Ruffles vs Ridgies — Second Rate Snacks

I wasn’t able to find any information on this, but I believe Ruffles was the first chip with ridges. I always have a soft spot in my heart for Ruffles, not because they taste better than other chips but I will never forget Halloween of 1985 when one house was giving out full-size bags of Ruffles AND they let us pick the flavor we wanted(I chose Sour Cream and Onion). I still get a little shiver of excitement just thinking about what a treat that was.
Wise has a version of ridged chips called Ridgies which I’ve never had but felt they just scream “second rate”.

Ruffles:
Ruffles have a nice, light texture and a good amount of salt. These were strong enough to confidently scoop up dip. They were kind of greasy but then again it IS a potato chip. One thing we noticed was they kind of didn’t taste like anything. If someone told me these were made of paper, I might believe it.
Ethan detected some mystery flavor that he could not put his finger on but he liked it. I tried to figure it out but just didn’t taste anything unusual so I’m not sure what it was.

Ridgies:
Ridgies were more browned and had a good solid crunch. They were a little thicker in texture, Ethan felt they were a little too hard. These were less salty than Ruffles but had much more potato flavor, which to me made a huge difference. I found myself enjoying these more because of that but Ethan wasn’t too impressed.

Wrap up:
Split decision. Ethan preferred the texture, saltiness and “mystery flavor” of Ruffles but I was a fan of the strong potato flavor of Ridgies and liked their hearty texture. I will agree with Jon that the evil eye logo is a little unsettling because it looks angry, although it does fit with the challenge “Dare to dip”.

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9 thoughts on “Ruffles vs Ridgies”

evil eye??? it’s an owl eye, not an evil eye. because owl’s are wise.

Michelle’s joking, cz. Of course it’s an owl’s eye. But it does look a bit sinister. When I was really young that eye would freak me out a bit. Somebody else said the same thing in a comment about Cheez Doodles.

Wise chips are always so greeezy. Even the foil bag has grease stains on it. Plus they have a disproportionate number of burnt chips.
FAIL!

When I was a kid, my Mom used to buy Wise chips. What I mostly remember about them is their incredible greasiness – many of the chips would be almost transparent because of the high level of oiliness – and there were always overcooked/burnt chips in the bag too. My sibs and I hated them. Thus, I haven’t had them in years.
Ethan’s right, there is a special flavor in Ruffles – it’s a common flavor that you’ll find in any potato chip by Frito Lay has. I identify it as a vague sweetness, but no matter what you think it might be, it’s there. I bet you can pick out the Lay’s potato chips in a blind tasting because of that flavor (I know I can.)