Frisch's tartar sauce is the best. Or is it? We compared its taste to 4 other brands

Frisch's Big Boy's menu is filled with fan favorites. The breakfast bar and the hot fudge cake likely come to mind.

But the key ingredient to arguably the most popular dish, the Big Boy burger, is the restaurant chain's original tartar sauce.

Frisch's tartar sauce made me a believer. I hated the condiment as a kid. But my wife, Macey, a former Frisch's employee in high school, got me hooked on it. I call it the gateway tartar sauce.

It's the best there is.

In honor of Lenten fish fries, I decided to buy some at the store and bring it to work, so my fellow Enquirer colleagues could participate in a blind taste test with me. I wanted to see if we could taste out the Frisch's tartar sauce next to four other brands.

I also brought in Kraft, Kroger, Louisiana and McDonald's. (McDonald's does not sell its tartar sauce separately, from what I can tell. My wife just went to our neighborhood location and asked for some on the side. The Filet-O-Fish was invented in Cincinnati, after all.)

How'd everyone do?

We found out the tartar sauces from McDonald's and Frisch's have similar tastes. Sports columnist Jason Williams and I both narrowed it down to those two but incorrectly chose the McDonald's version. Trending reporter Haadiza Ogwude and entertainment editor Rasputin Todd also thought the McDonald's tartar sauce was Frisch's.

Perhaps there's another candidate in the running for No. 1?

The only person to guess it correctly was trending reporter Grace Tucker, a new Cincinnati resident who has yet to visit Frisch's.

However, it's worth noting: I brought all the tartar sauces home to my wife later that night, and she not only guessed Frisch's correctly, she guessed all five right.

I think it just comes down to how much you frequent tartar sauce. Enthusiasts can tell the difference, especially if you're a Frisch's loyalist.

Want to see our taste test for yourself? Visit our TikTok or watch the video at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Is Frisch's tartar sauce the GOAT? We compared its taste to McDonald's