I Tried 7 Denny's Classic Slams And Ranked Them Worst To Best

With over 1,500 locations worldwide (and a presence in every state but Delaware), it's highly probable that you've dined at a Denny's location in your life. If you haven't, then you might have seen the restaurant cameoed in a feature film as the setting for a memorable meal or a heated fight between customer and waitress (we're referring to "Five Easy Pieces," of course).

The diner is iconic, and so is its menu. It's full of popular items, particularly for breakfast, but none are quite as popular as its Slams. A tribute to the legendary home-run-hitting baseball player Hank Aaron, Denny's created its very first Original Grand Slam in 1977. Mimicking the four bases in baseball, it came with four items, including pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Apparently, it really knocked it out of the park — not only is it still around to this day, but it's now just one of a dozen Slams available to hungry patrons. 

With so many options to choose from, I recently set out to try seven of them myself. I ordered a diverse sample that spanned from waffle and French toast-centered Slams to a Fit Slam and, of course, the OG. I ranked them based on their assemblage of ingredients, how well they were prepared, and whether they achieved the kind of breakfast harmony diners are known for. No on-screen drama or fights with the waitress here, just seven slams and the pursuit of the ultimate Denny's breakfast.

I tend to bypass these kinds of "fit" or "better-for-you" breakfasts. Sure, it only adds up to about 400 calories (before the English muffin), but nutrition is not really my sole motivation when I eat at a diner like Denny's. I'm looking for filling comfort food, and that is far from what you get with the Fit Slam.

It comes with egg whites scrambled with spinach and grape tomatoes. Even in the picture online, the mixture doesn't look appealing — just like a clump of cottage cheese with veggies sticking out — and somehow, in reality, it looks even worse. The portion is small, the spinach is extra wilted, and the tomatoes carry no vibrancy. When I went to take a bite, it was soggy with next to no flavor. On the side, you get two slices of turkey bacon, which were much flatter and wider than the strips of regular bacon. They weren't crisp, despite their charring, and had a weird chemical or even chlorine-like taste to them. Yuck.

The English muffin and the fruit cup were the only good parts of the meal. Even though the muffin came unbuttered (of course), it was fluffy with a lightly toasted, yeasty flavor. The grapes, strawberries, and cantaloupe were all pleasantly fresh as well. However, neither the bread nor the fruit was enough to make up for the rest. Rather than a grand slam, this was a strikeout at the plate.

You can slam any way you want, but I personally think one of the best ways is by intermingling both sweet and savory onto one plate. That way, you get a little bit of everything, and all taste buds are happy and spoken for. There are plenty of options on the Denny's menu that cater to this breakfast approach, including the Waffle Slam.

The Waffle Slam is your classic eggs, meats, and sweets kind of morningtime meal. I ordered my two eggs scrambled and decided to go with a meat split, so I got two sausage links and two bacon strips (you can also do all bacon or all sausage, if you so wish). Even though it seemed like a small portion (maybe just one egg was used), the eggs had a good texture. The bacon was less enjoyable than the sausage in this case, since it was extremely dark and crunchy.

What I was most concerned with, though, was the two waffles. In a Liège style (which differs from Brussels waffles), they're made with real butter and are caramelized with pearl sugar. That means they have a harder exterior and a rich, brioche-like interior. Once you get used to the density and the heightened sugary sweetness — elevated further by a dusting of powdered sugar — you see that they are quite indulgent and delicious. The thing is, I think the chain's French toast and pancakes are just a little bit better.

This Slam is the ultimate tongue twister — there are far too many Ps baked into the title for anyone to spit out their order successfully on the first try. Luckily, for right now, you could also just say you want "the new Slam" to save yourself some trouble.

Denny's released the Cinnamon Apple Crisp Pancake Slam at the end of October 2025 to kick off the holiday season. It was also joined by a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer pancake that comes a la carte or as part of a different Slam. The cinnamon apple pancakes come with all the works, including warm apple crisp, caramel sauce, cinnamon crumb topping, and powdered sugar — this is what happens when apple pie meets pancakes. You get that gooey pie filling with sweet and sour green apples plopped on top of two fresh cinnamon-laced hotcakes. Crunchy granules of cinnamon sugar also add a bit of texture to the mix. It's unbelievably sweet and rich ... almost too sweet and rich; it goes overboard on the toppings. While I could see other people really liking this one, I'd rather have a stack of the chain's classic pancakes — or better yet, its famous cinnamon roll pancakes, which aren't quite as elaborate.

We started with the main attraction, but there is more to this meal. It also comes with two eggs any style (I chose sunny-side up), potatoes (I chose hash browns), and two pieces of breakfast meat (I chose two bacon slices). All were cooked surprisingly well.

I'm not entirely convinced that these are multigrain wheat, plant-based pancakes, as the description says they are. They seem more like the chain's standard buttermilk pancakes with some flaxseeds, cinnamon, and sugar tossed in for good measure. But hey, I'm not complaining because they're undeniably delish. Each of the two pancakes included in the meal is as big as my head, and they're laced with hints of vanilla and a dash of warm spice. Even without extra butter or a drizzle of syrup, they're tasty — a fact that made me even more suspicious of their supposed "multigrain" makeup.

Keeping up with the plant-based schtick, there are no eggs or breakfast meat included in this Slam. I understand the reasoning here, but I also think this was a detriment to the meal. Without these proteins, you're left with a side of seasonal fruit and potatoes. So essentially, you have just sugar and carbs filling your plate. I also made the mistake of ordering the chain's seasoned red skin potatoes instead of the hash browns. They weren't crisp, and even worse, I don't think they were seasoned either, not even a little bit. Do yourself a favor and always opt for the hash browns at Denny's. Just do it.

The Slam makes it as far as it does in the taste test, above the treacly cinnamon apple flapjacks, solely because of the naturally scrumptious pancakes. I would have rather ordered them a la carte and ditched the rest.

The balance of the French Toast Slam automatically pulled it above the plant-based platter. Well, that, and the fact that Denny's French toast is one of the best things on the menu. The breakfast comes with three circular slices of the toast, and they're brioche, so they're cut nice and thick. They have a light and welcome egginess to them, matched with doughiness on the inside and a sweet vanilla flavor. It truly is French toast at its finest, and it gets even better when you load it up with berries and cream filling (which we'll get to in a minute).

On the savory side of this meal, you get two eggs cooked to your liking and a double helping of meat, which you can mix and match. I ended up ordering my eggs sunny-side up, and was surprised yet again by their quality. They were lightly buttery with intact yolks and exhibited great flavor despite a lack of either salt or pepper. The chef behind the scenes was really on it the day I visited. For meat, I went with turkey bacon — a choice I made before the Fit Slam debacle, when I realized I did not prefer it. If rule #1 at Denny's is always get the hash browns, then rule #2 is to avoid the turkey bacon.

Even with the turkey bacon dragging it down, this turned out to be one of the best Slams I tried. With a little protein and a really great centerpiece, a meal can go further than you think.

It's the Slam that started it all. And after giving it a try, I now understand why it inspired an entire line of multi-part breakfast meals. It keeps things simple with two eggs, two slices of bacon, two sausage links, and two buttermilk pancakes. But sometimes simple is all you need to fuel your day — especially when it's simple done well.

Even though they don't look overly impressive — a bit mangled in a pale hue — these pancakes are exactly what you would want from a diner-style stack. They're rich, fluffy, and buttery with subtle hints of vanilla throughout. They soak up a cascade of syrup with ease and hold their shape without ever becoming too soggy. You can always deck them out with chocolate and bananas or a helping of berries, but you really don't even need adornments. With the hotcakes front and center, the eggs are really just there to support. I ordered mine scrambled and ended up with a small yet soft and airy clump. The all-pork sausage was juicy, and the Applewood-smoked bacon was crisp with a level amount of greasiness and fat — I even got a bonus half slice in my tray.

The OG Slam has been around for nearly 50 years, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. Straightforward yet reliable, it's still one of the best things on the menu, and one of the best Slams. There was only one gussied-up plate of French toast that I found to be even more crave-worthy.

Before raving about my favorite Slam, I have to mention my appreciation for Denny's to-go containers. They're a small feat of engineering. Essentially, they are standard plastic containers, but they come with a separate tray in the middle that holds the sweet items like French toast or pancakes to keep them separate from the other components like eggs and breakfast meat. Perhaps I'm easily impressed. However, I love this double-decker idea, and it's one that I hadn't seen before at other restaurants. So kudos to you, Denny's. Thank you for your ingenuity.

Now, onto the Berry-Stuffed French Toast Slam. This is one you don't want to miss. Denny's brioche French toast is already good all by itself. Then you stuff a sweet cream cheese-like filling between two slices and top it all with a strawberry pie filling, and it's just unfair to the other Slams. The combination is like a cross between strawberry cheesecake and a plate of French toast, yet it doesn't feel excessively sweet or heavy. Plus, you still get your savory automatically baked into the meal in the form of eggs and meats. This time around, I ordered my eggs over easy and ditched any kind of bacon for four all-pork sausage links. All were well-prepared — as per usual — and they helped to make the meal feel complete and more wholesome. Aside from the eggs, you may not get a lot of health value from this breakfast, but it's a well-rounded indulgence that will make your soul and stomach happy.

For this ranking, I ordered a large portion of the Slams on Denny's menu — seven out of the 12 listed. I made sure to choose a good variety so I could get a taste of the chain's pancakes, French toast, and waffles. I intentionally skipped options that repeated components or simply added more or less of the same items, like the Everyday Value Slam or the Lumberjack Slam. I ordered all seven to-go and tried them as soon as I got home, so they were still warm and fresh.

As for judging and ranking, I started by looking at what was included in each breakfast. Most Slams came with eggs and some kind of meat, and I appreciated how these additions helped balance the sweet and savory elements. In contrast, the Plant-Based Pancake Slam felt like it was missing something without a true protein component to round it out.

From there, I evaluated the taste of each part of the meal. How well each item was cooked played a big role in the final flavor. For the most part, components were prepared well, with the exception of a few strips of turkey bacon and a lump of mushy egg whites. ​​So, what ended up being most important was how well each meal flowed together, and really a taste preference between pancakes, French toast, and waffles. Denny's does all three well, but the French toast and plain pancakes stood out the most. Paired with solid supporting side dishes, those were the Slams that truly hit it out of the park.