​​Chain Restaurant Desserts That Are Outdated

A chain restaurant should be many things, but above all it should be familiar. We don't go to places like Chili's, Red Robin, and Texas Roadhouse because we're expecting innovation. We go there because we know exactly what we're getting, and you can usually score a good meal for a reasonable price, with quick and efficient service. However, sometimes that sense of familiarity that chain restaurants strive for can tip into a feeling of being conservative, unadventurous, and playing it safe. This means that a lot of chain restaurant food can be outdated, from its appetizers all the way to its desserts.

Unfortunately, desserts are some of the likeliest culprits to be retro in a chain restaurant. While some eateries are fairly good at mixing up their entrées and side dishes, the desserts are often basic and lacking in any experimentation whatsoever. You see the same old line-up: brownies, New York cheesecake, apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies. Now don't get us wrong, there's nothing wrong with any of these foods. However, we think we can all agree that in 2025, we can expect something a little more interesting — and these are the desserts that need a refresh.

New York cheesecake has been pleasing palettes since the 1920s, and it's spread far beyond the boundaries of that great city. We can understand why: There's something about the simplicity of this cheesecake that really hits the spot, and its balance of tanginess, creaminess, and sweetness is a total crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately, chain restaurants know this all too well, and so when they want a safe cheesecake to satisfy their patrons, they slap it on the menu. Restaurants like Denny's, Texas Roadhouse, and Maggiano's all have New York Cheesecake on offer, and they all serve it up in the same style: with a berry sauce ladled over the top to contrast the creamy cheesecake, but with little else.

To be fair to Maggiano's, it opts for seasonal berries in its sauce; Denny's and Texas Roadhouse stick to strawberry. Denny's also opts for a squirt of whipped cream on its cheesecake, which we personally think is a little unnecessary. We're sure these all taste excellent, but when you look at the amount of cheesecakes out there (and you only have to glance at the Cheesecake Factory's menu to see that), we know that these restaurants could do something a little more experimental.

Okay, look. Like everyone else in the world, we love the drama of a chocolate lava cake. However, there's no denying that this dessert has started to feel seriously retro, despite having a relatively recent history. Back in the early '90s, chocolate lava cake was the biggest thing around, with the dessert taking off in New York, Los Angeles, and in bistros in France, almost simultaneously. When Disney World started serving chocolate lava cake in 1997, it was solidified as a mainstream hit, even though it was only served in the upscale restaurants.

From there, the chocolate lava cake started to trickle down into fast casual and chain settings, and what was once fancy and highbrow started to feel a little bit old-fashioned. It's been on the Chili's menu since 1998, and other chain restaurants like Applebee's also feature the cake. The truth, though, is that chocolate lava cake feels like it's from another era, one which valued novelty over flavor. That's not to say that it's not delicious — it definitely is — but there's something about plunging your fork into it these days which has a vintage whiff about it. Plus, these cakes are notoriously difficult to overcook, leading to countless disappointments over the years. We're ready to give them a miss.

Do desserts get more old-fashioned than peach cobbler? We don't think so. Good old peach cobbler has been enjoyed by all of us over the years, usually sitting around a family dinner table or at a potluck. It feels strange that this rustic, cozy dish would become something that would be served in chain restaurants — but plenty of places have caught onto its homely charms and started ladling it out to its customers. Head to Cracker Barrel, and you can find peach cobbler sitting proudly on the menu, while Bojangles made peach cobbler a limited item at its restaurants in 2024. Plus, we all know how much chain restaurants like to bring foods back, so we wouldn't be surprised if it showed up again in the future.

However, there's just no getting around the fact that peach cobbler is a weirdly traditional dessert to be served in chain restaurants. Sure, it's nice, but why would you buy something you could probably make a better version of at home, and for less money? Plus, isn't going out to eat all about trying new experiences, not sampling versions of homemade food like this?

Carrot cake is a classic for a reason: it's delicious. This cake — which, contrary to popular belief, has always been considered a luxurious dessert, as opposed to something made out of resourcefulness and a need to use up old ingredients — has been pleasing taste buds for hundreds of years. As such, it's no surprise that chain restaurants consider it a safe bet when it comes to their dessert menu, and you can find it in chain eateries of all sizes and styles. Both Outback Steakhouse and Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen feature it prominently on their menus, in exactly the style you'd suspect: served in a generous hunk and covered in a cream cheese frosting.

However, despite carrot cake's classy history (it was once served by George Washington at his parties), today it feels a little bit old-fashioned. There are so many ways that chain restaurants would jazz up their carrot cakes, by introducing different fruits, incorporating chocolate, or even mixing in spices and aromatics. Unfortunately, none of them do so, and it leaves this dessert feeling slightly boring.

What's better than apple pie? We're pretty sure that's a question that plenty of chain restaurant executives have asked over the years. It's probably not a huge shock that apple pie is served in different chains across the land, with this universally loved dessert being a go-to when you don't know what else to order. Crucially, it's also one of those desserts that transcends price: You can find it in places from STK Steakhouse, where meals can set you back a pretty penny, to McDonald's, where you can eat for just a couple of bucks. Texas Roadhouse also has an apple pie on its menu, for you to enjoy when you're finished with your steak.

With apple pie, you know exactly what you're getting — but that can also be a problem. This is a dessert that's been around for centuries, has even appeared in America's very first cookbook, and it's hardly changed throughout the years. Sadly, though, this means that when you order it, you're missing out on an opportunity to get something way more interesting. Chains have the opportunity to serve up a fresh twist on apple pie and create a brand new product, but instead they all fall in line, and the dessert ends up being interchangeable.

Ah, the hot fudge sundae. For almost 120 years this has been a fast food classic, ever since the dessert was first served in C.C. Brown's Ice Cream Shop in Los Angeles way back in 1906. Cut to 2025 and it's still readily available in chain restaurants and smaller eateries alike. Although it varies slightly in terms of its construction from place to place, hot fudge sundaes are everywhere, and restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory and McDonald's offer their own spin on it.

We're here to argue, though, that they should be phased out — and let us explain. The problem with hot fudge sundaes is that the recipe inherently makes an unsatisfying dessert. When you pour hot fudge onto cold ice cream, it just melts it, and usually does so in a haphazard way. You end up with a bowl full of lukewarm liquid, which you then have to ladle into your mouth. We personally think that these flawed desserts need a rethink, and a little bit of modernization.

When all else fails, brownies and ice cream are there for you. It feels like this combo has been on chain restaurant menus since time began, and you don't have to search far these days to find it somewhere. Texas Roadhouse and Red Robin are just two of the chains that offer it on their main menu, with the latter billing it as a "gooey chocolate brownie cake." This makes it sound a bit grander than it is — it's basically a brownie and ice cream, folks.

Now, we're not saying that this dessert is bad. Here's the thing, though: Aren't brownies and ice cream just a bit basic? Just think about all the things you can do with a brownie: You can add cherries, marshmallows, pretzel pieces, white chocolate, dark chocolate, you name it. Chain restaurants don't bother with any of this, and serve you the simple version, leaving you with a boring dessert. Plus, chain restaurant brownies tend to be mass-produced and poorly baked, and you usually end up with a chewy, gummy brick that's overly sweet and lacking in any complexity.

Come on. Really? We're all for chocolate chip cookies, but we don't go to chain restaurants to eat something we could have at home. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of places haven't got that memo, and chocolate chip cookies constantly appear on chain restaurant menus, even in some of the fancier ones. STK Steakhouse, for example, has a warm chocolate chip cookie served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. On the flip side, Bob Evans just serves its cookies as is.

There's a simplicity in this, for sure, but we just think it's a little lazy. Think of all the ways you can make chocolate chip cookies more interesting. They can be spicy, creamy, infused with coffee, or incorporate different types of chocolate. They can be made into cakes, added to ice cream, or served as cookie dough. Instead, these chain restaurants feel as though they're doing the bare minimum, and it's just a little bit old-school. Rather than mixing things up, they're playing it safe. On top of that, if you can buy a good cookie for a couple of dollars from a bakery or supermarket, why would you pay top-end prices to eat one in a restaurant?

We've got a lot of love for tiramisu. Interestingly, this coffee-heavy dessert was only invented in the 1960s, despite feeling as though it's been around for hundreds of years. It made its way over to the United States and began becoming really popular in the 1980s, when people fell hard for its creamy, boozy flavor profile. What began as a high-class dessert eventually got swallowed up by the chain restaurants, and today you can find it in several prominent Italian chains, including Maggiano's and Carrabba's Italian Grill.

The issue, though, is that there's no getting around the fact that tiramisu feels very '80s. After its heyday, folks began to get a little tired of it, and while it's never totally gone out of fashion (and remains tasty to this day), it just seems a bit retro to order it now. We'd love to see some of these Italian chain restaurants trying something new with their tiramisu in a bid to freshen up its image, but the fact that they serve it in the classic fashion doesn't help their case.

Feel free to call us snooty, but when we go to a restaurant to eat, we usually want to order something we wouldn't find anywhere else. What we generally don't want is to grab a dessert that you can easily get at a fairground for a few bucks. That's why we're so surprised that so many chain restaurants have cinnamon donuts on their menus. Joints like STK Steakhouse, Red Robin, and IHOP all offer cinnamon donuts as a dessert, with each order coming with a dipping sauce.

There's no refuting the fact that cinnamon donuts are delicious, and when they come with a delectable sauce they get even better. We can also see how putting this on a menu gives folks who are a little less adventurous (or just want something comforting and easygoing) a solid choice. However, it's also true that cinnamon donuts are a heavy, doughy way to end a meal. We like to view desserts as palette cleansers that offer a refreshing contrast to the meal that came before and put a spring in your step as you walk out there, but cinnamon donuts are just gonna make you sleepy.