Burgerville, which prides itself on dishing up top-quality, locally sourced ingredients, had a french fry crisis.

A batch of precut Russet potatoes delivered to a number of restaurants didn’t crisp up in fryer. Instead, they emerged from the hot canola oil limp, like mashed potatoes on a stick.

Palates weren’t pleased.

Complaints from restaurant managers about the quality and taste of the french fries started rolling into the company’s Vancouver headquarters last Wednesday. Executives shifted into high gear, pulled the bad batch of potatoes from Burgerville’s 39 restaurants and distributed a new lot.

Those had a limp cooked texture, too.

, a seasonal item also made from Russet potatoes. But with its restaurants serving nearly 8,000 pounds of fries a day, supplies of those quickly ran out. Over the weekend, two restaurants had no fries at all for a few hours.

Not good for a chain serving burgers.

"Our guests can't go without a fry," said Jeff Harvey, Burgerville's president and chief executive officer. "We had to scramble to make sure our bases were covered."

The chain shifted again, this time to waffle fries, a seasonal item usually offered in winter. They're made with Golden potatoes -- not Russets -- and they melt in your mouth, Harvey said.

"They're a premium potato," he said. "They have a buttery flavor and a lot of crunch. They're very popular."

The company doesn't know why the first two lots of Russets fried up limp. Like all of Burgerville's potatoes, they were from farms in Eastern Washington, Harvey said.

The company's potato supplier has since delivered a new batch of regular fries, which went on sale at Burgerville stores on Wednesday.

Harvey thinks they're great. But he wants customers to weigh in. On Tuesday, Burgerville posted a message

, explaining the potato problem and asking clients what they'd like in the way of fries.

Nearly 2,000 people have responded, Harvey said.

"We're using this hiccup in the supply chain to ask guests what they would like," Harvey said.

-- Lynne Terry