a cut of French fry, while steak frites is a dish of steak and fries.

Regular French fries are thin, while steak fries are cut thicker and are more closely related to British chips or potato wedges. They also have a fluffier inside.

Steak frites, meanwhile, has less restriction as to which type of fry to use, with the caveat that the fries used in a traditional dish are also thick-cut, just like steak fries.

Steak fries are essentially a side dish that sprung from steak frites. Somewhere along the line, the cut of fry known now as steak fries broke away from its steak frites dish.