Kids kept calling a restaurant for french fries, so the owner set out to find them

The entire world has been waiting for a little girl to get her french fries for more than a week.

On Feb. 26, Somer Williams, co-owner and operator of the Noble Smokin’ Joe’s BBQ in Noble, Oklahoma posted to the restaurant Facebook page about some funny calls they had received.

“Some little toot really wants French fries. If you have a kid around the age of 4 or 5 and they have your phone…. Check on them. He’s called about three times asking for french fries. Please, bring that poor baby here for french fries!”

Williams and her sister Taylor Wells just opened their establishment less than a year ago, as a spinoff from their dad’s Original Smokin’ Joe’s Rib Ranch.

“We have barbecue, of course, and our biggest seller is ribs. We have a Strawberry on a Cloud dessert that was my grandma’s recipe,” Williams tells TODAY.com.

As for the object of little toot’s desire, “Yes, we have fries! They’re beer-battered and crispy. Our loaded fries have queso, beans, any type of meat that you choose, sour cream, chives and jalapenos on the side. Everybody likes our french fries … except for one guy I saw on Google!” she laughs.

Something about the post caught the public’s imagination. To date, the original post has 2,800 shares, 5,900 comments and over 19,000 reactions, and the business page has added thousands of new followers.

In less than 24 hours, comments were pouring in from all over the U.S., and a dozen other countries on every continent. “It started in Australia,” Williams tells TODAY.com, “then Canada, and the U.K., Portugal, Spain, Antarctica, Asia.” Followers were soon offering tips on how to get the kids their fries safely and pleading for updates.

“Sitting in Rhode Island hoping these kids get their fries!” one commented.

Another chimed in, “Sending luck from the great potato state of Idaho!”

“Hi from Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, what’s the latest!? Invested,” wrote another.

And, “Well, hello all the way from Portugal! This just showed up on my timeline, hope the kid gets his fries!”

The list of cities mentioned is a dizzying tour: Wilmot, Wisconsin; Tlapacoyan, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; Lusaka, Kenya.

Though the comments sections sometimes bring out the worst in people, in this case, everybody just wanted the kids to get their heart’s desire. Williams told us that she was touched by some commenters mentioning finding a much-needed bright spot in this story.

“People started reaching out,” she says, “wanting to help pitch in, just do little things, like pay for the fries or send things for the kids, just wanting to do something sweet.”

She found out later that her mystery caller actually spoke to three other employees the first day, but once they got her, she was hooked on figuring it out herself. How much of her time was she spending on this?

“It took all my time!” she laughs. “I have not worked. I’ve been hyper-focused. I forgot to order my Coke (for the restaurant) this week!”

The next day, Williams posted a play-by-play about playing phone tag with her new “French Fry Friend” throughout the day. She could hear more than one child and asked them to put a parent on the phone, but they got spooked and hung up.

The calls continued back and forth for days, with the kids trying various tactics to extract french fries out of their new telephone pal. Williams eventually figured out that there were three children, all girls. At one point, the oldest girl pretended to be their mom placing an order — a bit naughty, but Williams is a former elementary school employee and took it all in stride. People in the restaurant started asking whether the “french fry girl” had called that day, and commenters from far and wide were checking in regularly for new information.

Smokin’ Joe’s had fun with it, offering a “Lil’ Toot special: 1 Rib, French Fries, Dwink, $7. Added a rib bc they also need protein.”

Williams had to walk a fine line at times, trying to get in touch with the parents without invading anyone’s privacy. There were little clues — calling a dog named “Beethoven,” the name Hailey and the grade pre-K — but the children had been stage-whispering to each other about making sure they obscured their identities since they were talking to a stranger, and maybe also because they knew they probably shouldn’t be trying to finagle fries. Williams thought there might be some red herrings.

She was trying every trick in the book to get them to put their mom on the phone, though, without success. She recruited locals to ask around, and talked to a police officer friend for tips.

“I feel like I’m being outwitted by toddlers,” she lamented at one point. But, eventually, her hard work paid off. Putting together hints from several chaotic conversations with all three girls, Williams’ persistent detective work found the mom of the two oldest girls on Facebook.

“Don’t be mad at me!” were the first words out of her mouth, and luckily, their parents think it’s funny now that they’re starting to get over the shock of their kids being world-famous.

Williams got to meet the French Fry Friends 10 days after the whole thing started, and, yes, the girls finally got their french fries, with Cokes and popcorn chicken, to boot.

“Very sweet kids,” she tells TODAY.com after their get-together, “and very much toots. I had that right! They are very inquisitive and very talkative.”

It turned out that “Hailey in Pre-K” was the invention of 5-year-old kindergartener Linda, and cousin 11-year-old Miley was the supposed “mom.” Miley’s sister Emily, 9, was the original French Fry Girl, and the one Williams had talked to the most. It turned out there has been some sadness in their young lives — the older two girls’ father passed away some time ago — so this bright spot goes both ways.

There are plans in the works to host french fry parties at the girls’ schools, and so many people have offered to donate that Williams is setting up savings accounts for each girl with the help of a pro-bono lawyer to keep the funds safe for them until the little toots turn 18.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com