HopCat reveals name change for popular 'Crack Fries'

HopCat announced today that its award-winning "Crack Fries" will now be called "Cosmik Fries."

"Cosmik Fries" pays homage to Frank Zappa’s 1974 song "Cosmik Debris." Mark Sellers, owner and founder of HopCat, told MLive that Zappa had been a part of HopCat "since day one." A collage of Zappa can be found in the men’s bathroom in the franchise's original Grand Rapids location.

Sellers says the song itself is "[a]n anti-drug song. Zappa never did any drugs, even though he was a weird guy with crazy music."

The name change is in response to hearing from families who have been affected by crack cocaine and do not see the name as "light-hearted" as the name was intended.

In December, HopCat released a press statement announcing its intent to change the name. Mark Gray, CEO of BarFly Ventures, which owns HopCat, said: "We chose the name more than 11 years ago as a reference to the addictive quality of the fries and their cracked pepper seasoning, without consideration for those the drug negatively affected. We were wrong."

"The crack epidemic and the lasting impact on those it affects is not funny and never was."

Although the name has been changed, the original cracked-pepper recipe of the popular fries will remain unchanged.

Angela Zielinski is an editorial intern at Metro Times.

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