12 Chain Restaurant Desserts You Might Regret Ordering, According To Reviewers

There is a good reason so many people crave something sweet after dinner — the final course rounds off the savory flavors of the main meal, allowing diners to linger at the table a little bit longer. And while some may skip dessert at home, for many indulging in a sweet treat at the end of a restaurant meal feels like an essential part of eating out.

From creamy and chocolatey to fruity and refreshing, restaurant desserts showcase a range of options bound to cater to every taste and mood. This, however, doesn't mean that they are all equally as good. While some desserts are a highlight of the meal, others can leave diners feeling that they didn't live up to their description on the menu.

That gap between expectation and reality is particularly clear with certain chain restaurant desserts. These sweets can look irresistible on paper, even if the actual dish ends up tasting bland or stale. To make your next restaurant visit more enjoyable — and predictable — we have gathered a list of desserts that have diners wishing they had skipped the final course. For more information about our selection process, take a look at the methodology section at the end of this article.

Also sometimes called lava cake, molten chocolate cake is a decadent dessert that blends rich ingredients like melted chocolate and butter, a pairing that produces its signature tender exterior and molten core. Debuting on Chili's menu in 1998, the cake is served with vanilla ice cream coated in a chocolate shell and drizzled with caramel sauce. According to a Reddit contributor who claims to work at the restaurant, the molten chocolate cakes arrive at Chili's frozen and are thawed once cut into portions.

Despite its relatively long run, the chain's Molten Chocolate Cake has been receiving less than favorable reviews from sweets enthusiasts. Many diners complain that the cake arrived at their table dry or rock solid, with one TripAdvisor reviewer saying, "The Molten Lava Cake was HORRIBLE! Cold & dry. Nothing 'lava' about it. The chocolate on the inside was a solid brick of chocolate, like a candy bar." Other guests have also expressed disappointment about the ice cream served alongside the cake, criticizing its small portion size and melted consistency.

Applebee's offers five different desserts, including caramel apple pie, cinnamon swirls, molten lava cake, pecan blondie, and the Brownie Bite. Smaller in size than the chain's other sweet options, the brownie is made with dark chocolate and nuts. The dessert is served alongside vanilla ice cream, and topped with hot fudge.

The chain's Brownie Bite is around a third of the calories of its other desserts, and for good reason — it's tiny. TikToker @nysantanna says, "I ordered a brownie bite from Applebee's & wasn't expecting it to look like this" while laughing into a napkin and revealing the measly portion. Similarly, another reviewer noted that the chocolate brownie came with just a teaspoon's worth of ice cream. It seems that Brownie Bite's quality leaves a lot to be desired, as well as its small size. One reviewer also complained that their order came with a puddle of melted ice cream, making this dessert an Applebee's menu item to avoid.

Listed alongside butter pecan sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, and biscuit beignets, the Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake is the most unusual entry on Cracker Barrel's dessert menu. What makes it stand out is the soda-infused recipe, which helps to give the dessert its moist and fluffy texture and unique flavor. First featured on the chain's menu as a limited-time offering in 1997, the Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake was born from a mistake in the recipe that doubled the amount of cocoa powder. The cake became a part of Cracker Barrel's permanent menu lineup in 2009.

The main issue with Cracker Barrel's Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake comes down to quality control. Even if the dessert is tasty when fresh, many reviewers claim that the slices are often served dry and stale. One Yelp review exemplifies this, noting, "Even the frosting was extremely firm and dry. This cake had to be several days old. I had about 2 or 3 bites and could not finish it. Very disappointing."

Domino's isn't really known for its desserts, and that's hardly surprising. When it first opened as DomiNick's in 1960, the restaurant focused almost entirely on pizza. In fact, the first non-pizza item Domino's offered was in 1992 when it started serving breadsticks, with Buffalo wings joining the menu in 1994. Today, Domino's offers a range of pastas, breads, salads, and chicken dishes. It also serves three types of dessert: cinnamon bread bites, chocolate lava cakes, and cookie brownies.

The Marbled Cookie Brownie at Domino's comes in a nine-piece portion for sharing. Unfortunately, many diners have found that the fudge brownie with chocolatey chunks is disappointing. For instance, one TripAdvisor criticized the confection, saying, "The marble brownie was a big, flat, dry brownie sliced into many squares — hard on the edges and too thin to be tasty." Another online reviewer also mentioned that their Domino's brownie was burnt, and yet another Yelp reviewer complained that theirs was "drenched in butter."

In a menu of burgers, shakes, and sundaes, a baked apple pie may seem like a bit of an anomaly. However, McDonald's was already serving its simple apple pie way back in 1968, offering customers a warm, handheld dessert that quickly became a favorite across generations. The chain initially served deep-fried versions of the pie until a baked recipe was rolled out in 1992. The chain's current recipe – which was updated in 2018 – is made with American-grown apples and lattice crust, all baked and sprinkled with sugar.

While the apple pie at McDonald's may be healthier than its deep-fried counterpart, it's certainly not as beloved. The main gripe with the baked menu item is its texture, with one Yelp user describing it as "extremely dry and chewy" with a "rock hard" pastry. In a similar vein, a disappointed Facebook reviewer said the pie looked unappealing and had a filling that tasted like taffy. This undesirable texture could stem from the fact that the restaurant keeps the pies in the warmer for long periods of time, as suggested by one Yelp contributor.

Olive Garden is a casual dining chain that specializes in American-Italian offerings, such as chicken parmigiana, spaghetti and meatballs, and cheese ziti al forno. The chain also serves what could be considered more classic Italian dishes, like layered lasagna and eggplant parmigiana. When it comes to desserts, Olive Garden serves one of Italy's most famous sweet offerings: tiramisu. While its exact origins are up for debate, many agree that tiramisu was first created at Le Beccherie in Treviso in the Veneto region of Italy, where it appeared on the menu in 1972.

Le Beccherie's recipe for tiramisu called for ladyfingers soaked in espresso, a mascarpone cheese mixture with eggs and sugar, and a dusting of cocoa powder. Veering a bit from the original, Olive Garden's take on the dessert comes with espresso-soaked ladyfingers topped with a layer of creamy custard. Unfortunately, the chain's version of tiramisu hasn't received the green light from diners, with many complaining that it's frequently served frozen. Perhaps one Yelp reviewer sums up this sentiment best, saying, "I waited probably 30 – 45 minutes to eat it and it was frozen. Full of ice crystals."

Despite its name, California Pizza Kitchen serves much more than just pizza. From classics such as spaghetti Bolognese and Caesar salad with grilled chicken to more innovative menu options like kung pao spaghetti and spicy Buffalo cauliflower, the chain caters to both traditional tastes and adventurous eaters. However, with respect to desserts, California Pizza Kitchen delivers a fairly standard repertoire of offerings, including key lime pie, red velvet cake, and butter cake.

Served warm with whipped cream and Häagen-Dazs — one of the best brands of vanilla ice cream — California Pizza Kitchen's butter cake sounds appealing on the menu. In practice, however, the after-dinner course hasn't won over dessert aficionados. According to one disappointed TripAdvisor contributor, their butter cake was undercooked, with some parts unbaked. An unimpressed Yelp user also criticized the dessert, stating that it contained too much butter. Finally, another Yelp user remarked that the cake tasted like it had been frozen for a long period of time.

Founded in 1972 by Evelyn Overton and her husband, The Cheesecake Factory Bakery initially supplied desserts to restaurants across Los Angeles. At the time, the business revolved around Evelyn's "original" cheesecake recipe, which quickly gained a loyal following. In 1978, son David Overton expanded the business by launching the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills. Today, the chain serves approximately 40 different desserts, including Linda's Fudge Cake — a chocolate cake with fudge frosting.

Linda's Fudge Cake from The Cheesecake Factory has received less than stellar feedback from chocoholics. One Reddit contributor said that the chain must have changed their recipe for the cake sometime along the line, completely altering its texture and overall quality. "The once decadently moist and rich fudge cake has now become dry and crumbly, leaving me longing for the melt-in-your-mouth experience that I had come to expect," they noted. "It seemed as if the recipe had lost its soul, and the result was a lackluster and underwhelming dessert." Similarly, a Yelp reviewer also criticized the menu offering, saying, "Driest cake I've ever had and the frosting tastes like they scraped it off the top of the cheap brownies from Safeway."

Aside from its vanilla soft serve and chocolate sundae, Burger King serves three types of pies: apple, banana, and taro. The chain's only sliced dessert is the Hershey's Sundae Pie. Despite its "sundae" name, which suggests an ice cream-based treat, the dessert is a pie featuring a crunchy chocolate crust and a chocolate crème-style filling, topped with a fudge drizzle and Hershey's chocolate chips. Interestingly, Burger King tested a Hershey's Pie Shake in Florida in 2021, a combination of the Hershey's Sundae Pie and an ice cream sundae. The dessert doesn't currently appear on the chain's menu, which suggests it may not have been all that popular.

Burger King's Hershey's Sundae Pie has received poor feedback from customers, who have questioned its overall quality and overly sugary taste. A case in point is one Reddit user who said, "It's just sugar and cream. The texture of the cookie and chocolate taste are bad, but if all you want is sugar and fat, it'll do the job." A Yelp reviewer was also disappointed with the menu item, saying that it was melted and not fresh. A Facebook contributor, who said they used to work at Burger King, says that the trick to beating the quality issues lies in asking for a pie straight out of the freezer to avoid the slices that have been thawed in the refrigerator.

Translating to "burnt cream" in French, crème brûlée has been claimed by France, Spain, and England. Nevertheless, the dessert's name and first printed recipe, which appeared in the 1691 edition of the French cookbook "Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois," suggests a distinctly French origin. Silky and caramelized on top, crème brûlée is made with a rich custard base of cream, egg yolks, and sugar, finished with a crackly layer of caramelized sugar. At Maggiano's, the dessert also comes with a hint of citrus and a garnish of fresh berries.

The crème brûlée at Maggiano's has received lackluster feedback from confection aficionados. A case in point is one Yelp reviewer who said they weren't a fan of the dessert, adding, "It was the worst crème brûlée I've had. So bland and just a taste of burnt sugar." A fellow Yelper echoed this sentiment, saying the dessert was "insanely sweet," while another review mentions that theirs was not served cold enough.

Originally founded as a singles bar in Manhattan in 1965, TGI Fridays became well-known for its drinks and hot dishes. While it's unclear when the chain added desserts to its menu, its Brownie Obsession has been billed as the original TGI Fridays dessert. Sharing the dessert menu section with New York cheesecake, cinnamon sugar pretzels, and butter cake, the restaurant's Brownie Obsession features a warm fudge brownie crowned with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and glazed pecans.

The Brownie Obsession from TGI Fridays hasn't impressed diners, however, with several online reviews expressing their disappointment with the chocolatey offering. One unimpressed Yelp contributor called the brownie "gross," elaborating, "The little pebble looking topping they put on it was expired, you could taste it. The brownie was cold, which kills the whole point of this dessert. Blah. Won't be coming back." A fellow Yelp user also criticized the menu offering, saying that the ice cream they received with the brownie was barely a scoop and arrived already melted.

In 2019, Red Lobster debuted a new version of its Key Lime Pie made in collaboration with Mike's Pies in Tampa, using Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Juice. This update was supposed to give the Key Lime Pie a more authentic Key West flavor. Served on a graham cracker crust, the sweet and tart menu item comes with a side of whipped cream.

Unfortunately, Red Lobster's new version of Key Lime Pie hasn't made the grade with many diners. One Reddit user compared the chain's old and current Key Lime Pie recipes, noting that the restaurant was "quite stupid" to get rid of the earlier "irreplaceable" version. A YouTuber SJohnsonVoiceOvers aired similar frustration, saying, "Why is there like a film on this. [...] It just doesn't taste fresh. You can tell that it's been in the freezer for probably weeks. They maybe put it in the microwave to defrost it really quick. [... It has] like a citric acid additive type of tartness."

Restaurant desserts can turn a routine dinner out into a memorable experience, giving diners the chance to indulge in sweet nibbles they wouldn't normally make at home. That is, if the dessert isn't a flop. Just like a delicious final course can complete an evening out, a disappointing dessert can ruin a perfectly good meal. 

To help you separate the treats worth ordering from the letdowns during your next night out at a chain restaurant, we have consulted hundreds of customer reviews on reputable platforms such as Yelp, Reddit, and TripAdvisor. The factors we have taken into account have included flavor, texture, presentation, and portion size.