10 Popular Chain Restaurant Appetizers That Aren't Worth The Price

Whether it's a crunchy plate of loaded nachos or satisfyingly stringy mozzarella sticks, chain restaurants provide plenty of delectable appetizers for customers to munch on. Small, shareable dishes like these are the perfect way to get a taste of an eatery before the main course arrives. Some restaurants even have defining starters as part of their menus, like TGI Fridays' Loaded Potato Skins or Texas Roadhouse's Cactus Blossom (the chain's term for a blooming onion).

But with such a wide variety of offerings, some appetizers are bound to be unworthy of your tastebuds — or your wallet! Whether they're too greasy, too dry, or just don't taste very good, every chain restaurant has an appetizer that stands out for the wrong reasons. Some of these include standard, classic dishes you can find in any restaurant, while others are unique signatures of their establishments.

For my deep dive into some of the worst appetizers at chain restaurants, I gathered a number of customer reviews lambasting various establishments for their lackluster meals. I also incorporated my personal experience as a regular chain restaurant attendee, explaining what makes some starters not worth buying. Let's check out the chain restaurant appetizers that you don't want brought to your table.

Introduced to the TGI Fridays menu in May 2025, the Loaded Tots promise a plate of crispy tater tots drenched in gooey, melted cheese, alongside bacon bits, green onion, and a few drizzles of TGI sauce. The combination makes for a delicious-sounding dish, one that combines the crunchy exterior and soft interior of a tater tot with plenty of flavorful toppings. But, despite being more expensive than Fridays' signature potato skins, these bite-sized newcomers aren't as tasty as they sound.

During my latest venture into Fridays for some of its mainstay appetizers, I decided to add Loaded Tots to my order. While the outside of the tots displayed the kind of golden-brown shell you'd expect from a well-fried batch, the potato interior was mushy and flavorless. The TGI sauce and green onion somewhat made up for it, but the cheese was lukewarm and only partially melted. It made for a subpar experience when contrasted with their more established dishes like the mozzarella sticks and pot stickers.

I'm not alone in my poor encounter with these Loaded Tots, though. One reviewer from Yelp explained how their tots were "not cooked properly," echoing my own experience with the too-soft interior. Given how time-tested many of Fridays' other appetizers are, the Loaded Tots aren't worth ordering. Since being half-cooked appears to be their biggest consistency, it's best advised to skip on this newer addition to the menu.

Chips and dip are a staple of any chain restaurant, and Applebee's is no exception. Its appetizer menu includes two specific dip options: White Queso and Spinach and Artichoke. The latter mixes the two vegetables into what's described as a "creamy" combo, topping it with shavings of Parmesan cheese. While dunking tortilla chips into a combination of spinach and artichoke sounds like a rich, savory experience for the taste buds, Applebee's fails to deliver on making this dip shine.

One review from Yelp described eating their spinach and artichoke dip as a disheartening experience. Not only did they call the chips "flavorless," but they also explained how "the dip was way too watery with very little taste." This is accompanied by an image showcasing the wet, soppy-looking bowl of dip, alongside some lightly-salted tortilla chips. Even with this dynamic combination, Applebee's missed the mark in taste and texture alike.

I can attest to the poor flavoring of Applebee's Spinach and Artichoke Dip, albeit without the bad luck of a watered-down consistency. The dish I received did, thankfully, have the creaminess one would expect from its description. The flavor, on the other hand, wasn't strong enough to justify buying it again. Not only are store-bought brands like Trader Joe's Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip more appealing, but so too was one I whipped up at home from scratch. Whether it's too wet or too bland, Applebee's Spinach and Artichoke Dip simply falls short of expectations.

In my experience, calamari is a singular dish that can be cooked several different ways. Whether as sizable golden-brown rings or small, crispy bites, this Italian-named squid platter can take on a variety of visual forms. Olive Garden serves its calamari appetizer in what the chain describes as "tender" miniature rings, also coming equipped with flavor-enhancing marinara and spicy ranch dressing. Unfortunately, Olive Garden's rendition of calamari desperately needs those side dips to balance out the appetizer's grosser elements.

While Olive Garden's menu includes plenty of delicious pasta dishes, its calamari left me cringing in contrast. The coloring instantly gave away the kind of taste it would have: Streaked with darkened crisp, it seemed the mollusk's thin coat of breading couldn't withstand the amount of time it spent frying. Tough and chewy, it took considerable effort to munch the rings into swallowable pieces. The taste was just as subtly sweet as expected — but the texture made my face curl.

Some online reviewers presented other issues, complaining about the dish's presentation and the lack of meat in each calamari ring. A dish like fried calamari is bound to hit some snags from place to place, but with a lack of consistency that disappoints at both ends of the spectrum, Olive Garden's version simply isn't worth the coin flip.

In this writer's opinion, there's nothing better than biting into the golden-brown deliciousness of a perfectly-breaded onion ring. But, given the wide array of choices, Buffalo Wild Wings' Beer-Battered Onion Rings don't match up. These sizable, thickly-sliced rings come draped in beer batter, promising a crunchy coating that perfectly contrasts the soft, stringy interior of the onion inside. Offered with B-Dubs dip on the side, it's a standard appetizer that, ultimately, doesn't stand out as bad on the surface.

But these onion rings have a multitude of drawbacks which make them one of the less favorable dishes on Buffalo Wild Wings' appetizer menu. Online reviews have described the texture as soggy and greasy — less than ideal for an app that relies on crunchy texture. There have also been customer complaints about the Beer-Battered Onion Rings' portion size, with the appetizer's price never adding up to the amount of food they get. One user on Reddit sarcastically called their order a "bargain," posting a box of six small rings and a larger, but thinner, seventh. Comments echo the sentiment that the onion rings aren't a deal worth springing for. With quality and quantity not measuring up, these rings are easy to leave on the sidelines.

Everything Pretzel Knots are one of Buffalo Wild Wings' simplest appetizers. The somewhat pricey dish comes with multiple large pretzel wedges with everything seasoning (otherwise known as everything bagel seasoning) sprinkled across the top of them. In addition, the pretzels are primed for dipping in melted Belgium Fat Tire beer cheese, alongside the more classic offering of honey mustard. But, despite the fanciful flavoring, the Everything Pretzel Knots fall short of any lofty expectations.

Online reviews have described the pretzels as extremely hard and borderline inedible with seasoning unevenly spread across each bite. I can certainly attest to the latter, having eaten the Everything Pretzel Knots on more than one occasion myself and noticing an almost rock-like texture. They also lack taste in comparison to other dishes on Buffalo Wild Wings' menu. While there's a notable effort to make the interior just the right amount of fluffy, the tastelessness ultimately overpowers the measly seasoning. Even though the dipping sauce recoups some favor, an uneven flavoring spread and bland pretzel makes this the restaurant's easiest to skip appetizer.

Chili's proves that a batch of mozzarella sticks can actually come in all shapes and sizes. The restaurant's Fried Mozzarella delivers a platter of greasy, fried cheese rectangles. These thick, quadrilateral behemoths are huge in contrast to the typical log-shaped mozzarella sticks other restaurants serve. Chili's also packs its golden-brown rectangles thick with cheese, delivering a delightfully stringy pull when they're fresh out of the kitchen.

But this gargantuan mozzarella dish has some unfortunate setbacks for stepping away from the norm. Users on Reddit note that the texture of the interior feels a little off, lamenting their rectangular structure. 

Despite their popularity on Chili's menu, I've personally found the Fried Mozzarella to be hit-or-miss. When it's fresh, the cheese pull is satisfying, and it's easy to forget how caloric every fried block is. Even the grease-laden, crunchy exterior adds to the cheese's flavoring. But, as corroborated by online reviews, once the blocks sit out for long enough, they become less tasty. From personal experience, when they've (rather swiftly) cooled to almost room temperature, the cheese gets tough and the crust becomes too dry. Although the Fried Mozzarella can be worth the experience, its quick-to-cool nature makes its asking price dubious.

The best loaded fries are first topped with savory, melted cheese, acting as a sharp base for an assortment of delicious ingredients. However, the Texas Cheese Fries at Chili's don't leave the tasty impression their description would lead one to believe. According to the restaurant's website, melted shredded cheese shines amid an assortment of bacon crumbles, jalapeño slices, and carefully chopped green onion. A side of ranch enhances the flavor. Or, in some cases, gives it flavor it doesn't have.

According to some online reviews, Chili's Texas Cheese Fries are fairly tasteless and can smack of freezer burn, or emerge from the kitchen outright cold. That doesn't work very well for a dish that's supposed to have melted cheese on it.

Given the assortment of food at Chili's that lives up to what's advertised — particularly appetizers like the Southwestern Queso Dip and boneless wings — the Texas Cheese Fries appear to be somewhat of an outlier. Their blandness and temperature issues make it seem like Chili's is over-reliant on varied toppings to hide the dish's flaws. But customers can still taste when their fries don't have the punch they should, even when something as strong as jalapeños are trying to make up for it.

There are two sides to the imperfections of Texas Roadhouse's Fried Pickles. Advertised as "golden-fried pickle chips," the appetizer doesn't stand out compared to fried pickles at other restaurants. Even so, they're accompanied by the flavor-enhancing choice of either "Ranch or Cajun sauce for dipping." But, although Texas Roadhouse has plenty of tasty dishes on its appetizer menu like the jalapeño-spiced Rattlesnake Bites, the Fried Pickles aren't a standout selection. This isn't because they're just a run-of-the-mill restaurant dish, though; it's because of their often repulsive taste and texture.

In a Reddit thread discussing fried pickles at various restaurants, multiple users chimed in about Texas Roadhouse's appetizer. While one user praised them, another comment expressed disdain for the extreme amount of salt in the dish. The sodium levels were so high, that it "soured [them] on fried pickles for about six months."

Another problem the pickles tend to have is general sogginess. This comes with the territory for some fried pickle batches that aren't properly dried before getting dunked in boiling oil. On the few occasions I've been to Texas Roadhouse, two involved fried pickle orders with damp crusts. Without the signature crunch of that "golden-fried" promise, the Texas Roadhouse appetizer becomes a chore to chew on. Luckily, Rattlesnake Bites and the Cactus Blossom are perfect substitutions, being fried appetizers without too much salt and with a satisfying, dry crunch factor.

The Cheesecake Factory has a near-overwhelming variety to its menu, from a dozen different types of Glamburgers to four mouth-watering salmon dishes. There are a swath of appetizers choices too, with one of its most unique being the Buffalo Blasts. These pouch-shaped bites offer fried pockets of chicken and cheese, drenched in the restaurant's homemade buffalo sauce. Just as spicy outside as they are on the inside, they promise a punchy starter ahead of the main course.

But these promises of chicken rangoons with a zing are often tarnished by an excess of oil, according to multiple online reviews. One Redditor said their order of Buffalo Blasts was "a damp aggregate of finely shredded boneless buffalo wings." While they praised how the appetizer tasted, indicating it at least had the level of spice that was promised, they weren't happy about the Blasts having an "upsetting mouth feel."

This observation about their oily texture also appeared in a Yelp review, where a customer called them the "worst" item on the menu from their order. They described the exterior of the Blasts "heavy and oily," to the point where they had to "[peel] off the wrapper and [eat] the filling," even though "the filling wasn't any better." A lack of consistent taste coupled with a greasy pocket makes the Buffalo Blasts a no-brainer to avoid. Plus, with The Cheesecake Factory's extensive menu, it's not difficult to find a worthy substitute.

To select chain restaurant appetizers for this list, I used a mixture of personal experience combined with online reviews from several different platforms. Apps were included here for a variety of reasons, primarily due to less-than-stellar flavor, inconsistent texture, poor presentation, among others.