McDonald's is launching cheesy bacon fries across the US in 2019, leaked photos reveal

McDonald's Honolulu

McDonald's cheesy bacon fries are already for sale in Hawaii.

• McDonald's is rolling out cheesy bacon fries across the United States in 2019. 
• The chain started serving the bacon-topped cheesy fries in select markets in November, and it has tested similar menu items in years past. 
• The cheesy bacon fries will roll out nationally early next year and have already been added to some stores' point-of-sales systems, a source with knowledge of the situation told Business Insider.

McDonald's is rolling out cheesy bacon fries in 2019. 

The fast-food chain is taking the bacon-topped dish national in early 2019, a McDonald's employee with knowledge of the situation told Business Insider. According to photos viewed by Business Insider, at least some stores have started adding the "loaded bacon fry station" to their point of sales systems. 

Locations in Hawaii and Northern California began selling the cheesy bacon fries in November, Nation's Restaurant News reported. In a mid-November note, Mark Kalinowski of Kalinowski Equity Research said that the test markets' locations suggested McDonald's was taking the test seriously and that the odds were growing that the chain would roll out the menu item nationally in 2019. 

Read more: McDonald's is debuting a new deal that packs in a ton of food - and more than 1,000 calories - for $6. Here's how the options measure up.

"I'm afraid I'll have to provide a cheesy no comment," a McDonald's representative told Business Insider in an email on Friday. "At this moment, our kitchens are bacon-ing something together. But we're not yet ready to share the gouda news."

The McDonald's worker said he is concerned about the possibility of confusion behind the scenes as workers learn to prepare the new dish, which he said has a new type of bacon.

Customers have already posted photos and early reviews of the fries from the test markets. 

One person said on Instagram that the fries were reminiscent of In-N-Out's animal-style fries. Another person rated the dish a seven out of 10. 

McDonald's has long sold cheesy fries in other countries, including Spain and Canada. The chain has tested different versions of cheese fries in the US for years, including a limited-time offer of Loaded Bacon and Cheese Basket of Fries across four states in 2017.