6 Chain Restaurant Loaded Baked Potatoes, Ranked

In the culinary world, a humble whole potato is among the blankest of canvases. Throw any ingredient on it, and it'll almost always work. Throw a bunch of ingredients on it, namely butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and bacon, and you have yourself a masterpiece – a.k.a. a loaded baked potato.

This hearty, starchy side dish isn't hard to come by; it's available at most restaurants with a focus on American cuisine, such as Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, and Ruby Tuesday. But while loaded baked potatoes usually come with the same few core components wherever you are, what differentiates this classic comfort food from place to place are factors such as how the potato itself tastes, how much of each ingredient is provided, and also if the establishment adds any unique touches that set it apart from the rest. These are exactly some of the things I kept in mind as I set out to discover which of six major restaurants had the very best loaded baked potato, though you can read more about my methodology tater (I mean later) at the end of the article.

Ruby Tuesday went through a period of struggle to stay open, having declared bankruptcy in 2020 and escaping it in 2021. And I hate to say it, but if the chain's loaded baked potatoes had anything to do with it, I could see how its downfall came about. It was the hardest of the bunch, with the potato fighting me as I tried to slice off a piece. Right there and then, I knew it was probably undercooked, and I was proven right after I took a bite and was met with resistance.

If the spud had been cooked for just a bit longer, Ruby Tuesday's entry could have been a real contender. It appeared to be one of the most promising baked potatoes based on looks alone, coming pre-loaded with a generous amount of sour cream, cheese, and bacon, whereas the other potatoes packed the toppings into side containers for you to assemble yourself. But while the accoutrements were dandy (especially the delicious, prominent flavor of the bacon), it was hard to overlook how tough the potato was. The texture made it stand out in a negative way, considering every other one I tried was pleasantly soft. Plus, at almost $6, it was the second most expensive option on the list — not worth it.

I've been blessed to have the opportunity to try all of LongHorn Steakhouse's appetizers before, some of which I didn't care much for, while others were delectable. I'd say the loaded baked potato, a side available at the chain, falls into the first group and is among the menu items to avoid ordering there.

I say this because, for a loaded baked potato, it's not so loaded. The potato came with a small condiment container into which all the toppings were thrown. But taking a look at the above picture, you'll see it was really just a whole lot of butter, a dollop of sour cream, and a sad, sorry amount of aged yellow cheese, bacon crumbles, and green onions. I could practically count the number of pieces of shredded cheese on both hands, and the same goes for the veggies. It's really a shame, too, because it all tasted so good together, and even the potato had a wonderful flavor on its own. Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to its claim of being "loaded."

Now, to be fair, I acknowledge this was a takeout order. So, I'll give LongHorn Steakhouse the benefit of the doubt and assume the potato would be much more generous in toppings if it were ordered and eaten in the restaurant. However, each and every other potato analyzed in this ranking was also taken to-go, and, for the most part, I didn't run into issues with a lack of toppings with them. That means there's really no excuse, and that's why LongHorn comes in second to last.

There's a reason Texas Roadhouse is known for its craveable rolls and not its loaded baked potatoes. For starters, the potato had very wet, wrinkly skin. The wrinkles are expected, but they made the water pool in between the creases. I'll be fair and admit that I picked my order up past the time that it was ready, so that could have been a factor in causing the hot steam to build up within the foil. Nevertheless, this wasn't an issue I encountered with any of the other restaurants. So while it was nothing a quick pat-down with a paper towel couldn't fix, I do still think it's worth noting for both presentation and convenience reasons.

As far as toppings go, the order came with a big tub of cheese, sour cream, and bacon. Refer to the picture, and you'll see that the cheese was provided in abundance. When heated with the potato, it became delightfully melty and offered such a great cheese pull with every bite. The bacon, however, was pretty tough, its texture distracting from the overall experience. This, in combination with the previously mentioned wateriness of the potato's skin, made Texas Roadhouse's loaded baked potato one I'd probably pass on in the future. It only ranked above LongHorn Steakhouse because it actually lived up to that "loaded" aspect and had more than enough toppings for each bite.

Among the more unique variations of chain restaurant spuds is the Creamy Lobster Baked Potato. And I bet you can guess where to get it. That's right – Red Lobster. Along with both a crab-topped and plain option, customers can find a potato with "Maine and langostino lobster meat in a creamy lobster beurre blanc sauce" at this seafood joint.

Surprisingly, there was actually a decent amount of deliciously tangy lobster pieces present. What the restaurant skimped on was that fancy-sounding sauce. Unfortunately, it was very much lacking and, therefore, did not make a difference in the order's taste. As such, even with there being a passable portion of seafood, a lot of the potato was left undressed. And the potato itself wasn't all that tasty on its own either, so it didn't do much to compensate.

It's worth noting, though, that it was so soft that it almost melted in my mouth the way a bowl of mashed potatoes would, making the mix of the starchy vegetable and seafood more of a nice textural experience rather than a flavorful one. Still, all in all, I'd much more enjoy my lobster in a bread roll than on a potato, so its flavor can shine more fully. There was nothing really wrong with the way Red Lobster's loaded baked potato tasted, though; it just didn't wow me as well as I had hoped, especially for almost $10, landing it toward the middle of the ranking.

Upon opening the lid of my Wendy's to-go box, I practically laughed out loud. I was greeted with a hot mess of an order, with the flattened spud barely being visible underneath a vast pool of bright yellow, melted cheese. But prior to this tasting, Wendy's had yet to fail me, so I knew it would likely taste just fine. And that it did.

The fast food chain offers several varieties of loaded baked potatoes, including a sour cream and chive option and a bacon and cheese one as well. However, I went with the spud topped with chili and cheese since it's a staple offering at Wendy's. And what easier way to upgrade Wendy's chili than by dumping that goodness on a potato? Sadly, though, not enough of it was provided. Yes, there were some beans and a bit of meat, but the cheese was definitely the dominating flavor here and overpowered much of the chili. Still, the bites where the chili's flavor did shine through were particularly good, and Wendy's had almost every other chain beat in terms of an extra satisfying cheese pull. It was also very hearty and felt more like a full meal than a side. You've got to love that it's the second cheapest item on the list, too.

If you're a baked potato lover but find yourself in one of the only states without an Outback Steakhouse, I feel bad for you. Because one bite of the restaurant's spud, and I knew it'd be somewhere among the champions. Yes, you may have noticed that this potato was actually the palest and tiniest of the bunch, but don't underestimate it – it's small but mighty and pale but powerful, packing in loads of flavor in every way.

Unlike most of the other restaurants' offerings I sampled, the toppings here came on the side and were separated so that most of the ingredients had their own individual containers. Namely, the butter went in two cups, the sour cream in another, and the bacon crumbles, shredded cheese, and green onions in the last. I appreciated this, as it kept the dry ingredients from getting wet and soggy, and it allows the customer to control how much of each element they'd like to add. In my case, I only needed a bit of each ingredient to be hit with the perfect flavor.

Similar to Texas Roadhouse, the bacon bits were on the chewier side. I didn't mind it as much in the case of Outback Steakhouse, though, as everything else worked well in its favor. The butter was light, with the chives finding themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum, offering a potent herbaceous flavor. However, the real star of the show was surprisingly the potato. It honestly would've excelled even without all the accoutrements on account of the vegetable's salty, crispy skin, but all of it came together anyway to create a clear winner.

I ordered loaded baked potatoes to-go from six different major restaurant chains. Because each one came with mostly the same ingredients, including butter, sour cream, bacon, and chives or green onions, my main criteria as I sampled them all were how much of each component was included, the taste and texture of them, and also the quality of the potato on its own. In some cases (Wendy's and Red Lobster), unique ingredients were added, so I paid extra attention to how these made a difference in the overall experience of eating the loaded potato. I also took note of whether the order was worth the price tag.