The Most Overpriced Seafood Dishes At Popular Chain Restaurants, According To Customers

I think we can all agree that seafood is often expensive. After all, what other kind of food suffers to such a degree from the uncertainty of "market price," where the price changes so much they don't even bother printing it on the menu? The question of why lobster costs so much in particular is enough to make you scream in frustration — which is exactly the sort of thing that will get you kicked out of any restaurant that serves market price seafood.

That kind of financial pressure (and uncertainty) is why so many of us turn to chains. They may not be quite as impressive as the fanciest seafood restaurants, but sometimes you just want good quality food at a reasonable price. But chain restaurants can be pricey too, and there are some seafood items that just don't offer enough value for your money. So, with that in mind, here's our rundown of the most overpriced menu items you'll find at a chain restaurant.

As these are national chains, you should keep in mind that any listed prices are for individual local stores and might not reflect prices at your local restaurant. (Don't worry. We'll let you know where we spotted them when we list them, in case you want to drive to another state to get that sweet, sweet discount.) You can learn more about our methodology at the end of our list.

If you're focused on true seafood flavor, ordering seafood pasta might not be the best way to go.
After all, pasta sauce can overpower the flavor of the seafood, which is one of the reasons seafood pasta is one of the 13 menu items you should never order at a seafood restaurant. Case in point: Chili's Cajun Shrimp Pasta, which is a hefty portion of penne in Alfredo sauce, with a dusting of chile spices and Parmesan cheese. Here, the shrimp is just one of three options, as you can also order the pasta dish with jalapeño-cheddar smoked sausage or grilled chicken. And you know that a seafood ingredient isn't too important to the dish when you can just swap it out for chicken. 

While this dish certainly has its fans, one detractor recently took to Reddit to complain that the dish is a shadow of its former self. "When you order a Cajun Pasta entree, it no longer comes with tomatoes and green onions on top," they wrote. "It's just not the same without the tomatoes and green onions, that was part of the flavor." Others also criticized the chain for messing with a classic. But taste alone isn't what makes this dish overpriced. You see, you can buy the pasta as part of Chili's 3 For Me deal for a fairly low price with a drink and an appetizer. (In Encino, California, it'll run you $16.99.) However, the chain also sells an entree version of the same item, which is quite a bit pricier – in Encino, it costs $24.69.

While Bob Evans is probably best known for its breakfast options, it also serves a wide range of country-style entrees. In 2024, the chain launched a new line of fish-focused dishes, including a Fried Shrimp Dinner, a Fish Fry Sandwich, and a Lemon Pepper Sole Fillet. But the centerpiece of the new menu was its Fish Fry Platter, which offers three wild-caught battered Alaskan cod fillets with two sides. This may sound great, but one Bob Evan Facebook post promoting the platter triggered a wave of comments from customers denouncing its quality, with one saying the meal was "terrible rubbery fish with greasy breading," while another complained that there was "more uncooked batter than fish."

Now, Bob Evans isn't the fanciest restaurant on this list, and this dish also isn't the priciest, running you $15.99 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. But judging by the response, even that is too much to pay. One Yelp reviewer called the platter "unpalatable," saying, "The Alaskan fish was horribly overcooked, and it looked like the grease in the deep fryer hasn't been changed for a long time." Another Yelp user wrote, "The fish [had] too much breading on it and [the] taste was not very good. I do not recommend any of the fish. You will be very disappointed." So, yeah. This dish may not be that pricey, but that doesn't mean it's worth the price.

Remember how we mentioned the issues that come with ordering seafood pasta? Well, that definitely applies to Olive Garden's Shrimp Alfredo, which is why it received a negative mention on our list of the five menu items you should never order from Olive Garden. (The Seafood Alfredo actually made the list.)

It's what you'd typically expect from an Alfredo dish: a healthy amount of fettuccine noodles covered in an Alfredo sauce made from cream, garlic, butter, and Parmesan cheese. But some customers don't think it's worth the price – just under $22 at an Orlando, Florida, restaurant — with one Yelp reviewer noting that their Shrimp Alfredo was "lacking flavor, sauce, and the noodles tasted like they were sitting out for [a while] and dry."

The dryness is a recurring issue, with other customers complaining about a lack of sauce. One Reddit user even started a thread to complain about the lack of sauce, writing, "It's mildly frustrating to get the $20 plate of Alfredo and they give you only a spoonful of Alfredo sauce and the rest is plain noodles." His solution? Order the takeout version, which he'd found gave you more sauce for your noodles. Another poster advised simply asking for extra sauce. But either way, buying an Alfredo dish with minimal sauce just isn't worth it. Of course, you could also buy a cup of Olive Garden's Alfredo sauce, as it sells it on the side for dipping your breadsticks or "adding extra sauce to your pasta." However, this will set you back roughly $11 for a large tub. Hey, you don't think that's why it might be skimping on the sauce? Just asking.

Outback Steakhouse's Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie is a pretty simple dish: A portion of grilled jumbo shrimp, cooked in herbs and spices, then arranged on a slice of toast. But it's that simplicity that can make some customers feel like the price ($17.99 at an Outback Steakhouse in Burbank, California) is a little too high for the relatively small — and not particularly impressive — dish they receive.

For example, one Yelp reviewer described it as just "some over cooked small shrimp." One customer's Facebook review recounted that her "poor little grilled shrimp on the Barbie were raw [and] helplessly skewered together on what looked like a half loaf of stone cold rye bread (hard as a rock)," while other reviews on Yelp simply describe the dish as mediocre. And you'd hope something that'll run you not far off $20 would be slightly better than "okay" and a half-hearted shrug. 

It's hard to find a more classic seafood dish than fish and chips. The Cheesecake Factory's version is pretty classic, offering hand-battered white fish fillets with fries and cole slaw for $26.95 at a restaurant in Glendale, California. So, yeah, it sounds like just about any other restaurant's fish and chips. But plenty of customers have gone online to post their complaints about the dish, with many of them focusing on the small size of the fish fillets and the fact that it doesn't live up to what's described on the menu.

As one Facebook user complained, "I paid $25 + tax + tip for this plate of what was supposed to be fish and chips. It was 4 fish sticks and shredded lettuce." Another customer shared similar criticism on Yelp, writing, "It was more like fish fingers and chips not filets. [It] was still good but not what I was expecting." And yeah, a few fish-stick-sized nuggets don't quite seem worth a $20+ price tag.

One of P.F. Chang's best-known dishes is its signature Dynamite Shrimp, an appetizer made up of a batch of tempura-battered shrimp slathered in Dynamite Sauce, a spicy sriracha aioli. Online reviews frequently praise the dish for its spicy taste, with one recent Tripadvisor reviewer writing, "The dynamite shrimp is still the OG and worth coming back for every time."

But while most customers seem to love the shrimp's taste, some customers complain about the portion size they got for a dish that will cost you $17.59 in Ventura, California. For example, one Yelp reviewer complained, "The dynamite shrimp was $17.29 for FOUR OUNCES. It's literally three tablespoons of shrimp. Such a rip off." They're not the only one who feels that way. Another Yelp reviewer wrote, "Sadly the portion size of Dynamite Shrimp has shrunk since last year."  However, they also conceded that the "food was pretty tasty as always."

So, if you order these shrimp, you probably won't be disappointed with the taste. However, you might be left wanting more — and we'd hardly call that "dynamite news."

Spiedino di mare is an Italian phrase that translates to English as "seafood skewer," so the dish really could be just about anything with seafood in it. Carrabba's Italian Grill uses the phrase for a dish that offers customers skewers filled with a combination of breadcrumb-coated sea scallops and grilled shrimp, topped with a lemon-butter sauce. Many online reviewers love it, with one customer on Facebook posting, "If you haven't had the Spiedino De Mare at Carrabba's, you should!! Shrimp and scallops LIGHTLY dusted with herb crumbs and grilled... a light lemony sauce drizzled over it."

However, other posters have criticized the dish as not being worth the price. One complained on Tripadvisor that "the scallops were overcooked and then served swimming in a salty garlic sauce" and "not worth the price charged." Another Yelp reviewer claimed that they ordered the dish after being lured in by the image on the menu, but that "what I got was tasteless scallops at $27 a plate. The scallops were not even a little crisp and little or no seasoning, and I'm not sure there was any kind of butter sauce on them?" And after reading those reviews, are we sure "spiedino di mare" doesn't translate to "buyer's remorse?"

One of Red Lobster's most popular (and disastrous) promotions was its $20 Ultimate Endless Shrimp offering, which allowed customers to stuff themselves with shrimp at an extremely low price. It also cost Red Lobster $11 million, which was one of the reasons the chain was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2024.

Surprisingly, the chain rolled out a new version of the offer in 2026. However, it now starts at $24.99 and includes several new restrictions. For example, customers have complained that the options are limited, that you can't take any leftovers home, and that you can only order three flavors to kick off your feast.

Those changes have left customers complaining that the deal doesn't offer much value. On a Reddit thread titled "Is Endless Shrimp even worth it anymore??," one customer wrote, "I went a few weeks ago and honestly was not worth it. My [wife] and I left disappointed and I dropped way too much $ for the limited options they had." Another responded, "It just isn't worth it anymore." Honestly, we've been much more impressed with the chain's Crabfest promotion, which we liked so much that we'd argue it's one of the six things Red Lobster is still doing right in 2026.

Salmon is often one of the healthiest fish options you'll find on a restaurant's menu, as it's full of protein, vitamin B, and omega-3 fatty acids. That's why it's one of the 6 healthiest and 7 unhealthiest things to order at a seafood chain. And that's true for TGI Fridays Dragon-glazed Salmon, which provides an order of grilled salmon covered in a sweet-and-spicy glaze. In fact, a quick check of the chain's nutritional guide shows that this salmon dish actually has one of the lowest calorie counts and saturated fat content of any of the chain's entrees, especially if you pair it with mashed potatoes and garlic-butter broccoli (790 calories and 10 grams, respectively). But unfortunately, one of the reasons this dish is so low in calories is its small portion size.

One Reddit user described it as "the tiniest piece of salmon," while another poster replied that it was "definitely a small piece but filling." And since it'll run you around $23.59 for that small-ish fish (as per the menu at a restaurant in South Gate, California), this probably isn't the wisest choice if you arrive with a particularly strong appetite.

Sometimes the seafood at a steakhouse can be a bit of an afterthought, since it's not really what the restaurant focuses on serving. (In fact, we've often been left wondering how to tell if seafood is worth ordering at a steakhouse.) The crab cakes at Ruth's Chris Steak House seem to fall into this category, judging by the mixed reviews from customers.

While you'll find some online praise for them, other patrons have slammed their quality, with a recent Yelp reviewer writing, "The crab cakes were (over seasoned) squishy lumps. Couldn't taste the crab. Flavor and texture were both sub-par." And another Yelp poster had a similar experience, writing that the crab cakes were "fishy and doughy," although they conceded that their "server was awesome and removed them from the bill."

What makes these critiques worse is that the crab cakes can be pretty pricey — unsurprisingly, considering that the price of crab has gone up in recent years due to international import fees and lower harvests. Two small crab cakes will cost you $34 at the Ruth's Chris Steak House in Anaheim, California, which can be a little hard to swallow.

People love scallops and shrimp, so why not combine the two? That's what Ruby Tuesday did with its Scallop Medallions & Grilled Shrimp combo, with each delicious offering cooked in garlic butter and Cajun seasoning. Unfortunately, customers have been complaining about the size of the portion, which comes with a $17.99 price tag in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

One Yelp reviewer described their meal as consisting of "about 5 tiny shrimp and 4 scallop medallions covered in grease. No broccoli, but came with fries (no ketchup) and sliced mushrooms covered in so much salt they were inedible." Similarly, another Yelp reviewer described their dinner as "5 small scallops and 5 very small shrimp," adding, "The food tasted ok but it definitely was not an $18 meal. It was a huge disappointment."

Now, there seem to be fewer complaints about the chain's Scallop Medallions Dinner, which ditches the shrimp and instead features twice as many scallops for $5 more. So, maybe this is just a case of a combo being less than the sum of its parts? If you're in the mood for scallops, we suggest grabbing the bigger portion. It comes with less regret.

One of the most popular items on the Bonefish Grill menu is its Rockefeller Butterfish, a dish made of Alaskan black cod (also known as butterfish or sablefish) topped with jumbo lump crab and creamed spinach. It's a play on the classic dish oysters Rockefeller, which has a similar rich, green sauce. (Although, fun fact, the original recipe probably didn't use spinach.)

The Rockefeller Butterfish is a seasonal item that pops up on the chain's menu every year or so. It's another dish that has both fans and critics. For example, one Tripadvisor user referred to the dish as "rich dining at an affordable price." But another Tripadvisor reviewer slammed the dish, saying, "My order had little, if any lump crab that I could eat. What made the dish inedible is it was swimming (no pun intended ) in "creamy spinach." The fish was tasteless with so many things added to the fish. If you go there, I don't recommend this fish." Likewise, a Yelp reviewer was disappointed with the portion size, referring to their butterfish dish as a "snack pack."

And it doesn't help that the dish is one of the pricier items on the chain's menu, setting you back roughly $30 at a restaurant in Orlando, Florida. So, if you're visiting this chain, you might want to consider a less contentious — and better valued — item on the menu.

To compile this ranking, we did a thorough search of online reviews on websites such as Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Facebook to see which seafood dishes are generating consistent negativity from customers. We then weighed the comments on each dish's portion size and its overall quality against the price tag to determine whether it was truly worth the cost.