8 Chain Restaurant Shrimp Baskets, Ranked Worst To Best

As Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in "Forrest Gump" so astutely points out, "Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it." And he's absolutely right. The list goes on and on. Shrimp is beloved for its versatility and ability to soak up any flavor like the tide. And one of the very best preparation methods of all, as Mr. Gump's army pal goes on to mention, is frying.

There's just something about fried seafood. It sits at the intersection of comfort food and more adventurous eating — a kind of gateway meal to the vast world of oceanic cuisine. It sits in crispy, golden breading just like fried chicken, yet offers more flair and the salt-kissed taste of the coast. The best part about something like fried shrimp, though, is that you don't actually have to be situated in a seaside town to experience it. Chain restaurants come to the rescue in order to provide us with this maritime delicacy — even in the most landlocked of states. They can't give you that same plucked-off-the-boat-this-morning freshness as the shack at the marina, but they can satisfy that crunchy craving. It's the most convenient way to tap into that coastal charm. 

With that in mind, I recently reeled in eight different fried shrimp baskets from popular chains. Each one promises crisp, flavorful breading filled with succulent seafood and paired with the usual cast of sides and sauces. But I let the food speak for itself and ranked each offering from worst to best.

When I think of Applebee's menu selections, my mind doesn't automatically wander to seafood. I think of classic American grub like hamburgers, saucy boneless wings, and riblets. But in an effort to appeal to the largest number of taste buds possible, the neighborhood chain also tries its hand at a few maritime favorites. A plateful of double crunch shrimp happens to make the list.

It's a full-blown meal. So, alongside my battered shrimp, I also received classic fries, a cup of coleslaw, a lemon wedge, and a giant helping of tartar sauce. The shrimp is certainly crunchy, I'll give it that. Whatever double-fry method the chain is using is doing its job. But that's just about where my compliments run out. It feels like the whole meal was thrown together without much thought. The way it looks is that multiple shrimp were stuck together when frozen, and then no one bothered to pull them apart before they underwent the battering and frying process. On top of that, the outer breading layer has minimal flavor — not even a sprinkle of salt or pepper — and the shrimp inside leaned more rubbery, as though they had been overcooked.

I've always liked Applebee's fries. Something about the pairing of skin-on and a peppery seasoning is nostalgic. I also didn't mind the herb-forward tartar sauce. But neither did enough to change how I felt about the shrimp itself. This basket quickly sank to the bottom of my list.

Long John Silver's has never been a regular spot in my restaurant rotation — much to my mother's dismay, who used to throw the name out every chance she got during our weekly "what should we have for dinner" discussions. However, I do know that it's one of the biggest names in fast food seafood with the largest selection of fish. So, I knew I'd be remiss not to include it.

The chain does cast a wide net in terms of its menu. Its selection of seafood meals for 1, platters for 1, and baskets for 1 was enough to drive me up the wall (aren't those all just the same thing at the end of the day?). Once I got my bearings, I finally ended up requesting an 8-piece order of shrimp. Normally, it comes in a meal format featuring hushpuppies and sides. However, I think something went wrong, because I ended up with six shrimp and no sides. No matter, though, because the shrimp was the piece I was most interested in, and as it turns out, I wouldn't have wanted more anyway.

These shrimp are salty and greasy to the max — not in a crave-able fast food way, but in a way that made them feel heavy in your stomach even after just one or two. The meat inside does have a more acceptable texture compared to the Applebee's double-fried crustaceans. Overall, though, it's not something I would return to Long John Silver's for. Sorry, mom.

Red Robin dishes out a generous amount of food with its crispy fried shrimp meal — a fact which cushions the blow of its inflated cost only slightly. I paid over $20 for everything you see here, from the shrimp and chips to the broccoli and sauces.

Like Applebee's, Red Robin was a wildcard in this taste test. Seafood isn't exactly what it's best known for, and after trying the shrimp, I think the chain might need to stay in its lane. Sure, it's a more passable shrimp offering than the previous two. But at the same time, it's really just glorified popcorn shrimp that could've come straight out of a store-bought box. Even though the chain claims to use a panko-style breading, the outside layer of the shrimp is very smooth and thick. It actually reminded me a lot of breading you would find surrounding a corn dog, with a mild sweetness to it and no added seasonings. The shrimp at the core remained intact, but it also made the breading mushy where the two brushed up against each other.

The sauces are a high point of the meal. Even though the tartar sauce was on the thinner side, it tasted distinctly of dill, and the thick cocktail sauce delivered a nice zest. So, the meal had some things going for it. It just didn't make me say "yummm" the same way one of Red Robin's gourmet burgers would.

If you're from the West Coast of the country and unfamiliar, Captain D's follows essentially the same takeout seafood concept as Long John Silver's. It's just situated primarily in the Midwest and Southeast. It's probably most well-known for its hand batter dipped fish, but other specialties like fried shrimp aren't forgotten.

The options on the menu include both popcorn shrimp and butterfly shrimp. I decided on the latter and opted for a simple 5-count rather than a complete meal with two sides and hushpuppies. I'm glad this chain offers this smaller portion as an option for less hungry folk — or those who want to tack shrimp onto a different kind of nautical meal.

The shrimp has a decent crunch and classic fried shrimp flavor. It feels like it's decent quality shrimp and has a solid breading to match, which is more than I can say for any of the offerings I've tried thus far. Where I think it could improve is with a touch more flavor in the breading. Maybe it's a me problem, since I tend to equate butterfly shrimp with coconut shrimp, which is bolstered by a rush of sweet flavors. But I still think this basket could benefit from a little flair to make the mild taste of fish and bread more intriguing. That task could also fall to the cocktail sauce, although that's mediocre, as well. It gets the job done, but it tastes like nothing more than generic bottled cocktail sauce.

The term "jumbo shrimp" may be an oxymoron. But that doesn't make the dish any less appealing. Who wouldn't want an enlarged version of those briny, juicy crustaceans? After all, it adds up to more meat and more seaside flavor. Even though it's just for a limited time each year, Culver's does offer its own version of this old-school favorite. The shrimp is butterflied, lightly breaded, and joined by a choice of sides, cocktail sauce, a dinner roll, and lemon wedges for garnishing. You can ask for it in a 6-piece or upgrade to a 10-piece if you're feeling extra hungry. 

In my own 6-piece, the size of the shrimp didn't blow other "regular" size options out of the water. But they turned out to be solid shrimp. Flavor-wise, they hold up well from breading to meat, and each piece is flattened just enough that you get the right balance of crunch and meat in the same bite. One small note is that while I do like the crumblier, rougher breading, it does lean a little dry. You'll want a light scoop of cocktail sauce to go with them. Luckily, Culver's offers one that's pretty good: sweet and zesty with just enough get-up-and-go. Pair this with some crisp crinkle-cut fries, and it makes for a solid meal, though I'd probably skip the roll, which feels like a simple patty-less hamburger bun.

I don't think you'd be disappointed with these. But there are a few more flavorful and well-made options out there.

Seafood season is fleeting at Popeyes. The chain typically only tests out these waters for a few months out of the year — usually during Lent — and I happened to stop by at just the right time to snag one of its shrimp tackle boxes. The star of the box is butterfly shrimp, which are seasoned with Louisiana spice and covered in the chain's proprietary Southern breading. They're also joined by a biscuit, a side of your choice (I picked Cajun fries), and a sauce of your choice (I chose Creole cocktail sauce).

Considering it came from a drive-thru window, I was impressed by this meal. My shrimp were very much not butterflied but rather in their normal, curly-Q shape. However, I let that slide because of their taste. They have that same signature Popeyes greasiness and crunch to them that also defines the chain's chicken sandwiches and wings. You get that same spice and texture, but with the mildly sweet and succulent taste of shrimp underneath. It pairs well with the Creole cocktail sauce — which was really just standard cocktail sauce (I actually was hoping for more warm spice). Plus, Popeyes fries are always a crowd-pleaser. The biscuit was the only thing that felt out of place.

There were a couple other shrimp recipes on our list that felt fresher and more refined. But overall, not bad for a shrimp meal on the go.

Who is Walt? Apparently, his full name is Walt King, and he was among Red Lobster's very first employees. Clearly, he made an impression during his tenure at the chain and now will forever be remembered by a platter of fried shrimp served with cocktail sauce and a choice of side.

This is the kind of grown-up shrimp dinner I've been looking for. I was a bit hesitant at first while staring down at what seemed like a meager meal. The shrimp looked dry to me, and their butterflied cut made them look more like chicken pops than true shrimp. However, once I took a bite, all these aesthetic issues were forgotten. The shrimp is actually hand-breaded rather than battered. So, it's not quite as crisp as other offerings but has a light softness and a great natural taste to it — like a mix between breading and unsweetened corn bread. It protects the sizeable shrimp and keeps them moist and tender, making each bite just that much better than Popeyes' offering.

The restaurant could have stopped there, but instead, it rounds out the meal with equally satisfying fries and cocktail sauce. The spuds are seasoned with a blend of what seems like salt, pepper, and paprika for an extra oomph of flavor. Meanwhile, the cocktail sauce comes at the perfect consistency with just the right amount of sweetness, followed by a swift kick of horseradish. I'm a sucker for a good cocktail sauce, and this is one of the best I came across.

Cracker Barrel's version feels like the most classic take on fried shrimp. Cooked well and garnering no complaints from me, it even beats out Walt's namesake platter from Red Lobster.

Of course, the ol' country restaurant throws in all your standard fixin's. Its country fried shrimp dinner comes with hushpuppies, cocktail sauce, and two sides (although, there's a three-side option, as well). I stuck with tradition and picked out an obligatory side of fries and coleslaw — even though specialty picks like the hashbrown casserole and bacon macaroni and cheese called out to me. The shrimp don't try to be anything overly fancy. They aren't butterflied, and they don't come in a jumbo size, but they stand out because of that buttermilk breading. It's just thick enough to deliver a quintessential crunch with a homestyle feel and a peppery finish. It's arguably the best breading yet, and it surrounds slightly snappy, good-quality shrimp.

On the other side of the platter, the fries are thick-cut with fluffy, potato-forward interiors. These aren't always my favorite style of fry (I tend to prefer thin, shoestring fries), but they're a great fit in this specific scenario. And for dipping, even though the cocktail sauce leans a bit thin, it still comes through with an extra sharp tang. Altogether, Cracker Barrel delivers a dinner that's tasty, filling, and satisfying — the big fish of chain restaurant shrimp meals.

No matter where you live in the U.S., platters of fried shrimp are never too far from reach. They show up at both fast food joints and table service restaurants, and I was able to find eight total options here in my non-coastal town of Columbus, Ohio. I picked them all up to-go and brought them home to do a direct, side-by-side ranking. When given a choice of a side, I opted for fries first and coleslaw second, when needed. Most orders also came with the restaurant's own cocktail sauce recipe — sometimes tartar sauce, as well.

Since sides and sauces varied across the board, I focused my attention primarily on the fried shrimp itself. I looked for a crunchy, flavorful outer breading that lacked any kind of sogginess. On the inside, I wanted seafood that was tender and snappy rather than too soft or rubbery. From there, extras like a great, zippy cocktail sauce or a tasty helping of seasoned fries helped elevate the overall experience and make the shrimp stand out even more. 

I briefly considered elements like price in my evaluation, but it was ultimately not a determining factor in the rankings. I'm willing to dish out a little extra for a quality plate of seafood, and I'm sure others would agree.