A Steak n Shake executive credited the switch to cooking fries in beef tallow to Sardar Biglari, chairman and CEO of San Antonio-based Biglari Holdings Inc.
Order up: Your next side of fries at Steak n Shake is coming RFK style. The fast-food chain that’s part of San Antonio holding company Biglari Holdings Inc ., is getting attention for switching its 426 restaurants this month to cooking its shoestring fries in beef tallow rather than vegetable oil.
“We’ve RFK’d our fries,” Daniel Edwards, Steak n Shake’s San Antonio-based chief operating officer, told “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy last week. Edwards credited the switch not to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. — who has championed beef tallow as a healthier alternative to cooking in vegetable oil — but to the chairman and chief executive of the eponymously named holding company. “My boss is a man named Sardar Biglari and when he was a little boy he went to Belgium and had fries, and said these are the best fries I’ve ever had,” Edwards said. “They were actually cooked in beef tallow. He called me one time and said, ‘Why should Europeans have better fries than Americans? We need to have the best. Steak n Shake is a classic American brand. We can’t let anybody beat us.’ READ MORE: Activist investor Sardar Biglari on 'asinine actions,' cigar-butt investing and protecting his turf Kennedy, in a since-deleted post on X, congratulated Steak n Shake on making the transition. “Thanks for leadership in the crusade to Make America Healthy Again,” he said. Steak n Shake thanked Kennedy for the recognition on its own X account, where it’s mimicking Chick-fi-A advertisements by urging consumers to “Eat mor bef talow.” Steak n Shake wanted to make the switch to tallow years ago, but it couldn’t get a “chemical-free, additive-free, all-natural beef tallow,” Edwards said. The chain finally found a supplier that could provide 100% beef tallow so it made the switch. The fries now taste “so much better,” Edwards boasted. “We’re actually famous … for our shoestring fries,” he said. “These same fries, cooked in beef tallow, crispier, golden brown. absolutely delicious. You’re going to love them when you try them.” Doocy asked if the swap would end up costing more money, but Edwards said the company was unconcerned. “That’s a secondary consideration,” he said. “Our focus is really quality.” Biglari reiterated that Saturday in his annual letter to shareholders. “While some competitors have reduced portion size and quality in recent years, we have increased the size of our beef patties by 9%, the quantity of mix-ins for milkshakes, and the amount of homemade whipped cream we serve,” he said. “Any one of our actions may go unnoticed by our customers but they should strengthen our competitive position.” In a 2024 article, the Mayo Clinic said beef tallow is primarily made up of saturated fat. “While saturated fats have been demonized in the past, eating certain kinds or small amounts might not be as harmful as previously thought,” Mayo dietitian Lori Russell wrote. “In tallow, some of the saturated fat is a specific type known as stearic acid. Stearic acid appears to not raise cholesterol in the same way as other saturated fats.” Another clinic article disagrees with the notion that seed oils are bad, though. In fact, dietitian Jason S. Ewaldt said, seed oils in moderation can actually support health. “There are no good or bad foods. It truly is the context of the entire diet,” he said. Besides restaurants, Biglari Holdings owns insurance firms, oil companies and Maxim magazine. It also owns shares in luxury sports car maker Ferrari and restaurant chains Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. and El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc.
RFK Biglari Holdings Inc Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. Ferrari Health And Human Services Fox &Amp Mayo Clinic El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc... Maxim Sardar Biglari Daniel Edwards Steve Doocy Jason S. Ewaldt Lori Russell X Americans Chick Europeans Mayo San Antonio Belgium American Eat Mor Bef Talow Make America Healthy Again
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