The Contested Origin Of Potato Skins

Potato skins are a staple on most bar menus and make for a great game day or party snack. This dish essentially involves repurposing the leftover peel of a used potato. The skin is fried to make the potato as crispy as possible, then topped with cheese. Sour cream, chives, and bacon are sometimes added as well. Though you might not think twice about how this tasty dish made it to menus in the first place, the origin story of potato skins is actually not well understood.

There are three different restaurants that take credit for creating the potato skin: the well-known chain TGI Friday's, a Washington, D.C., restaurant called The Prime Rib, and the Chicago-based chain R.J. Grunts. However, the possible years of invention differ. R.J. Grunts put potato skins on the menu back in 1971, while TGI Friday's didn't add them until 1974 yet claims to be the first restaurant to do so — or, at the very least, the first to make the dish popular in the United States. But The Prime Rib has them both beat, as the steakhouse started serving its famous potato skins back in 1965.

The answer to who made the first potato skins might never be confirmed as absolute fact. But if we're basing it on each restaurant's own admission, it looks like The Prime Rib is the winner. Today, the restaurant's potato skin basket is one of its signature dishes, even earning its own separate space on the menu below the appetizer list. The item's description reads, "Originated by us in 1965," almost as if to stave off any further rumors that it was not the first restaurant with (potato) skin in the game. The steakhouse also serves its fried potato skins with a signature horseradish sauce, giving the dish a unique twist.

Regardless of the battle over potato skin invention, The Prime Rib certainly does have some expertise when it comes to spuds. You can order potatoes five different ways at the steakhouse, from au gratin to baked — a simpler style of potato that restaurants still make delicious. And if you don't want a full basket of the iconic potato skins, you can also order a side dish portion.