Chain Restaurant Drinks You Should Never Order

We all have a special place in our heart for chain restaurants. Sometimes you just really crave that one meal from your favorite chain, and you know that any location you go to it will most likely taste exactly the same. We know that a lot of chains don't necessarily have the freshest ingredients, but there's a time and a place for everything, right?

When it comes to drinks at chain restaurants — it can be the same situation as the food. Some restaurants have made a huge fan following over their drinks, like Texas Roadhouse's Legendary Margaritas, or Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee. Others offer a sad attempt at popular cocktails, teas, mocktails, or soda concoctions.

Many drinks at chains are made with premixed ingredients, have odd flavor combinations, or are filled with so much sugar you may as well have gone to a candy shop instead. However, people keep going back because the prices are cheap, and the lore of the drinks with the detailed pictures on the menu or social media ads draw them in. Some drinks at these chains can be 100% worth it, and others — not so much. We're going to cover the drinks that you should never order. Whether it's because of the taste or the unhealthy ingredients, we've learned there isn't a time and a place for some of these drinks.

Many people love to have a tasty drink with their meal, and it doesn't have to be alcoholic. Chili's offers many drink options, like soda, iced teas, a giant list of mocktails, smoothies, and lemonades. With so many options, we want to make sure that you stay away from the strawberry lemonade.

When you're getting a drink at a restaurant, the source of the ingredients is often murky. With mom-and-pop shops or restaurants that aren't chains, you can assume that most of the ingredients are made from scratch. So, when ordering a lemonade out, most people are hoping for something that is actually freshly squeezed from a lemon. That's not the case for Chili's lemonade.

According to a Chili's employee on Reddit, the strawberry lemonade is actually made from Minute Maid lemonade mixed with thawed strawberry purée. Not only is the lemonade itself not fresh, but the strawberry isn't either — and both have tons of sugar. One TikToker who claims to be a lemonade expert went to try out the drink, and was upset to find out that it was just Minute Maid lemonade masked as a nicer-looking mixture.

The drink itself also has 240 calories in a cup, which is 12% of the daily recommended calories for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet. That's a lot of calories to take in for just one beverage. If you love fresh-squeezed lemonade with fruit in it, Chili's lemonade isn't for you.

Margaritas are a universally loved cocktail, and they're generally easy to make. However, we've all had a bad margarita here or there. They are generally made with a few simple ingredients: tequila, lime juice, triple sec, and agave. It's common for chain restaurants to make a premix for their margaritas, which are made with more processed ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, citric acid, and other ingredients to preserve flavor.

People do love Chili's regular margaritas — which we can tell from the number of margaritas the Chili's sells each year. The Presidente margarita has been sold since 1994, and it was released that Chili's sells over 135,000 gallons worth of it each year. Unfortunately, the frozen margarita doesn't stack up.

One Chili's employee on Reddit shared that although the ingredients for the margaritas on the rocks are the same for the frozen ones, the tastes just don't compare. Chili's does use a margarita machine, so the frozen concoction is kept in the machine in large batches — meaning that your frozen margarita can sit in the machine for days before you drink it. The worker also commented that in his two years working there, he had never seen the margarita machine be cleaned.

Another customer, Kyle Kershner, shared with us, "They taste sort of chemical-y. Like, it doesn't really have that fresh lime or crisp tequila flavors that other frozen margs have. It left a bad taste in my mouth."

Applebee's is another tried-and-true chain that many people adore. The chicken wings, french fries, and lava cake never fail. What also never fail are the cheap prices — especially for drinks. Even in New York City, where a mixed cocktail is averaged to be about $18-20, people can head to Applebees and get a cocktail for $10-$15, and sometimes even cheaper when it offers specials.

If you haven't heard of Applebee's Shark Bowl, buckle up. It's a bright blue frozen cocktail that admittedly looks fairly appetizing in photos. It's made with Captain Morgan spiced rum and "tropical fruit flavors." Applebee's doesn't reveal exactly what gives the drink its fruit flavors or the bright blue coloring. The drink is also topped with a large gummy shark.

According to a survey conducted by us here at Mashed, 28% of participants said that Applebee's didn't have a great drink menu. For the shark bowl, people have commented that the drink didn't have much alcohol in it, which is interesting considering the other ingredients besides the alcohol aren't listed in the description. So what is it exactly that you're drinking?

Sugar is the answer. This one drink has 610 calories in it, with 116 grams of total sugar. That is over double the recommended daily amount from the FDA. We're not sure that the amount of sugar is worth it for a frozen cocktail that doesn't even have much alcohol.

Dunkin' Donuts is known to be many Americans go-to for a quick pick-me-up. It's a dependable chain that can keep you caffeinated and energized for a fairly low price, and has so many locations that it's easy to stop by on your way to work or while running errands.

Besides donuts, we know that Dunkin' specializes in drinks. It's mostly famous for its iced coffee. Dunkin' also offers menu items for people that don't drink coffee, but still want their daily dose of caffeine. There are multiple tea options on the menu, and now there are energy drinks.

The SPARKD' Energy drink is made from Dunkin's own recipe. With a base of sparkling water and flavored syrup for whichever flavor you choose, there is also taurine, guarana seed blend, and many other ingredients mixed in. Unfortunately, the drink isn't as much of a hit as the company might have hoped.

One customer, Abby Matsusaka, shared with us, "I can handle energy drinks well, but the Dunkin' SPARKD' energy drinks make me feel sick every single time. They taste as if you took the worst parts of Four Loko and stuck it in a cup." Reddit users lamented that the drink is overall very artificial and sugary tasting, and lacked any sort of good flavor.

Margaritaville was originally inspired by Jimmy Buffet's famous song. Now with tons of restaurants around the country, including a giant location in Times Square as well as a cruise ship, it's a very popular and fun restaurant to experience.

Unfortunately, we can't say that the margaritas are worth it. One Reddit thread laments the disappointment in the margaritas by multiple customers. People feel that the tequila that the restaurant uses plus the pre-made mix are cheap and low-quality. One user even said, "It confuses me every time how a company literally built from a song about margaritas would not spend more time making a top-tier margarita."

I myself have tasted the margaritas at Margaritaville, and I'm sad to say that I agree with the people in the Reddit thread. As a college student, I enjoyed them for the cheap prices you'd get if you ordered a pitcher matched with the lively atmosphere to enjoy them in. As someone who has tasted delicious, real margaritas in Mexico, I realize that they just aren't good. The mix is a bit thick, and the citrus and sugar almost hurts your throat going down. A margarita should be crisp and refreshing, and I can't say that Margaritaville's margs fit that description.

You don't always need to get an alcoholic drink at Applebee's, even if its prices are very tempting. There are many other options like different flavored lemonades, iced teas, milk shakes, sodas, and smoothies.

Applebee's has fruit smoothies which are made with "natural" ingredients, according to its site. You can choose from strawberry, banana, mango, or piña colada flavors. There are also the smoothie swirls, which come in strawberry mango and strawberry colada flavors.

Some might think that opting for a fruit smoothie over a soda or other sweet drink is a healthier, better option — however, that's not the case for Applebee's strawberry colada smoothie swirl. There are 470 calories in the drink and 93 grams of sugar. It's not clear whether the sugar is coming straight from the fruit itself, or if it is a purée mixture with added sugars. Either way, consuming 93 grams of sugar especially in one sitting is not optimal for your health.

The smoothie also contains 8 total grams of fat, 6 of which are saturated. This may surprise some people to see that fat count in a fruit smoothie. Unfortunately, that 6 grams of saturated fat is 30% of the FDA's recommended amount for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet. Is the sugar and saturated fat worth it for this smoothie drink? That's for you to decide.

TGI Friday's is another popular restaurant that has great happy hour prices and a large variety of options on the menu. It's particularly popular for people who are traveling, as there are many locations in airports and hotels.

TGI Friday's has many signature cocktails , with some that are similar to classic drinks that you'd see at other establishments — like margaritas or Mai Tais — and others are less common. That brings us to TGI Friday's Cotton Candy Cosmo. This drink starts with a glass filled with cotton candy, and the server pours a mixture of Skyy Vodka, cranberry, and pineapple juice over the top of it.

For someone who enjoys a lot of sugar, this might be right up their alley. Cotton candy itself is made from pure sugar, and when you start with a glass full of that and top it with other sugary fruit mixes, it's a recipe for not-so-great health. A server on Reddit also shared that the drink was constantly making everything sticky, and they hated making it for the guests.

I personally have tasted the Cotton Candy Cosmo, and didn't think that it was worth the extra sugar in my diet. The cotton candy left an unpleasant grainy texture within the drink, and the cranberry and pineapple juice mixed with the pure sugar didn't set well in my stomach. I wouldn't recommend this drink to a friend, that's for sure.

McDonald's coffee has recently been winning customers over, with delicious flavors at a cheap price point. Many people opt to go through the drive-thru when they need a caffeinated boost during their day, and we don't blame them. However, for the people who don't enjoy coffee, the sweet tea might not be the best alternative.

One customer, John Tetley-Jones, was extremely taken aback when first tasting the drink, sharing with us, "I was so surprised when I tasted McDonald's sweet tea. I thought it was gonna taste nice and refreshing, and I gagged. It was like drinking straight simple syrup."

Looking at the ingredients for the sweet tea, we could see why Jones was turned off by the taste and texture. It's made with medium invert sugar, which has a more syrupy consistency that dissolves in the tea better than actual sugar. Reddit users commented that the consistency is a bit thick for the beverage, making the tea taste less refreshing than it should.

Many people go to Olive Garden to immerse themselves in the full Italian-style atmosphere. For most, that includes a delicious pairing of wine to go with your pasta, but we're not going to yuck anyone's yum if they want to opt for a cocktail. Luckily, Olive Garden does have an extensive cocktail menu, all of which are "Italian inspired."

The Blue Amalfi cocktail, which is inspired by the beautiful coastal towns of the Amalfi coast in Italy, is a vodka-based cocktail. It's made with blue curaçao — which gives the drink a fun and vibrant blue color — mixed with lemonade, and New Amsterdam vodka.

The Daily Meal tasted each cocktail on Olive Garden's menu, and offered a thorough ranking of the beverages. Unfortunately, the Blue Amalfi cocktail was ranked the worst on the menu. Because it's quite a simple recipe, the cocktail seems to lack any depth or interesting flavor profiles. The sour and tart properties of the lemonade overwhelm the taste, and unfortunately it just doesn't stack up to the rest of the cocktail offerings on the menu.

The Cheesecake Factory is known for famously having one of the largest menus known to man. It has just about everything you want — including drinks. Besides the usual alcoholic beverages, there are also many delicious mocktails or non alcoholic options to choose from.

There are tea options, punches, lemonades, and other mixtures that create aesthetically pleasing mocktails. On one visit to The Cheesecake Factory, I ordered the Passion Mint Fizz, and was less than impressed. It's a simple recipe, made with passion fruit, agave, fresh mint, and soda. It has a nice yellow hue to it and the fresh mint makes it look very fancy.

I had expected the drink to be refreshing, a tad sweet, and enjoyable. Instead, I found that the flavors didn't quite mix together well. Overall, the drink was very sour-tasting. The agave didn't quite balance out the passion fruit enough, and because of that, the mint felt out of place with such a sour drink. If it was a tad sweeter, it might have been a bit more refreshing and gentle on the tastebuds.

One Yelp reviewer also felt it was too sour: "We ordered the Passion Mint Fizz and the Citrus Sparkler. The sparkler was delicious and refreshing. The mint fizz was nice with the presentation but was way too sour for us."

Moving on over to the cocktail menu for The Cheesecake Factory — there are many delicious options, and some that don't make the cut. Overall, the cocktails are very classic and distinguished, compared to other chains that have gimmicky, cheesy drinks.

At first glance, the Georgia Peach cocktail looks incredibly appealing. It has a deep orange color on the bottom and slowly gets lighter as it goes up, almost looking like a frozen tequila sunrise. It's made with Skyy Vodka, peach liqueur, blended peaches, and raspberries.

It seems that the general consensus for this drink is that the taste doesn't live up to how the drink looks visually. Customers have reported that the drink wasn't strong enough, and tasted nonalcoholic. It actually has the opposite problem that the Passion Mint Fizz has – it lacks a sourness that could add some depth to the drink. Overall, it's very sweet. Especially with how large the serving is, it's not very enjoyable to drink that much of something that is overloaded with one flavor profile.

When deciding which drinks weren't worth ordering at many popular chain restaurants, we considered a few things. First and foremost, taste is the ultimate indicator. Through customer reviews on Reddit, Yelp, and Google Maps, to personal experience, we were able to narrow down which drinks weren't appealing to the customers. We want our readers to enjoy what they eat and drink, but we also considered health factors as well, highlighting any unusually high sugar counts in these drinks.

Static Media owns and operates The Daily Meal and Mashed.