I TRIED MOZZARELLA STICKS FROM 3 CHAIN RESTAURANTS—ONE WAS SHOCKINGLY BETTER THAN THE REST

Mozzarella sticks are having a moment.

Scroll through TikTok or Reels for more than a few minutes, and you’ll almost certainly come across someone aggressively pulling apart a fried cheese stick while dramatic music plays in the background. Entire review accounts are now built around measuring cheese pulls. Restaurants seem fully aware that mozzarella sticks are no longer just an appetizer—it’s content.

A great mozzarella stick is one of the most satisfying foods on the planet: crispy breading, molten cheese, marinara sauce, and that perfect stretch when you pull it apart. When it is done right, it’s hard to beat.

To figure out which chain does it best, I ordered mozzarella sticks from Chili’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Applebee’s and ranked them.

3. Applebee’s

I wanted to like these more than I did.

At first glance, they looked promising. The exterior had a decent golden color and seemed crispy enough. Unfortunately, the first bite revealed the biggest issue: the cheese.

Instead of delivering the stretchy, molten center you want from a mozzarella stick, the cheese was slightly chewy and lacked the dramatic pull that, in 2026, somehow feels like the whole point. The breading was also noticeably softer than the competition. It wasn’t bad, exactly, but it never got crisp enough to create that ideal contrast with the cheese inside.

Then there’s the price. At around $18, these felt surprisingly expensive for what turned out to be a fairly average plate of fried cheese.

2. Buffalo Wild Wings

These are pretty much what you want from a mozzarella stick.

The breading was crispy and well-seasoned, with a solid crunch that still let the cheese stay perfectly melted inside. Even though they were smaller than some of the other sticks I tried, they still delivered a respectable cheese pull.

What Buffalo Wild Wings does especially well is consistency. Every stick felt almost exactly like the one before it, which might sound boring until you have had an order where every piece feels like a different product.

They’re not life-changing, but they are very good.

1. Chili’s

From the moment I pulled the first mozzarella stick apart, it was obvious Chili’s understood the assignment.

The cheese pull was absurd. This was the kind of stretch that would pull in a million views if somebody filmed it correctly. The mozzarella stayed hot, gooey, and fully molten throughout the meal, while the breading somehow stayed impressively crisp.

Then there’s the marinara sauce. Too many restaurants treat marinara like an afterthought, but Chili’s herb-forward version actually matters here. It’s flavorful enough to enhance the mozzarella sticks rather than just sit on the side.

Every component works. The breading is hot and crispy, the cheese is perfectly melted, and the marinara brings the acidity needed to balance all that richness.

In a moment where mozzarella sticks have somehow become one of the internet’s favorite foods, Chili’s isn’t just serving a good version. It’s serving the version.

2026-06-12T20:24:08Z