Our Least Favorite Gluten-Free Menu Item From Maggiano's Is A Letdown In More Ways Than One

When you're on the hunt for Italian-American cuisine, Chicago-born Maggiano's is likely one of the many chain restaurants that immediately springs to mind. But what if you are gluten-free? No worries! Maggiano's has its own extensive, gluten-free menu, which is packed with tons of classic dishes, including salads, pastas, steak, and fish. Unfortunately, not all of them won us over. When Tasting Table tried and ranked every item from Maggiano's gluten-free menu, we found that the popular chain restaurant's gluten-free take on a traditional Chicken Parmesan recipe missed the mark. 

While the chicken in "The Grand" Chicken Parmesan was nicely tender, juicy, and had a pleasingly smoky taste thanks to being grilled, it was also woefully under-seasoned and, even worse, missing the crunchy crust that is so indicative of this dish. The mozzarella cheese was also lacking, with a mild flavor that only added to the blandness of the chicken. Likewise, the expected crunch was absent since the chicken wasn't fried. If there was a saving grace, it was this dish's gluten-free fusilli pasta, which was plentiful, cooked to perfection, and complemented the accompanying sauce well. 

Maggiano's gluten-free "The Grand" Chicken Parmesan gets no complaints for its large portion size, which results in plenty of leftovers for those eager to enjoy it at home later, but many other customers agreed with our take on this classic dish. More specifically, reviews on Find Me Gluten Free complained that their Chicken Parmesan was improperly cooked. "The fusilli was a bit undercooked and the chicken overcooked and tough," one such person wrote. Another said, "chicken had an artificial grill flavor. It was good but not great just wish they'd have gf bread," while a third agreed the dish was merely passable.

Although the popular Italian-American chain restaurant may have missed the mark with its gluten-free Chicken Parmesan, its classic shrimp scampi was deemed Maggiano's best gluten-free menu item due to its tender and well-seasoned shrimp, which soaked up just enough of the sauce to be delectable but not sickening. Also ranking at the top of our list were Maggiano's signature salad and filet mignon, both of which thoroughly impressed us.