Review: Cheesy Tots from Burger King

Posted January 5th, 2013 | 6:24pm by Sam

Burger King is scrambling. Their popularity is waning, and the numbers are starting to reflect it – according to HuffPost and Business Insider, from 2010 to 2011 they slipped from number three to number five among top revenue-earning fast food chains. Burger King has reacted by coming out with new products seemingly nonstop (read: Avocado and Swiss Whopper, Chicken Nuggets), as well as bringing back old “fan favorites.” Among these reincarnated items are Burger King Cheesy Tots. Burger King describes their Cheesy Tots like this:

Crunchy bite-sized snacks perfect at any time of the day – featuring a crispy outside and a warm mixture of potatoes and creamy American cheese on the inside.

The addictive, no-fail combination of cheese and potatoes attracted a few devout fans while Cheesy Tots were on their first run at Burger King; they even have a Facebook fan page. This small cult following became apoplectic when they learned Cheesy Tots were coming back. Personally, I’d never tried them so I headed to Burger King to see what all of the fuss was about.I got a small order (which comes with 8) for $2.23. Upon first tasting these, I could tell Cheesy Tots were the type of product that give you exactly what they promise and nothing more. The outside, while not crunchy in the potato chip sense, was that golden shell of fried goodness we’ve come to expect from hash browns and tater tots. The inside was a gooey mash of cheese and potatoes, not too bland and not too salty. The cheese was the mac n’ cheese variety and held the ensemble together quite nicely. Nothing gourmet, nothing fancy here. Overall, I was impressed with the simplicity of Burger King’s Cheesy Tots. They are just potatoes and cheese, fried into a golden brown ball. The tots were well-portioned – the ratio of crusty shell to melty inside was good (although you can never have enough crusty outside). And they are delicious. That means a lot, coming from the only person in America who doesn’t care that much for potatoes.

Too often, Burger King tries to be too quirky or far-reaching with their new products (read: Wisconsin White Cheddar Whopper), attempts which tend to either fail miserably or fall flat. If Burger King wants to edge up their market share, they should promote more crowd favorites like these. For Burger King, as for us all, the road to success is paved with Cheesy Tots.