THE controversial McDonald’s pop-up restaurant serving free fries opened in Sydney today with little fanfare, after local residents tried to launch a campaign to have the store shut down.

The world-first fries-only store, called Fries With That, is open until Sunday in Glebe, a suburb 10 minutes from the CBD.

Last year, McDonald’s launched Loaded Fries (fries topped with gravy, or guacamole and salsa, or bacon and cheese) and Fries With That is a testing ground for potential new toppings.

The flavours available over the next three days are caesar sauce with bacon and cheese, chipotle, sweet chilli and sour cream, gravy, pesto mayo and parmesan, peri peri chicken and curry.

But hundreds of Glebe residents protested the arrival of McDonald’s in their neighbourhood. They’re concerned this pop-up means the global food chain is testing the local market. A McDonald’s spokeswoman told news.com.au there were no plans to launch a permanent store or another pop-up in the area.

The store opened at 11am and while there were no In-N-Out style lines, around 30 people were queued outside the store on Glebe Point Road. There were no protesters present.

Glebe local Adam Fraser started queuing at 10am and was first in line. (For context, the first people in line at the In-N-Out burger pop-up got there are 6am and queued for six hours).

Mr Fraser lives around the corner from Fries With That and said the backlash from local residents was “nuts”.

“In Glebe there’s a Dominos, there’s a Subway. It’s a free world. I’m pretty disgusted,” he told news.com.au.

Fries With That looks more like a hipster cafe than a McDonald’s restaurant. The staff are in their 20s and 30s, wear white T-shirts and light blue aprons embroidered with a cute fries logo.

The polished concrete floor matches the light grey walls. The rubbish bin is made from natural timber and there are loads of indoor plants. A giant neon fries logo sits on the wall and people held their free fries up against it for the perfect Instagram shot.

There are seven different flavours available and all contain more calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger. One flavour, the caesar space with bacon and parmesan, contains 2120kj, 60kj more than a Big Mac (2060kj). A small fries contains 1070kj, a medium has 1540kj, and a large is 1900kj.

We tried all the flavours, so you don’t have to and ranked them from best to worst.

1. GRAVY (1320KJ)

You can’t really go wrong with chips and gravy. They were salty and soggy and the gravy actually had a good flavour. Probably the best of the lot.

2. SWEET CHILLI SAUCE AND SOUR CREAM (1850kj)

I could totally eat wedges with sweet chilli and sour cream all day long so I loved these.

3. CAESAR SAUCE, BACON AND CHEESE (2120kj)

This was like a fatty, crispy caesar salad. I only had a few mouthfuls — you’d have to be pretty hardcore to eat the whole thing and not have a heart attack.

4. PESTO MAYO AND PARMESAN (1820kj)

Look, it wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great. I found myself trying to pick out all the fries that had the least sauce on them, so I guess that says it all.

5. CURRY (1320kj)

I’d heard my UK friends rave about their national hangover food of choice — chips and curry — so was excited to try curry-covered fries for the first time. These were disappointing. Don’t come expecting a thick, rich sauce. It’s translucent and tastes like pure curry powder.

6. CHIPOTLE CHEESE (1620kj)

These were gross. I had one bite and couldn’t go any further. The cheese tastes like melted plastic cheese — totally fake. Steer clear.

7. PER PERI CHEESE (1620kj)

The cheesy sauce tastes so artificial and so unlike actual cheese that it was kind of confronting. I couldn’t tell the difference between these and the chipotle, probably because I spat both of them out before I could really savour the flavour. Not a fan.

rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au