7 Chain Restaurants Serving The Best Cake, According To Reviews

Indulging in a highly recommended chain restaurant dish is a treat, and springing for the dessert menu is a treat as well. This item is usually ordered when celebrating a birthday, another big occasion, or the end of a particularly long week. That's why each bite should be worth every penny. While many chain restaurants try to innovate this course with out-of-the-box ideas, most still leave room for cake.

Cake is a humble dessert made from pantry staples, and it can be transformed into many flavors and include many toppings. This makes it extremely customizable and a crowd-pleaser in most cases. Restaurants often offer cakes that reflect the restaurant's overall vibe. It's important to get the cake just right since it's the last course and the restaurant's last chance to make a good impression. Since many chain restaurants include cake on their menus, we're helping you narrow down your choices by sifting through the customer reviews and highlighting the cakes that receive unanimous praise. So, grab a fork and let's take a look at the seven chain restaurants serving the best cake. 

According to Tasting Table, the Black Tie Mousse Cake is one of the best desserts at Olive Garden, and customers also hold this cake in high regard. One reviewer on TikTok said this is a stand-out dessert because of its many layers. Here, Olive Garden proves that a good chocolate cake can incorporate ingredients that allow it to crossover with other staple desserts.

Chocolate cake gives this dessert a solid base that leads to a rich layer of dark chocolate cheesecake and a layer of custard mousse. One reviewer said the mousse goes well with the chocolate cake, and the middle cheesecake layer stops the cake from being too chocolatey. 

Its staple status is why one Redditor recommended this dessert to a first-time Olive Garden visitor, noting that asking for caramel drizzle with their slice adds an extra layer of flavor. Each bite of this Black Tie Mousse Cake lets you enjoy the cake, cheesecake, and mousse individually, especially since the cheesecake layer is made of dark chocolate. This distinction sets the layer apart from the traditional chocolate flavor in the bottom cake layer. The unique take on three different desserts offers an elevated cake and creates a unique yet familiar dining experience.  

The Cheesecake Factory has made a name for itself because of its many irresistible cheesecake flavors, but it reminds us it still has a knack for elevating classic dishes by serving up an unforgettable slice of carrot cake. Longtime fans of The Cheesecake Factory may remember Craig's Crazy Carrot Cake Cheesecake, which mixed the cheesecake and carrot cake batters into the same cake. This beloved item will never be replaced, but the chain restaurant serves up a worthy replacement. Its carrot cake is a moist cake packed with fruit, nuts, and carrot, with layers of thick cream cheese frosting. Of course, cream cheese frosting is an important component of any carrot cake, and one review said it isn't too tangy, so it creates a balanced flavor.

The nuts also get to shine as decorations for the side of the cake, which one food reviewer on TikTok says gives the cake an extra crunch. This presentation allows diners to taste the natural texture of the nuts, which is nice since nuts usually lose that crunchiness when incorporated into a cake layer. One Yelp reviewer noticed how the traditional carrot cake ingredients are thoughtfully incorporated; they pointed out the hint of spice doesn't overpower the rest of the cake, leading to a perfect blend of flavors in each bite. 

Some cake slices are so delicious they're worth sharing, and that's what customers are saying about P.F. Chang's The Great Wall of Chocolate. This chain restaurant brings modern versions of Asian dishes to the masses. There are many popular P.F. Chang's dishes, and many customers keep The Great Wall of Chocolate at the top of their dessert list.

This treat serves up six layers of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting sandwiched between each layer. Semi-sweet chocolate chips cover the side, giving people a different texture and level of chocolate that distinctly separates itself from the sponge cake. People enjoy the chocolate-on-chocolate-on-chocolate experience, which yields a rich chocolate cake enhanced by a creamy frosting.

If its richness sounds intimidating, blueberries and strawberries are included with each slice, and one TikTok reviewer said the fruit helps cut the richness. While fruit adds an extra layer of sweetness, its natural sugars bring a fresh element that breaks up the cake's intensity. The restaurant tries to enhance this fruit element with a raspberry sauce, which the reviewer was not a fan of. However, a Reddit comment offered a different opinion, saying the sauce is so good that they could drink it. Whether you put the sauce on or not, the cake itself offers a well-balanced, fudgy flavor for chocolate fans.

A strawberry shortcake can be a refreshing dessert because it offers light cream, an airy cake, and layers of fresh strawberries. LongHorn Steakhouse delivers the same flavors with its Strawberries & Cream Shortcake. 

Many strawberry shortcakes use a biscuit or angel food as their base, but LongHorn Steakhouse uses a sponge-style cake that some people enjoy for its moistness. Each layer of shortcake is sandwiched between strawberry jam and vanilla cream, which complements the cake's light texture. A TikTok food reviewer praised the cream layers while another person raved about the strawberry jam because of the richness it adds to the dessert. 

Of course, no shortcake is complete without fresh strawberries, and LongHorn Steakhouse delivers by sprinkling a good portion of strawberry slices around and on top of the cake, which helps cut the sweetness. It's a satisfying dessert that offers just the right amount of decadence. 

The Chocolate Tower at Outback Steakhouse is a massive treat for diners who are big fans of frosting and a rich take on the classic chocolate cake. This cake is made up of six layers of chocolate cake drenched in a raspberry sauce that some say adds an extra layer of richness.

The top of the cake has a giant layer of frosting some folks thoroughly enjoy. One reviewer said the cake offered a dense texture, possibly because the piece had been kept in a cooler. However, the cooler temperature didn't seem to take away from the overall flavor. While a dense texture may be welcoming to a chocolate lover, other reviewers said their piece was super fluffy and moist. The layers of chocolate icing between the chocolate cake layers add moisture to each bite. 

While the chocolate is the star, one person said the chocolate shavings and whipped cream are excellent toppings. The whipped cream adds an extra layer of creaminess that enhances the frosting. The chocolate shavings give you a taste of real, solid chocolate before sinking your teeth into the other forms of chocolate celebrated in this cake.

Red Lobster is known for its go-big-or-go-home style, including the well-known endless shrimp promotion. So, it's only right that its desserts would be as big as its entrees, and the Chocolate Wave doesn't disappoint as it ends each meal on a colossal chocolate note.

One reviewer considers this a dense multi-layer chocolate cake. This may be great for chocolate fans, but the reviewer noted it may be best served warm to enhance the texture of each layer. As if it wasn't enough to have multiple layers of chocolate, Red Lobster takes things a step further by coating the sides with chocolate chips, which add a chewy texture and extra depth as you work through the cake's sponginess. A reviewer on Instagram complimented the chocolate chips, saying they're the best part, which makes sense since they break up the cake's density. They believe the dense texture is partly due to the thick layer of fudge slathered on top. This adds some creaminess while reminding diners that dessert is best when you go all in.

The fudge is also inserted between each cake layer, making sure you get some fudge with your cake in every bite. A reviewer on Tripadvisor enjoyed the alternating layers and say the included ice cream makes the dessert better as it balances out the richness.

Some cakes offer big flavor in a big slice. California Pizza Kitchen takes a different approach by offering a medium-sized butter cake with a surprising amount of flavor. Diners will start by digging their spoons into a caramelized sugar crust that offers a satisfying crack and crunch before entering the cake. One food reviewer on TikTok said the cake melts in your mouth. This is important when you're enjoying a cake that has butter in its name. Despite its easy-to-eat nature, some Yelp reviews point out that this butter cake still maintains some density, making it a satisfying experience. These reviews also admire the cake's sweetness and said it's nicely complemented by the ice cream and whipped cream that sends this cake into over-the-top perfection. 

Häagen Dazs vanilla ice cream can also be purchased with this cake. One review on Yelp said the cake tastes so much better with the ice cream. Like the butter cake, Häagen Dazs is an indulgent treat, which is why it makes sense for California Pizza Kitchen to pair these two desserts together. 
If you want to try different toppings for your butter cake and ice cream, you can purchase the mini butter cake flight. The flight features three different toppings, including smoked bacon with maple. 

To create a list of the best chain restaurant cakes, we conducted thorough research that included identifying chain restaurants with a wide reach, meaning these names are well-known and can be located in several parts of the United States. We identified the restaurants that currently have cake on the menu, and then we went to customer reviews.

The cakes chosen for this list had more positive reviews than negative ones. The reviews offered detailed notes about texture, flavor, and the dessert's overall balance. Texture, balance, and the level of sweetness were major considerations as well. Toppings were also considered as to whether or not they help enhance the cake's overall taste. We also wanted to ensure that a wide variety of cake flavors were recognized in this list so any prospective diner could find a cake that closely aligns with their personal taste.