Why These 12 Restaurant Menu Items Taste So Delicious

Remember the last time that you were at a restaurant, took your first bite out of what you ordered, closed your eyes, and sighed with happiness? This is what dining establishments aim for, but they don't always stick with the plan even when they figure out how to thrill their customers like this.

One example is the Big Mac, with its pale-pink-colored special sauce. McDonald's brought it out in 1968, fine-tuned it in 1972, changed it again in 1991, and returned to the original recipe 13 years later. It kind of tastes like Thousand Island dressing, and who would've thought it would go so well with ground beef, cheese, lettuce, pickles, and onions? This type of out-of-the-box thinking makes restaurant menu items stand out and earned the ones below coveted spots on this list.

The eateries below are familiar chain restaurants with must-order menu items that taste delicious for some very interesting reasons: Each one has a certain special something that you may or may not be aware of. It could be an ingredient, a presentation, or something else. They might not be the most popular dishes on the menus, but they should be. And if you haven't tried them, we're going to do everything in our power to convince you.

It's hard to pick a favorite Cheesecake Factory cheesecake flavor since there are so many to choose from (White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, Oreo Dream Extreme, you get it), but Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple has two things that send it through the roof: Butterfingers and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. This sugar bomb of a dessert also has a chocolate crust, and the cake is swirled with caramel, candy pieces, and, of course, peanut butter. Then it's topped with more candy bits and what appears to be caramel whipped cream.

This incredible Cheesecake Factory dessert isn't that different from their Chocolate Caramelicious Cheesecake made with Snickers. Some of their other cheesecake pairings include Cinnabon, Oreo, and Hershey's chocolate. It's no surprise that these restaurants have their cheesecake display cases right in the front when you walk in. How many times have you stared at the selections while waiting to be seated? The dizzying array of oversized desserts can be overwhelming, so skip the browsing and order Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple after lunch or dinner. Hey, it's got two kinds of candy pieces and will satisfy your chocolate and peanut butter cravings for the next six months.

Traditional lasagna is baked, with layers of half-boiled pasta sheets (ruffled edges optional), layered tomato sauce, and ricotta cheese. Olive Garden serves their Lasagna Fritta appetizer as an appetizer, and instead of making it the traditional way, they coat the noodles with parmesan breading and fry them. This gives the noodles the strength to stand up on their sides, and they are bunched up together and topped with a beef-and-sausage meat sauce. The finishing touch is a white alfredo sauce that's on the plate. You can also order their classic lasagna, but wait — there's an eight-layer chocolate brownie dessert lasagna, too.

Lasagna Fritta and chocolate brownie lasagna might not be traditional Italian dishes, but Olive Garden fans don't seem to mind. And guess what: Lasagna might not have been invented in Italy. Food Fun Travel claims that it may have originated in Greece, with the original name derived from the Greek words "laganon" or "lassanon." If you think there is no basis for that claim, order pastitsio the next time you're in a Greek restaurant. Ancient Roman lasagna had a meat sauce that may have included ground-up pork belly and fish. Per Food Fun Travel, today's versions mirror those prepared in Italy starting in the mid-16th to late 17th centuries, possibly in Naples or the Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy.

Ruth Chris Steakhouse is an upscale restaurant chain restaurant known for its elegant ambiance, amazing cuts of meat, and cocktails. Its dinner menu is loaded with steaks, seafood, and chops, plus one chicken dish, and shellfish. But where is the Veal Osso Buco Ravioli that we're so excited about? Like the Lasagna Fritta, it's also a pasta appetizer. An episode of "The Rhode Show" features one of the restaurant's chefs preparing the dish with round ravioli infused with saffron and other herbs, and filled with veal and mozzarella. It's enhanced by a white wine and butter veal demi-glace.

Dining Out mentions this appetizer, which is plated with five round raviolis and some fresh baby spinach. While this app doesn't sound all that unusual, that saffron really makes a difference. Spice and Life notes that saffron comes from Iran, the Mediterranean, and Asia and is rare and expensive. It comes in thread and powder forms, and its flavor can be compared to honey, hay, or grass. You'll find saffron in Spanish and Indian dishes, but not that often in American steakhouses like Ruth Chris. We appreciate this kind of creativity and recommended sharing this appetizer — hey, pasta is filling and you need to leave room for your steak.

Sure, it's loaded with sodium, but if you split it with your friends you won't feel that guilty. Yep, we're talking about Outback's Bloomin' Onion, another beloved app that diners can't get enough of. It isn't made with those wimpy onions in grocery stores; Outback uses super colossal onions, instead. Baldor Specialty Foods explains that these onions are at least 4¼ inches in diameter and taste sweet like smaller Spanish onions.

Since it's oversized, one deep-fried Bloomin' Onion serves four or more people. They're grown specifically for Outback by suppliers and turned into flowers with onion cutters sold by the Nemco company. Although you won't be able to find the exact recipe online, the appetizer's coating reportedly contains 17 spices, like cayenne and paprika. 

This Bloomin' Onion copycat recipe adds paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and thyme to white flour and uses a standard egg wash. The process requires heating oil to 400 degrees Fahrenheit; while it's heating up, you can get that onion cut and ready. The messiest part is dipping the onion into the egg wash and then into the flour, and then repeating that process before the onion gets lowered down into the oil. The base for the sauce is made with mayo, creamy horseradish, and ketchup.

P.F. Chang's crispy Hand Folded Crab Wonton appetizers look like deep-fried four-leaf clovers with longer leaves and are filled with an amazing, creamy crabmeat filling. They're good without condiments, but the tangy, deep purple plum sauce that they rest on creates a sweet/salty flavor profile that we just can't get enough of.

How did P.F. Chang's come up with this ? It's a dressed-up version of crab rangoon, which you can find on menus at Asian restaurants. Atlas Obscura compares it to hot, deep-fried cheesecake with crab in the filling, and we can't help but nod our heads in agreement. P.F. Chang's Hand Folded Crab Wontons are nicely crisped on the outsides, tender on the insides, and small enough to give you both textures in every bite.

P.F. Chang's version of crab rangoon stands out for two reasons, and the first is the presentation. The plate contains half a dozen, with most of the filling on the bottom of the wontons and the tops pinched out in that cloverleaf pattern. Just grab them by the tops and pop them into your palate. The second is that dreamy, sweetly tangy plum sauce that it's served with. Although they aren't sharing the ingredients, we can make some educated guesses. The Woks of Life claims that a typical Chinese plum sauce contains salted plums, rice vinegar, chilies, and sugar, among other ingredients. You can buy some of P.F. Chang's sauces on their website, but we don't see the plum sauce. C'mon, guys!

Most people order seafood at Red Lobster, but one poultry pasta dish stands out: Cajun Chicken Linguini Alfredo. A creamy, garlicky Alfredo sauce is nothing new, but this one is a hybrid that gets new life from Cajun spices. Yes, we realize that your dining partners will pick on you for not ordering shrimp or lobster, but trust us on this. And anyway, you can order a seafood appetizer from their menu (the seafood-stuffed mushrooms and jumbo shrimp cocktail are two good choices) or offer to trade a few bites with them.

Crazy Alan's Swamp Shack Restaurant notes that Cajun cuisine is an American tradition that originated in Louisiana with French Canadian settlers. Seafood, onions, celery, and green peppers were some of the first ingredients used, but this soon expanded to include pork and chicken. So why did Red Lobster decide to add Cajun spices to an alfredo dish? We aren't privy to that information but can let you know what it tastes like. The Cajun Chicken Linguini Alfredo brings together Cajun spices and the traditionally creamy Italian white sauce. We can guess what spices they use — probably cayenne pepper, paprika, oregano, onion, powder, garlic powder, and thyme.

Panera's sourdough bread bowls have been around for a long time and qualify as a stroke of genius. Hot, hearty soup and bread are a perfect combination, and the delicious, chewy bowls cost less than $10 and will keep you full until way past dinnertime. You can even order them to go or filled up with mac & cheese instead of soup.

But that's only the start of this story. This chain apparently believes that two is better than one because they introduced Double Bread Bowls.

What??

Don't get too excited yet; these creations were a limited-time special. According to Cision PR Newswire, Panera did a nationwide Double Bread Bowl launch back in 2019, just in time for Valentine's Day. The new menu item was made with the same sourdough bread but with an entire loaf big enough for two. And just imagine — you could have broccoli cheddar on one side, and your friend could have chicken noodle soup on the other. You might drip some of one soup into their bowl or decide to split the whole thing in half, but so what — a whole loaf of bread with two bowls looks so awesome. We don't know if Panera plans to bring it back again, but we certainly hope that they will.

McDonald's cold beverage menu includes Coca-Cola, other soft drinks, iced tea, and milk. And if you're looking for milkshakes, those are in the Sweets & Treats category. There are plenty of choices, but nothing complements a Big Mac like an ice-cold Coke or Diet Coke. And for some reason, that soda seems to taste better at Mickey D's than anywhere else. Why is that?

According to Insider, McDonald's has a unique delivery system for its Coke: It comes in stainless steel containers. So what's the big deal with that? Stainless steel is better at preserving ingredients. And that's only part of what the fast food chain does. If you're wondering why the soda is always at the right temperature, McDonald's uses insulated tubes that connect the soda dispensers to their refrigerators.

The McDonald's website website claims that the syrup and water are chilled to a certain temperature before they go into the dispensers. And if you hate drinking watered-down soda (this happens when ice cubes melt), you'll be glad to know that the syrup-to-filtered water ratio McDonald's uses is calculated to take melting ice into account. These are standards set by Coca-Cola, by the way. And besides all that, the company has a time-tested, clever gimmick. Instead of thin straws, McDonald's has wider ones, making those slurps much more satisfying.

Buffalo Wild Wings has more than 20 different wing sauces for their bone-in and boneless chicken wings, chicken tenders, and cauliflower wings, but we have a thing for the super-hot Blazin' Carolina Reaper. Sure, you can go for a traditional Buffalo, lemon pepper, or jerk sauce, but why not go down a different road and try to handle something that will set your brain on fire? This is one of their hottest sauces, along with another called Desert Heat Seasoning.

According to Inspire Stories, the Blazin' Carolina Reaper Wings sauce came about in 2020 and was named for the Carolina Reaper pepper that it's made with. Guinness World Records confirms that this is the hottest chili pepper in the world, grown by a man named Ed Currie who worked for — get ready for this — the PuckerButt Pepper Company.

We're not making this stuff up.

It doesn't look like Buffalo Wild Wings sells this sauce by the bottle. But would you want to have an entire one, anyway? We recommend going to the restaurant and trying these wings in person, but start with just a tiny bite. The Blazin' Carolina Reaper wings aren't for the faint of heart or stomach.

Forget the ketchup: This Red Robin gourmet burger has cheese, bacon, and mayo but comes with a small container of thick, cheesy bacon fondue that you can dip the sandwich (and your fries) into. The ground beef is fire-grilled, and the bacon is hardwood-smoked. And we're not talking about a regular hamburger bun either, because this one is toasted brioche. The burger can be ordered with American cheese, or you can opt for Swiss, cheddar, and other choices. We've never seen this much cheese served with a burger and are pretty impressed with the presentation.

Red Robin is known for its burgers, and even the plain ones are better than average. The company's website states that their ground beef is preservative-free, all-natural, and free of artificial ingredients. The patties are frozen, but Red Robin claims that they broil better on their cooking equipment. To be honest, the Cheesy Bacon Fondue Burger has so many other ingredients that we're not that concerned about preservatives and other stuff. Just dunk that burger into that cheesy fondue, have a big bite, and bask in the deliciousness.

Plenty more cheese here — Denny's Fried Cheese Melt Sandwich is good enough to bring tears to your eyes. We know that a basic grilled cheese made with slices of American and white bread can be pretty boring, but this version is unbelievable. It's made with a hidden ingredient — there are fried mozzarella sticks are tucked in between the slices. The melt is also made with thick artisan bread and comes with a side of tomato sauce for dipping, plus a decent portion of french fries.

Besides adding more flavorful cheese to the sandwich, the fried mozzarella sticks add a satisfying texture: crunchiness in between the creaminess that's in between the grilled, buttered bread. What else could you ask for? This all-day special was introduced back in 2010 but was discontinued for a time. Fortunately, it has returned to the menu under the All Day Diner Deals section. You can thank your lucky stars (or Denny's), because this sandwich is so darned delicious.

Hillstone and Houston's are both owned by Hillstone Restaurant Group, and both offer an amazing French Dip Au Jus sandwich. What makes it so good? It's made with thinly sliced prime rib instead of a lesser cut of meat. You can find it on Houston's lunch and dinner menus, and it's served with mayo on a toasted French roll with your choice of fries or coleslaw. Again, no ketchup here, but feel free to order some horseradish sauce to bring out the flavors.

Edible South Florida tried this sandwich at Hillstone and described it as crusty, juicy, and meaty, which sounds very appealing. The bread is made on-site and stands up to constant dipping in the meat juice that's served on the side, and the thinly sliced meat is prepared medium rare and melts in your mouth. Hillstone's horseradish sauce is creamy, so you may want to request no mayo when placing your order. The shoestring fries also taste good when dipped in that sauce, by the way.