Starch Madness 2015 Bracket: Boston’s Ultimate Fried Potato Mashup

Leah Mennies, Christopher Hughes, Toan Trinh, and Yiqing Shao

Thanks for voting in Starch Madness!

Find out who won and take a closer look at the top two dishes.

Click to view larger. / Photo by Toan Trinh

Here at Boston magazine, we spend a lot of time talking about where to find the finest burgers, lobster rolls, sandwiches, and more. But what about the supporting cast members to all of these fine specimens? The addictive French fries, the crunchy potato chips, the perfectly golden tots?

Just like pretty much anyone else with a pulse, we happen to love a good plate of fried spuds. We also love a good pun—and so, the bracket extravaganza henceforth known as Starch Madness was born.

Here’s the deal: the initial field of 64 is a mix of staff favorites and citywide signatures in the Boston area, broken into categories like potato chips, tots, and “smothered.” In the interest of paring things down, we limited the contenders to deep-fried potatoes only—no skins, no mashed, no potato salads, etc. Other than homegrown Dunkin’, national chains were excluded.

New rounds of voting will begin every Monday and Thursday, until the field is whittled down to two finalists, who will each get a detailed behind-the-scenes profile published on BostonMagazine.com. The Ultimate Fry Champion will win a most special prize: their very own Mr. Potato Head, which might or might not be spray-painted gold and branded with our logo (we’re still working on that part, but rest assured it will be awesome).

Unsure which spud gets your vote? Eat your way through the city and let us know your thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #StarchMadness.

Let the food fight begin. —LM