The Wendy's Takis Collab Has Elevated Fries To A Whole New Fiery Level

We reported a few days ago that Wendy's was about to drop its new spicy collab with Takis, and that time has come. Today marks the day that the meal comes out. If you haven't been paying attention, the partnership comes in the form of a spicy chicken sandwich, along with some fries tossed in Takis-inspired seasoning. The sandwich is topped with crumbled Takis bits, Chili Lime Sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, and a creamy corn spread reminiscent of Mexican elotes, while the fries are meant to taste like, well, Takis.

Considering we're enamored with the full-bore flavor of Takis to begin with, this mashup not only sounded somewhat adventurous for Wendy's, but more importantly, it just felt fun. I conveniently live a block away from a Wendy's, which meant I was destined to try this — but hey, if I was going to do it, I might as well knock it out for work. Nobody ever believes me when I say that this is my day job. You can get both Takis-flavored options as part of the same meal, called the Takis Fuego Meal, which starts at $10.79 at my local Wendy's.

So, I'll start with the unfortunate stuff first. My Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich wasn't ... so good. I think it's because of a few key issues. First of all, the sauces on this sandwich are quite thick, which means that they don't spread well. If they get plopped in the center of the sandwich during construction, the condiments won't naturally spread around the top; they will stay in a pile, right in the middle.

As you can see in my photo (I hate these gross under-the-hood photos, sorry), everything was jammed right in the center. So I had a perimeter of dry chicken before I got to any of the good stuff. This isn't a knock on my local Wendy's employees, by the way. These sandwiches are designed to be built at light speed, and unless I'm getting special tender loving care on mine, nobody's going to be spreading sauce carefully on the bun or the chicken patty.

That leads to the taste. You can't catch anything other than the acid from the Chili Lime Sauce and the crumbled Takis, which inevitably lose most of their crunch quickly. Both the corn spread and cheddar cheese sauce might as well not be involved. The end result is that when you do get a maximal bite of flavor, it's all one note. Would thinner sauces have been better or just more of them? It's hard to say. This is a mediocre sandwich that had so much potential, though yours might be better if it's constructed with different ratios.

The Takis fries, however, are on a whole new level. As in, they are absolutely fantastic. Normally I take it easy on my fry consumption, but I wanted to hoover this whole dang bag. That's because they are tossed in what Wendy's describes as "Takis-inspired" seasoning, which, as far as I can tell, is actual Takis Fuego seasoning. A 1-ounce bag of Takis Fuego chips is even included in your meal so you can do a side-by-side comparison, and it's hard to tell if there's any actual difference.

My fries were already cold and soggy by the time I got to them, but that didn't matter. They were almost better that way so I could just shovel them in my face by the mouthful to enjoy that tangy and spicy-ish flavor. If you like Takis, you'll also probably do that thing where you look for the most-seasoned fry in the bunch and savor it as if it were a delicacy. I have never been this delighted with such a simple addition to fries, and I swear, I'd pay a large sum of money just for a shaker of that dust.

Apparently you can upgrade your drinks and Frostys with Takis seasoning, too. This isn't on the menu, but I've seen evidence on social media accounts. However, when I asked for this, the employee looked puzzled. They said they added it to my Frosty, but it came out like a normal item. I'm not so sure that would have tasted all that great anyway. I still do suspect I got a bit of a bum sandwich this go-around, so if I get another in the future, I'm thinking there's a chance it'll be better. But those fries? They're worth a trip to Wendy's alone.