{"id":4983,"date":"2026-04-08T13:52:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/4983\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:52:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:52:42","slug":"11-italian-chain-restaurants-that-are-still-worth-your-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/4983\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Italian Chain Restaurants That Are Still Worth Your Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

Eddie F. \/ Yelp<\/p>\n

Americanized Italian food is huge in the United States, and Italian chain restaurants in America have played a big role in that. A lot of us have been eating spaghetti and meatballs from these spots since we were kids, and that culture isn\u2019t going anywhere any time soon. Whose breadsticks are better than the ones at Olive Garden? Which of the most popular Italian fast food chains are worth a visit? Let\u2019s find out.<\/p>\n

Il Fornaio\"an<\/p>\n

Il Fornaio\/Yelp<\/p>\n

Il Fornaio<\/a>\u00a0prides itself on delivering food that\u2019s the closest to real Italian cuisine there is. Of course, it comes at a price. While not a land of family-friendly lasagna and chicken parm, it\u2019s worth every penny.<\/p>\n

Carbone\"A<\/p>\n

Donny P. \/ Yelp<\/p>\n

This is another upscale eatery. Carbone<\/a>\u00a0has a dress code (at least in Miami), but that\u2019s to prevent people from rolling in from the beach in shorts and flip-flops. The food more than makes up for it.<\/p>\n

Rosti\"A<\/p>\n

Susan F.\/Yelp<\/p>\n

For a small chain, Rosti<\/a> makes sure to deliver personal service with food praised as \u201camazing\u201d on the side. While not a place for the kids, grown-ups will love the thin-crust, wood-fired pizzas and brick-pressed chicken.<\/p>\n

Carrabba\u2019s Italian Grill\"Carrabba's<\/p>\n

Ildar Sagdejev \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

Carrabba\u2019s<\/a> seems to fancy itself as one of the more traditional Italian restaurants in this race, serving what started as Sicilian family recipes. Chicken Bryan (grilled chicken dish topped with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes) is hugely popular at Carrabba\u2019s, so yeah, fine, I\u2019ll give it a try.<\/p>\n

Bertucci\u2019s\"Bertucci's\"<\/p>\n

Bertucci\u2019s\/Yelp<\/p>\n

Sitting at 23 locations throughout New England and along the East Coast, Bertucci\u2019s<\/a> is popular within its region. Unlike a lot of the chains which focus mainly on pasta, Bertucci\u2019s has an extensive brick-oven pizza menu. I\u2019ve never been, but I have to admit that I\u2019m intrigued. Calzones are an unreasonably aggressive food, and I have a deep, shameful love for them. I\u2019ll have to try Bertucci\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Biaggi\u2019s\"a<\/p>\n

Henry T.\/Yelp<\/p>\n

Biaggi\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0can be found\u00a0throughout Illinois, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin for fresh, authentic Italian food. There are even gluten-free options for those avoiding the stuff.<\/p>\n

Romano\u2019s Macaroni Grill\"Romano's<\/p>\n

Ken Wolter\/shutterstock<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll find Romano\u2019s Macaroni Grill<\/a> in 13 different states, serving just about the same fare as your typical Italian restaurant. There\u2019s more of an expanded non-pasta section at Romano\u2019s, offering chicken scaloppine and shrimp Portofino, but that\u2019s not the most jarring part. Under the pasta section, you\u2019ll see Mama\u2019s Trio, which might sound like three types of pasta. It\u2019s not. It\u2019s chicken parm, lasagna bolognese, and fettuccine Alfredo. That\u2019s quite the trio, Mama. I\u2019m not sure I have what it takes to tackle that trio. Frankly, I\u2019m worried about anybody who does.<\/p>\n

Maggiano\u2019s Little Italy\"A<\/p>\n

Maggiano\u2019s Little Italy<\/p>\n

Like many of these places, family-style dining is available at Maggiano\u2019s<\/a>, which offers traditional Italian cuisine. You\u2019ll find classics like ravioli and chicken parm, but there are a few more exciting hits as well. Steak and osso bucco are fun additions to the menu, and even lobster carbonara found its way on there. I\u2019m OK with Maggiano\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Olive Garden\"Olive<\/p>\n

OliveGarden\/facebook<\/p>\n

With just about 900 locations, the place is impossible to avoid<\/a>, no matter where you are. The Garden\u2019s infamous Never Ending Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks move remains one of the best chain restaurant deals you can find. This was a champion meal when I was a broke college kid. Is the food good? No, no way. You\u2019re there for the pageantry of the place. And maybe a couple thousand breadsticks.<\/p>\n

Spaghetti Warehouse\"The<\/p>\n

Valerie H.\/yelp.com<\/p>\n

It may not be best practice to name your place of food service after a building that\u2019s famously dirty, dark, and home to suspicious activity, but there\u2019s a lot on the Spaghetti Warehouse<\/a> menu that piques my interest. There\u2019s some 15-layer lasagna, which is good because you and I simply will not eat lasagna with 14 or fewer layers. The Warehouse is slinging its very own version of the Olive Garden\u2019s unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks deal. Seems silly to miss that one.<\/p>\n

The Old Spaghetti Factory\"The<\/p>\n

oldspaghettifactory\/facebook.com<\/p>\n

Though the name of this restaurant<\/a> isn\u2019t too much better than Spaghetti Warehouse in my eyes, we\u2019ve got another menu full of interesting surprises.\u00a0Jumbo crab ravioli sounds like a delight, and as a lover of value, I appreciate the three-course pre-fixe option. My personal favorite? Spaghetti Vesuvius, a pasta dish that features chicken, sausage, diced meatballs, green peppers, onions, Tabasco sauce, and sambal chili paste. It feels odd to name a dish at your Italian restaurant after one of the most devastating events in Italian history, but I\u2019m here for it.<\/p>\n

More From Cheapism\"Hands<\/p>\n

Pappas Bland\/EyeEm\/Getty<\/p>\n

The Best Burrito in Every State <\/a>\u2014 From hidden gems to local legends, these top-rated burritos across the country prove that incredible, flavor-packed wraps are waiting in every corner of the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eddie F. \/ Yelp Americanized Italian food is huge in the United States, and Italian chain restaurants in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3687,3685,3686,3688,246,5,3684,3690,3692,3689,3691],"class_list":{"0":"post-4983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-breadsticks","9":"tag-carrabbas-italian-grill","10":"tag-chicken-parm","11":"tag-il-fornaio","12":"tag-italian-food","13":"tag-italy","14":"tag-olive-garden","15":"tag-romanos-macaroni-grill","16":"tag-spaghetti-and-meatballs","17":"tag-spaghetti-warehouse","18":"tag-yelp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}