Chicken parmesan isn’t the most complicated Italian dish, but it is certainly a crowd-pleaser. Who doesn’t love a juicy breast of chicken with crispy on-the-outside breading, topped with gooey cheese and flavorful marinara, served on a bed of carbalicious pasta? However, not all chicken parms are created equal. So many things can go wrong regarding taste, texture, freshness, and overall appeal. Here are seven restaurant chains you can trust, to serve up the best and most delicious chicken parm.
Olive Garden


The classic Chicken Parmigiana from Olive Garden is a fan-favorite at the restaurant, served with a hearty side of spaghetti and plenty of melted cheese. Our reviewer, Matt Kirouac, tested chicken parm at five chains, ranking OG third. While disappointed with the “ho-hum presentation,” the tasted “fared quite a bit better” he said. “The texture is amazingly crispy, resembling a well-fried schnitzel, while the interior remains plump and succulent. Some of the edges were a little burnt, but not really in a bad way,” he explains, adding that there is also a “blanket of gooey cheese.”
Carrabba’s Italian Grill


Our reviewer selected Carrabba’s crispy, juicy chicken cutlet topped with their signature pomodoro sauce and melted mozzarella as his top pick. “Everything about this looked amazing, from the even layers of ooey, gooey cheese, hot and fresh from the oven, to the herbaceous sauce, crispy edges on the perfectly plump chicken, and the fact that the staff thoughtfully split the order in half,” he says. Overall, he says the dish is “pretty great.” The chicken, “which was just thick enough, boasted a pleasant crispy texture that held up well under the cheese and sauce—succulent and tender on the inside, while retaining a golden-brown crunch around the edges. There’s a great ratio of cheese-to-meat here, and the sauce lends a acidic zing that helps balance everything out. The pasta, rather than relegated to afterthought, was carefully prepared, perfectly sauced, and paired well with the rest of the dish.”
Maggiano’s Little Italy


Maggiano’s recently launched The Grand Chicken Parmesan, “bigger, bolder, and better than ever,” the chain wrote in a social media post. The oversized and indulgent dish is topped with freshly sliced whole milk mozzarella and fresh basil, a “reimagined, and ready to be savored’ version of the already popular dish that has kept guests returning to the upscale Italian chain for decades.
Buca di Beppo


Known for over-the-top family-style portions and bold flavors, Buca’s Chicken Parm hits all the right notes for a group comfort meal. The breaded chicken cutlets are topped with the chain’s house marinara sauce and mozzarella, then baked until gooey and bubbly.
The Cheesecake Factory


The Cheescake Factory’s Crusted Chicken Romano is its version of chicken parm, a breast of chicken coated with a Romano-Parmesan cheese crust served over angel hair pasta and covered in an indulgent layer of marinara and cheese. They also sell a chicken parm sandwich and Chicken Parmesan “Pizza Style,” a chopped chicken breast coated with breadcrumbs and covered with marinara, melted cheese, and angel hair pasta in an Alfredo cream sauce.
Bravo! Italian Kitchen


Bravo! keeps it traditional with its chicken parm: Crispy hand-breaded chicken, zesty marinara, creamy mozzarella, and herb linguine. The parms are so popular that an entire section of the menu is devoted to them, with eggplant and veal options as well.
Bertucci’s


Our reviewer chose Bertucci’s Chicken Parm as the second-best chicken parm of the bunch. He did note, however, that it is also the most expensive. “By far, this was the most unique-looking chicken parm of the bunch, as well as the straight-up best. This was the most schnitzel-looking dish of them all, in the very best ways, with its optimal thickness, crispy-looking texture, golden-brown sheen, and slight char around the edges. There’s a nice bubbling layer of melty cheese, evenly dispersed on top, and the pasta is a vast improvement over anything else on this list so far. The herbs looked a little sad and haphazard, but that’s mere pittance compared to the rest of this stunner,” he says. He loved “absolutely loved the crunchy edges, the vibrant sauce, and the well-balanced, well-melted cheeses.”
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