These Are the Most-Ordered Dishes at America’s Top Chain Restaurants

Can’t decide what you want to eat? Maybe this list can help you out. People magazine reached out to nearly two dozen of America’s top chain restaurants and discovered their most commonly ordered dish. While everyone’s sure to have their personal favorites, these are the winners from a the popularity contest perspective. So the next time you’re at Olive Garden and you just want to follow the whims of the crowd, go ahead and choose Fettuccine Alfredo, because everybody else is! (Hey, sometimes peer pressure just makes casual dining easier.)

The list that follows is a pretty accurate selection of these restaurant’s signature dishes. However, while most of the results are predictable (everyone loves Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits!), some others are total curveballs (who goes to Applebee’s for seafood?!). There are also some surprising absences, like the lack of cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory (it’s right there in the name!) or no love for the Blooming Onion, the massive appetizer that put Outback on the map.

Check out the entire list below to see for yourself. And feel free to bicker in the booth over which of these is really tops (the correct answer is definitely IHOP’s Breakfast Sampler):

• Hard Rock Cafe – Legendary Burger
• Outback Steakhouse – Special Sirloin
• Red Lobster- Cheddar Bay Biscuits
• TGI Fridays – Loaded Potato Skins
• California Pizza Kitchen – BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Cracker Barrel – Hash Brown Casserole
• Cheesecake Factory – Avocado Eggrolls
• P.F. Chang’s – Lettuce Wraps
• Red Robin – Royal Red Robin Burger
• On the Border – Sizzling Fajitas
• Olive Garden -Fettuccine Alfredo
• Noodles & Co. – Wisconsin Mac and Cheese
• Maggiano’s Little Italy – Mom’s Lasagna
• IHOP – Breakfast Sampler
• Friendly’s – Honey BBQ Chicken Melt
• Chili’s – Old Timer With Cheese
• Carrabba’s – Chicken Bryan
• Applebee’s – Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp
• Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. – Forrest’s Seafood Feast
• Boston Market – Rotisserie Chicken
• Bonefish Grill – Bang Bang Shrimp

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What Is the Difference Between Broccoli and Romanesco?

Come February, it’s easy to grow tired of winter vegetables. There are mounds of carrots, potatoes, and turnips, after all, and it becomes commonplace to start dreaming of summer’s fresh bounty of zucchini, asparagus, and crisp peas. But despite the cold, these winter months happen to bring a bounty of romanesco—a cauliflower-like flower that’s bright green and more resemblant of an underwater creature than a vegetable. Romanesco is often compared in ideology to broccoli, mostly because both are distinctly green flower-like vegetables and both belong to the Brassica oleracea family.

Yet romanesco shouldn’t be cropped into just being another boring broccoli. What really sets romanesco apart from broccoli is its unique texture. Spiky with convex florets where each bud bursts into numerous other buds, it certainly stands out in the grocery store or farmers market. If its striking appearance doesn’t pique your interest, its delicately nutty flavor certainly will, making it perfect for anything from simply roasting it in a pan with olive oil to eating it raw, dipped in aioli or even ranch dressing.

Pixabay

Broccoli, unlike romanesco, is a member of the cabbage family, which gives it a more sharp and vibrant flavor. A tall stalk blossoms into a leafy, tree-like floret, making broccoli a much less dense and somewhat smoother vegetable than romanesco. Broccoli is best steamed, with an added pat of butter or sprinkling of cheese for flavor.

What to do with each in the kitchen? Look to these recipes for inspiration.

Garlic Parmesan Broccoli

Homemade Hooplah

Dress up oven-baked broccoli with some minced garlic and Parmesan cheese. The key here is to raise the heat in the oven to super high (at least 425 degrees Fahrenheit) to make sure that broccoli gets crisp. Get the recipe.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Gimme Some Oven

This soup is a classic and undeniably easy to make at home. All you need to do is cook down some vegetables, then add milk, broccoli, mustard, and cheese, which thickens the soup. Get the recipe.

Broccoli Apple Salad

Cooking Classy

Some people find broccoli too tough to eat raw, but others love adding them straight into a salad. This recipe is a testament to that. Raw broccoli gets mixed with sliced apples, walnut hunks, carrots, raisins, and red onions. Get the recipe.

Crispy Broccoli Parmesan Fritters

Cafe Delites

Try out this healthier take on fritters; instead of frying them in oil, bake them in the oven. Just pulse chop broccoli with eggs, onion, garlic, flour, and Parmesan, then form into puck-sized mounds and bake. Get the recipe.

Pan-Roasted Romanesco with Golden Raisins, Tahini, and Sumac

House and Home

Bring out romanesco’s inherent nuttiness by cooking it over a high flame until crisp and browned, then top with a lemony, tahini sauce. Get the recipe.

Romanesco Green Curry

Local Haven

This hearty, spice-infused green curry will make you forget there’s no meat in it. It’s solely roasted florets of romanesco mixed with a host of herbs and spices, coconut milk, and sugar. Get the recipe.

Roasted Romanesco Cauliflower Pesto Spaghetti

Vikalinka

Pasta deserves a green upgrade, too. Roasted romanesco is added to a traditional pesto, giving it a smoky and even nuttier flavor. Toss with warm pasta and finish it off with more cheese. Get the recipe.

Romanesco Soup with Za’atar Granola

Le Petit Eats

This soup is simple to make (it’s just romanesco, onion, and potato, cooked down and then blended), but it’s the za’atar-spiced granola that adds an intensely addicted crunch. Get the recipe.

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