11 Chain Restaurant Wedge Salads Ranked From Worst To Best, According To Customers

True to its name, a wedge salad consists of a wedge of crisp iceberg lettuce garnished with ingredients such as chopped bacon, diced tomatoes, and crumbled blue cheese. The salad is typically drizzled with a creamy blue cheese dressing. Enjoyed as an entrée or a side dish, wedge salads are popular not just due to their taste but also thanks to their delightful combination of textures. The iceberg lettuce provides a satisfying crunch that contrasts perfectly with the creamy dressing. And the bacon adds smoky notes, while the tomatoes imbue the dish with a hint of sweetness.

While nobody has taken credit for the invention of the wedge salad, the first known recipe for the dish appeared in a 1916 cookbook titled "Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes" by Marion Harris Neil. The wedge salad emerged as an American classic sometime during the 1950s, when bacon bits and crumbled blue cheese joined the dish. Today, wedge salads can typically be found at steakhouses and American diners across the nation.

Got a hankering for a wedge salad? You may want to eat it at a restaurant, but some popular chains do it better than others. Take a peek at our list of the best and not-so-great wedge salads at 11 popular chain restaurants in the U.S., as ranked by customer reviews. We'll explain our methodology in greater detail at the very end.

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse made its debut in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1981. Since then, the chain has expanded to 17 locations across the U.S. While the restaurant specializes in aged USDA Prime beef, it also offers a diverse menu that includes an array of fresh seafood and other hot and chilled dishes. One of these is the wedge salad, made with iceberg lettuce, bacon, cherry tomatoes, and Danish blue cheese dressing.

While Del Frisco's steaks may be a hit with diners, the same can't be said for the chain's wedge salad. In particular, some online reviewers complain about the quality and paltry amount of dressing and bacon — both of which many consider to be essential ingredients in a quality wedge salad. One dissatisfied patron said that the blue cheese dressing on the salad was watery and that the dish came with minimal amounts of bacon.

Established in 1990 in Providence, Rhode Island, The Capital Grille quickly earned a reputation for its commitment to serving quality, dry-aged beef. From bone-in ribeyes to filet mignons, all of the chain's steaks are hand-carved in-house to ensure that each cut meets the highest standard of quality. In addition to its steaks, The Capital Grille also serves a plethora of other dishes, including a wedge salad with smoked bacon and blue cheese.

The Capital Grille's wedge salad has received both favorable feedback and criticism from patrons. On a positive note, a review from Simply Buckhead recommends the salad, proclaiming that it checks all the boxes with crispy lettuce, double-cut bacon, fragrant tomatoes, and just the right amount of gorgonzola dressing. A Yelp reviewer also praises the dish, saying, "A big wedge of lettuce with bleu cheese and big-ole fat smoked bacon croutons. Yum!" 

However, not everybody is as impressed. Some diners complain that their wedge didn't come with enough condiments, including the all-important bacon. An even harsher critique comes from one diner who says: "The blue cheese [on the wedge salad] tasted like out of a bottle. Nothing special at all."

The wedge salad hasn't always been on the Outback Steakhouse menu. In fact, the restaurant dropped the side salad from its culinary repertoire in 2020 when it streamlined its menu during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dish made a brief comeback in March 2023 to celebrate the chain's 35 years in operation and then reappeared in July of the same year. While the re-introduction was supposed to be for a limited time only, the salad currently still appears on the chain's menu. The classic dish comes with iceberg lettuce drizzled with a blue cheese dressing and a sweet balsamic glaze. The salad is garnished with an array of toppings, including blue cheese crumbles, bits of bacon, grape tomatoes, and red onion.

The wedge salad at Outback Steakhouse has elicited both positive and negative feedback from diners. One enthusiastic customer writing on Yelp praises the menu item's generous portion and the addition of sweet balsamic vinegar, adding, "It really makes the salad pop and I have never had a wedge salad as good elsewhere." Another Yelp reviewer voices a similar sentiment, saying, "That wedge salad was the best part of this visit. The salad was a five." 

Yet, it's not all wins. One reviewer calls the menu item boring, writing, "I found the blue cheese nuggets at the very end." Another diner backs up this sentiment, saying that the salad was missing key ingredients, although they don't specify what those were.

The Chopped Iceberg Wedge at Mastro's is a little unusual in that it's, well, chopped. This raises a question: Is it still a wedge salad when the wedge has been disassembled? Adding to the confusion, the chain's menu provides practically no information about the ingredients in the dish. Going off images from social media and review websites, we assume that it follows the conventional blueprint for a wedge salad with iceberg lettuce, blue cheese, and a medley of other ingredients typically found in this dish, including large pieces of bacon.

Most reviewers have been impressed with the Chopped Iceberg Wedge at Mastro's. One diner even mentioned that they enjoyed the fact that the dish was chopped, as this made it easier to eat. On Yelp, another patron also approves of the salad, stating, "If you like bacon, you will be in hog heaven with the chopped iceberg wedge. The bacon is super thick and plentiful as is the blue cheese."

Surprisingly, some diners complain that the dish comes with too much bacon, with one OpenTable reviewer commenting that "It was smothered in bacon." As bacon aficionados ourselves, we don't really get it, but it's probably safe to say that you should stay away from this menu item if you aren't a big fan of bacon.

Ocean Prime is an upscale chain with an impressive menu consisting largely of prime cuts of steak and fresh seafood. The restaurant chain also features a range of other options, including the Crisp Iceberg Wedge with blue cheese, candied bacon, marinated tomatoes, and pickled onions, all enveloped in a Cabernet buttermilk dressing. There's also a seafood variant in the form of the Crab Wedge with jumbo lump crab, blue cheese, red onion, and Louis dressing — after all, Ocean Prime does specialize in seafood.

Diners rave about Ocean Prime's iceberg wedge, indicating that it's a great menu option as a side and on its own. As one diner writing on Tripadvisor says: "The lettuce was crisp and the dressing was flavorful." Many other patrons concur, describing the dish as delicious and beautifully presented and one of the best wedge salads they have ever tried. The chain's Crab Wedge has also received positive feedback from diners, with one reviewer describing it as perfect and yet another diner commenting: "This is a must have!!! Loads of fresh lump crab meat and a delicious salad dressing." So long as you're a fan of seafood, this could easily land in your culinary favorites.

To create a roundup that ranks some of the best and worst wedge salads at chain restaurants, we carefully collected and examined customer reviews from popular online review platforms and social media, including Yelp, Facebook, and DoorDash. We also took note of reviews that were especially detailed and took outlier reviews (both good and bad) into account when assembling this ranking.