In terms of culinary life, tater tots are still very young. Making their debut in cafeteria trays in American schools just under 70 years ago, the dish is simple - it’s potatoes. Or, maybe you prefer to call tater tots the UN-fries of American cuisine. Regardless of what you call them, or how you feel about them, they’re making a move into the spotlight lately - especially in burger joints where they are fast-approaching the simple french fry as the potato dish of choice to accompany burgers.

Like most of the traditional burger meal - tater tots have been re-tooled in very inventive ways to meet the challenging appetites of diners. Some restaurants in the U.S. are even combining  tater tots with other dishes to create sort of a weird, but delicious combination of things like...nachos.

Ok, we may actually be on board with this kind of culinary experiment.

And, good news here, it gets better. The simple tater tot has been culinarily (a new word?) combined to create such delicious flavors that no longer is the tater tot a simple side dish destined to play a supporting role for your burger. No, these flavor combination have catapulted tater tots to center stage to become some of the most popular dishes of the year.

Some are going poutine-style: Parmesan and herb-seasoned tots topped with traditional cheese curds and apple cider braised bacon. Smother it all in cider pork and you’re pretty much looking at heaven on a plate.

Others are going full-on entree mode with things like loaded street Philly tots: Covered in cheddar and thinly-sliced sirloin grilled to perfection and topped off with caramelized onions and green peppers.

More heaven on a plate.

If you think the popularity of tater tots stops at the stand-alone entree level, think again. Smark QSR operators aren’t just replacing the burger with a dish of tater tots, they’re putting tater tots in their burgers. Pure genius. One Florida burger restaurant tops its signature burger with sweet potato tater tots. Below the tater tots? A thick, juicy patty topped with melted cheese, maple bacon, fresh veggies and shallot crema - all held together with a warm, fresh pretzel bun.

It turns out that tater tots have become one of the most versatile dishes of the year and we think they’re only going to get more popular as SQR and fast-casual operators do their best to take this relatively inexpensive dish. (again, they’re potatoes) and elevate them into something worthy of a prime place on the menu - and on your table.

Keep your eyes out for tater tot dishes in restaurants near you.