Top Ten Appetizer List

Okay so it's finally here.. the top ten appetizer list. As a refresher here are the restaurants I considered when making my list:

Applebees

Bennigans

Cheesecake Factory

Chili's

Friendly's

Houlihan's

Olive Garden

Outback

PF Changs

Pizzeria Uno's

Ruby Tuesday's

TGI Friday's

Before starting the top ten list, I'm going to give you my top three restaurants for appetizers. 

3. Pizzeria Uno's  - Several delicious quesadillas, their famous pizza skins, a big nacho dish and a solid combo platter called the Chi-Town Tasting plate make Uno's a strong destination for Fab Firsts. Any appetizer called a tasting plate is alright in my book especially this one which has a strong lineup of buffalo wings, mozz sticks, onion strings, chicken fingers, fries and 3 dipping sauces. 

2. TGI Friday's  - Friday's entire appetizer menu intrigues me and gives me great pleasure. I wouldn't mind going to Friday's just to order a ton of apps. Their menu features parmesan crusted sicilian quesadillas, pot stickers, fried mac and cheese and of course their loaded potato skins. Friday's is recognized as the creator of the potato skin. 

1. Chili's  - Southwestern eggrolls, boneless buffalo wings, queso dip, and very good mozzarella sticks round out Chili's app menu. Strangely the mozzarella sticks aren't listed on the website.. I hope they didn't get rid of them. Both of their nacho dishes are very good as well and their wings are pretty good too. It was a close call between Friday's and Chili's but Chili's wins by a small margin based on their best item being better then Friday's best item. 

Now for the top ten list of the best appetizers in the chain restaurant biz. Each selection will include the description from the menu in italics along with my thoughts. Click on the links for pictures of the items. (Originally I had the pictures in the post but blogspot sucks for trying to include pictures). First, here are a few of the appetizers that didn't make the list but deserve mentioning. 

Honorable mentions: Fridays Pot Stickers, Friday’s Potato Skins, Ruby Tuesday’s Thai Phoon Tenders, Outback’s bloomin onion, Chili’s Queso Dip, Chiil’s Mozzarella sticks, Olive Garden’s stuffed mushrooms

TOP TEN:

10. Friendly's- Mini Mozzarella Cheese Sticks- It's much better than a single stick of cheese. A stack of delicious mini-Mozzarella cheese sticks awaits those who can't get enough melting cheese and marinara sauce.

Interestingly, these are the only mozzarella sticks that made the top ten list even though mozzarella sticks are one of my favorite apps. I'm not sure why their called mini mozzarella sticks when they seem to be sized normally to me. Friendly's gives you a ton of these and the quality is top notch. Friendly's is often an overlooked restaurant which doesn't get enough credit for some pretty solid meals. EDIT: Jody pointed out that apparently the mini mozzarella sticks are a new addition to the menu but they also have the regular mozz sticks which are the ones that I am talking about for the list. 

9. Chili's- Boneless Buffalo Wings- Breaded Chicken Breast tossed in spicy wing sauce. Served with cool bleu cheese dressing.

I’m a huge fan of basically anything with buffalo sauce on it. As a random side note, anything with buffalo sauce also makes me think of my friend Jack Palmer. These crunchy morsels of heat are my favorite in the restaurant business. I prefer them with ranch dressing and the delicious buffalo sauce makes me both sweat and smile simultaneously. As another random side note, most food makes me sweat and smile simultaneously.

8. PF Chang’s- Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps- Our signature appetizer- often copied, never equaled.

PF Chang’s is a great all around restaurant and there is no better way to start off a meal there than the Lettuce Wraps. The spiciness of the chicken matched against the coolness of the lettuce wraps make for a phenomenal beginning to a meal.

7. Bennigan’s- Cheese and Potato Skins- Filled with Colby cheese, bacon and green onions. Served with a side of sour cream.

Bennigan’s is another great all around restaurant that I have fond memories of from my time at Rutgers. Their potato skins are my favorite appetizer on their menu and slightly edge out Friday’s skins as the best pure potato skin in the game.

6. Cheesecake Factory- Firecracker Salmon Rolls- Spiced fresh salmon rolled in spinach and fried in a crisp wrapper. Served with a sweet hot chili sauce.

Cheesecake Factory has an extensive appetizer list but every time I go there I have to get the firecracker salmon rolls. The factory gets points for creativity; you aren’t going to find this dish at any other restaurant on the list. The salmon and spinach are a good combination but the chili sauce is what really makes this starter special. I usually find anything I can to sop up the remaining sauce.

5. Outback- Aussie Cheese Fries- Aussie Fries topped with melted Monterey Jack, Cheddar, bits of fresh chopped bacon and served with a spicy ranch dressing.

If you can survive the likely heart attack after eating these bad boys you are lucky. They are loaded with cheese, bacon, 2900 calories and 182 grams of fat. The spicy ranch dressing is great for dipping and the monster portion is enough for you and a friend or two.

4. TGI Friday’s- Parmesan-Crusted Sicilian Quesadillas- Our flour tortilla is packed with sautéed chicken, sausage, bruscheta marinara, bacon and oozing with Monterey Jack cheese. We coat it with Parmesan and pan-fry it to a crispy, golden brown, then drizzle it with balsamic glaze.

I really love this quesadilla. The flavors explode in your mouth and the glaze gives the dish a unique taste. To be honest, I don’t remember sausage being in the quesadilla but whatever, its really damn good.

3. Pizzeria Uno’s- Pizza skins- Discover what all the fuss is about. The most extravagant appetizer ever created by man. Deep dish crust filled with red bliss mashed potatoes. Topped with bacon, cheddar and sour cream.

Deep dish pizza crust + potato skin equals pure genius. I used to work at Uno’s a long time ago and the pizza skins were my favorite thing to eat. There are no words to describe how good this fusion of flavor is. Go out and try them for yourself.

2. Houlihan’s- Shrooms- Jumbo mushroom caps stuffed with herb and garlic cream cheese, coated in distinctly crunchy panko bread crumbs and crisp-fried. Served with creamy horseradish sauce. Over eleven billion served since 1972.

There is a reason why eleventy billion of these have been served. They are soooooo sooo good. If you go to Houlihan’s and don’t get the shrooms there is something wrong with you. I don’t care if you don’t even like mushrooms, you will like these. Matter of fact get an order as an appetizer and an order to go for later.

1. Chili’s- Southwestern Eggrolls-  Smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalepeno Jack cheese, red peppers and spinach wrapped inside a crispy flour tortilla. We serve it with our avocado-ranch.

It was really tough to decide between the shrooms and the eggrolls and in an ideal world they’d both be number 1 and I’d eat them both as my pregame before every meal. The eggrolls are another unique item that no other restaurant has been able to replicate. The combination of all the ingredients cooked to perfection inside a crispy tortilla and then dipped in the avocado-ranch sauce is enough to knock your socks off. 

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