13 Steakhouse Chain Baked Potatoes, Ranked Worst To Best
CORRECTION 6/18/24: A previous version of this article stated that Sizzler has 30 locations. Sizzler has 77 locations.
Steak and potatoes go together like bacon and eggs, cheese and crackers, or chocolate and peanut butter. And since meat and potatoes are a dynamic duo, what better place to find the best baked potato than at a steakhouse? Whether or not the baked potato is the main star of your plate, it should still be delicious and worth the money you spend on it. How do you know where to find the best steakhouse chain baked potato and what's considered a good baked potato anyway?
The perfect baked potato — whether a regular Russet or sweet — is plump and not shriveled, and features golden, crispy skin with a fluffy, whipped-like interior. A good baked potato is not dry, bland, or pasty and should be able to be eaten as is, perhaps with a little salt or butter. After that, it's whatever delectable toppings suit your taste buds.
With so many great steakhouse chains in America, we narrowed the list down to a reasonable number — chains that had 20 or more locations. This doesn't mean other steakhouse chains aren't worthy of a great baked potato, nor does it mean you won't find crispy, fluffy taters at locations listed lower on our list. But we were looking for the best and that required digging into reviews, past Tasting Table steakhouse chain rankings (to determine the steakhouse's consistency), talking with steakhouse regulars, and coming up with an overall consensus.
13. Logan's Roadhouse
Logan's Roadhouse has approximately 100 locations across the U.S. Though there are a number of popular Logan's menu items, it ranks low on our list because it's not a true steakhouse. Perhaps if it were, the baked potato would be better. It's a roadhouse — a restaurant that was originally built to serve travelers drinks and good grub made fast, typically along with providing music and maybe gambling. Today, roadhouses extend beyond the traveler and offer a variety of individual and family meals, from seafood to meat, sandwiches to burgers, and soup to dessert. It may be unfair to compare roadhouse food with steakhouse food, but restaurant goers still consider Logan's Roadhouse a go-to when they want steak and potatoes.
The Logan, a 12-ounce sirloin, is one of the most popular items on the menu. So, how is the baked potato at Logan's? Subpar at best. Offering hungry eaters fries, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes, you can choose an upgraded version that includes sour cream, bacon, and cheese for baked potatoes and toasted marshmallow, cinnamon, and sugar for baked sweet potatoes. Since the regular baked potato isn't much to write home about, you might want to try the baked sweet potato instead, or consider the loaded mashed potatoes or potato skins.
12. Hoss's Family Steak & Sea
Hoss's Family Steak & Sea is located in Pennsylvania with roughly 30 spots for you to choose from. Offering more than just steak, Hoss's serves a wide range of dishes, from meat to seafood to burgers to sandwiches, and includes its popular soup, salad, and dessert bar. You're bound to find something here you enjoy, but Hoss's lands lower on our list because the food is just average. Besides, unless you ask for something different, the baked potato is served with margarine. Who wants margarine on a baked potato? Real butter or bust!
Though your overall experience may not be memorable, Hoss's does deliver a decent baked potato. Plus, you can order a baked sweet potato and opt for either version loaded. But if you're looking for a baked potato that's better than one you can make at home, you might as well go somewhere else. Should you find yourself at Hoss's for an everyday meal, order the loaded baked sweet potato if you're jonesing for something sweet — it's topped with toasted mini marshmallows, cinnamon, and caramel sauce. You might fare better, though, if you stay home and try some of our suggestions for ways to enhance your baked potatoes.
11. Saltgrass Steak House
Saltgrass Steakhouse features an award-winning menu, offering goodies like wagyu, ribeye, porterhouse, and New York strip steaks. You'd expect top-quality baked potatoes when you're ordering high quality cuts of beef, but Saltgrass falls short of that pairing. And that's the reason why this steakhouse doesn't rank much higher on our list. You can expect an average baked potato, whether it's the regular or sweet variety. Serving up a less-than-stellar spud, Saltgrass also offers a loaded version, topping the potato with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and chives, which makes it only marginally better. But who doesn't like bacon and cheese?
With roughly 75 locations spread across the southern states, Saltgrass Steakhouse delivers a decent surf or turf meal if you're out and about and stop in, but you might be better off ordering the popular smoked mac and cheese as a side or the well-liked baked potato soup. Beyond that, if you really want a great baked potato, keep reading to find out where to go to get one.
10. Morton's the Steakhouse
Morton's the Steakhouse has 55 locations stateside, plus internationally, and may be known for offering prime cuts of beef, but the ginormous baked potato is also a signature of the steakhouse. Considered jumbo-sized, Morton's baked potato practically takes over the plate and could be a meal in and of itself. And if you're looking to sink your teeth into a potato that provides heft and plenty of calories (a whopping 1,430 of them!), the $12 to $15 loaded baked potato (price depends on the location) is your winner. But since the calorie count and price point are so high, we've knocked Morton's down a few notches on our list of great steakhouse chain baked potatoes.
Morton's dresses up an already tasty potato and outdoes other steakhouses with its large, curled pieces of bacon, as opposed to tiny little bits of bacon pieces. And if that isn't enough to have you drooling, it's also loaded with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and chopped chives. Ask for the generous toppings to be placed on the side of your gigantic potato and enjoy the mighty concoction at your leisure.
9. Outback Steakhouse
Perhaps it's the Bloomin' Onion that brings you to Outback Steakhouse in the first place for some yummy munchies and a laid-back dinner, but a number of other popular menu items will have you revisiting time and time again. Landing midway on our great baked potatoes list is Outback's dressed baked potato — a tender, fluffy baked potato with a golden, crispy, and crunchy skin that's topped (dressed, if you will) with butter, cheese, bacon, sour cream, and chives. Most patrons are quite satisfied with their side spud, but Outback didn't rank higher due to inconsistency — in both quality and toppings.
Outback Steakhouse is such a popular spot — there are 675 locations across the nation – that meat lovers keep going back for the aged steak that's grilled with real butter. Though patrons typically order the loaded baked potato with their sirloin, ribeye, New York strip, or prime rib, we also recommend trying the loaded mashed potatoes. But if something sweet is more your thing, Outback also offers an underrated menu item — a baked sweet potato with honey butter and brown sugar.
8. Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse is owned by the same company that operates Morton's the Steakhouse. With this in mind, it's no wonder that the loaded baked potato here is similar. Why mess with a good thing? Higher up on our list, Del Frisco's is a fine dining establishment with 17 locations spread out across the country and is one of 14 chains that features a stand-out loaded baked potato. Offering prime steak cuts, as well as Japanese wagyu and 45-day-dry-aged prime strip and ribeye, you would certainly hope the baked potato lived up to its meaty counterpart's reputation.
Del Frisco's requires fancy attire for its upscale atmosphere and just about everything on the menu is an extravagant display of culinary delight. But while the loaded baked potato is great in its own right, topped with sour cream, chives, bacon, and cheese, it doesn't measure up to the rest of the menu items. Couple that with the price, and it doesn't deserve a higher spot on our list. Still, you might be remiss if you don't expand your horizons and try one of the other potato dishes, such as château mashed potatoes, which are hand mashed and mixed with butter and chives, whipped potatoes with chives, and twice-baked potato with Parmesan, pepper, and shaved truffles.
7. Sizzler
The Sizzler of yesteryear is not the same Sizzler of today. After wading through bankruptcy and closing the majority of its locations, Sizzler now has 77 locations with a different twist. Still serving fast steakhouse food in a casual atmosphere, Sizzler offers typical steakhouse fare, like hand-cut steaks, surf and turf, seafood, burgers, and sides. Unlike most of the steakhouses on this list, Sizzler offers its baked potato with butter, sour cream, and chives — no cheese, no bacon. Simple and satisfying. Plus, it's budget friendly.
When folks dine out at Sizzler, it's the nostalgia that typically has them walking through the doors. And the new-and-improved Sizzler gives them just that — a taste of what was with a new way of what is. So, while you may not find an award-winning potato on its menu, you will find decent eats at an affordable price and that helps land Sizzler smack dab in the middle of our baked potato ranking.
6. Texas Roadhouse
One of many interesting facts to know about Texas Roadhouse, a chain that boasts more than 550 locations across the country, is the claim that everything is made from scratch — from the famous hot rolls with honey to the cinnamon butter to the bacon pieces that sit atop your loaded baked potato. No fake, imitation bacon bits, here. Though restaurant goers both love and dislike Texas Roadhouse in general, the baked potato is consistently a solid order, whether it's the regular or sweet variety. So, you can be pretty much guaranteed to get a tasty spud with your steak. Not bad for hundreds of locations.
Keeping in mind that this is a roadhouse and therefore quality and attention may not be as remarkable as they are at most steakhouses, Texas Roadhouse earns a mid-ranking because there's something to be said about consistency at a budget price. Sure, the baked potato may not knock your socks off, but a good potato is a good potato. The fully loaded baked potato comes with butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon (or any variation of the aforementioned), and you can even smother it in Texas red chili (with beans) if you desire. But you also have the option of a baked sweet potato, either plain or topped with toasted marshmallows, honey-cinnamon caramel sauce, honey-cinnamon butter, or brown sugar.
5. Black Angus Steakhouse
Black Angus Steakhouse could be considered a middle of the road steakhouse — not cheap, but also won't break the bank. Featuring a number of steakhouse classics, like ribeye, filet mignon, ribs, chicken, and seafood, the restaurant also offers a range of delicious sides, like bacon-wrapped filet bites, hot rolls with honey butter, and mac and cheese. But the chain, which has more than 30 locations, goes all out on the baked potato. You don't have just one choice, you have so many potato choices you'll have to visit more than once in order to try them all.
Black Angus is a strong pick for enjoying a steak and potatoes meal, which earns it a spot in the top five. Though you can get a plain baked potato, regular or sweet, you have the option to upgrade to premium or supreme. The loaded Russet baked potato is topped with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and chives while the sweet potato is topped with butter and brown sugar. Customers already enjoy these, but the steakhouse took it up a notch and now offers stuffed baked potatoes as well — with recipes such as BBQ pork, bacon and bleu cheese, and broccoli and queso.
4. Mastro's
Mastro's, which features more than 20 locations, belongs to the same Landry corporate family as Morton's and Del Frisco's and is somewhat similar with its upscale menu and dining atmosphere. And just as you would expect, Mastro's also serves up a gigantic spud worthy of its own dish — it's even listed on the menu as a 1-pound baked potato. What toppings you get may vary depending on where you eat and what season it is. Mastro's is known for offering exclusive, limited-time-only recipes, like its caviar twice-baked potato, which is topped with sour cream and two different types of caviar.
No matter what goes on top of the monstrous spud, the skin is golden and crispy, and the inside is fluffy and flavorful. But typically, you'll find this huge potato topped with gobs of melted cheese. What else you might find topping this incredible tater varies, though. Whether it's loaded with bacon, sour cream, and chives or possibly stuffed with broccoli, you'll receive a baked potato so big you'll either need to share it, take leftovers home, or consider it your meal. The sheer size and price keep Mastro's from being in the top three.
3. Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar is well-known for its prime cuts of beef, but it doesn't skimp on its other menu items. The chain pays as much attention to its sides as it does the main stars and goes all out on its potatoes. Naming its au gratin-style potato side dish after itself, Fleming's potatoes are a big hit with restaurant goers and many love the lobster mashed potatoes. But high praise also goes to the gigantic baked potato, plain or loaded. Considered a shareable side, the baked potato is large and in charge with nearly 1,000 calories when it's loaded.
Though the high calorie count and hefty price might otherwise knock Fleming's further down our list, the potato itself stands out on its own — no toppings necessary. Patrons are thrilled with the golden crispy skin and luxuriously soft tater interior. The additional toppings just take it ... well, over the top. With roughly 50 locations in the U.S., Fleming's is a high-quality, fine dining establishment where you'll find everything from prime rib and filet mignon to scallops and lobster. If surf and turf isn't your deal, Fleming's serves up roasted portobello and cauliflower steak as well.
2. LongHorn Steakhouse
LongHorn Steakhouse has 500 locations spread out across America and is a go-to steakhouse for a meat and potatoes meal. Serving steak cuts like ribeye, New York strip, T-bone, and porterhouse, LongHorn offers hungry eaters a range of other dishes, including seasoned chicken wings, fried shrimp, Parmesan-crusted chicken, burgers, salmon, pork chops, fire-grilled corn on the cob, and crispy Brussels sprouts. And while LongHorn's mashed potatoes (made with butter) and loaded potato soup are enjoyed by restaurant goers, customers ranked the loaded baked potato as one of the best menu items.
What makes LongHorn's baked potatoes so special to deserve a high ranking? Nothing really, and that's just it — customers can look forward to a simply good baked potato, whether regular or sweet. It's not over the top, it doesn't cost much, and it's a large, but not crazy huge, serving. The regular baked potato is topped with sour cream, butter, applewood-smoked bacon, aged cheddar cheese, and green onions. The baked sweet potato is topped with cinnamon sugar and butter. It's the simplicity and perfect ratio of toppings to potato that makes it a homerun with patrons nearly every time.
1. Ruth's Chris Steak House
Ruth's Chris Steak House has more than 130 locations and is one of the best steakhouses in America, for good reason. Ruth's delivers quality, prime steak that's dry-aged and served with butter. The upscale dining experience complements the high-standard dishes, such as veal osso buco ravioli, seared ahi tuna, lobster mac and cheese, lamb chops, cowboy ribeye, and filet mignon. But the steakhouse also hits it out of the park with its potato sides — potatoes au gratin with three cheese sauce, sweet potato casserole with pecan crust, and loaded baked potato, offered plain or with butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon, or any variation thereof.
Coming in at 1 pound when it's fully loaded, Ruth's baked potato is definitely full of punch with a price that matches. We ranked other hefty, pricey baked potatoes from other steakhouse chains lower on the list, so what makes Ruth's stand out? High quality ingredients, perfectly cooked potatoes, and an amazing balance of toppings that create a tasty, enticing tater dish that customers rave about.
Methodology
There are a large number of steakhouse chains in the U.S., many worthy of a visit and meal. But to begin compiling a list for the best steakhouses that serve superb baked potatoes, I had to find ways to narrow down the lengthy list. I immediately excluded steakhouses that didn't have at least 15 locations — we are talking about chains after all. From there, I combed through past Static Media outlets' articles with similar rankings.
But since restaurants may not be consistent with their offerings, service, and quality, I dug deeper and read thousands of reviews. After speaking with some steakhouse regulars and going off personal experience, I formulated a list that showcased some of the best baked potatoes found at steakhouse chains. Then, I ranked those in order from worst to best. So, though a restaurant might have fallen a bit short of a high ranking, there is still quality food to be had.