I ordered the same meal from Cracker Barrel and Denny's, and the cheaper chain served the best cheesecake I ever had

Denny's is a fast-casual restaurant with a setup to mirror most diners' simple and comforting atmospheres, including a 24-hour operating schedule. The diner-style chain has over 1,500 locations in the US and is best known for its classic American-style breakfast foods.

The Denny's I visited mainly had brown booths and chairs with an open view of its kitchen. Overall, the restaurant appeared welcoming to incoming customers.

Cracker Barrel specializes in Southern meals and comfort food at an affordable price and has about 660 locations in the US. Unlike Denny's, the restaurant offers customers the opportunity to shop Southern-themed goods, candy, and more in its stores.

The location I went to in Houston, Texas, had brown and yellow saloon-like furnishings throughout the restaurant. Since I ordered carryout, I visited the wide storefront in front of the dining area. I looked at clothing, candles, decor, and other household trinkets while I waited.

Though I didn't walk into this chain's dining area, I thought the store area oozed Southern hospitality.

I ordered Denny's country-fried steak and eggs meal with hash browns and white toast, Plate Lickin' chicken-fried chicken with red rustic mashed potatoes, brown gravy, and herb-glazed corn, and Everyday Value Slam with buttermilk pancakes, syrup, eggs, and crispy bacon. For dessert, I picked the New York-style cheesecake with a strawberry topping.

My meal at Denny's came out to $39.70.

I purchased Cracker Barrel's country-fried steak with a hash-brown casserole, chicken-fried chicken with corn, mashed potatoes, and brown gravy, and Momma's Pancake Breakfast with buttermilk pancakes, maple syrup, eggs, and crispy bacon. I got a mini strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

Though I ordered scrambled eggs with my country-fried steak, I got corn instead. Luckily, I ordered scrambled eggs with Momma's Pancake Breakfast so I was still able to compare both chain's eggs.

All of the food, including a side of biscuits and corn muffins to accompany the fried meals, came out to a total of $43.50.

I thought Denny's country-fried steak was super tasty and well-seasoned. The dish included two beef steaks smothered in gravy with the perfect amount of breading around the meat. They were fried just enough to not overwhelm the flavor of the steak, which I thought was appropriate since it was the main star of the dish.

However, I really didn't enjoy the country gravy. To me, there was a slight sourness to it that didn't mesh well with the steaks.

I also ordered scrambled eggs with the meal. I thought they were pretty good, especially with salt and pepper added on top. Unsurprisingly, the buttered toast was also tasty, though it quickly became soggy.

I've never been a fan of hash browns, but the ones from Denny's had a great potato flavor. The potato strings were nicely cooked with just enough of a golden-brown crisp on top.

Overall, I think the carb-heavy meal would certainly fill anyone up. The dish cost $13.

Cracker Barrel's country-fried steak seemed like it had a bit more seasoning and I thought the protein itself tasted a little better than Denny's.

The sawmill gravy was poured on top and, in my opinion, had a more savory, fresher taste than Denny's. The portion seemed the same size as the steak from Denny's, though the meal came with only one USDA Choice steak.

The hash-brown casserole came loaded with bacon and cheese, and the extra flavors helped to mask the typical hash-brown taste I usually don't like. It was a satisfying side.

The country-fried steak meal cost $14 at Cracker Barrel.

Denny's chicken-fried chicken came with two fried boneless breasts smothered in gravy. The chicken was well-cooked and had a great golden-brown look to it. I'm not usually a fan of fried chicken because I think it's a bit dry, but this dish tasted great.

I felt like the gravy, once again, gave off a tangier taste that I didn't love but it didn't spoil the dish.

I really liked the red-skinned mashed potatoes with gravy. The seasoned bits of skin and the not-completely-mashed potatoes gave the common side dish some good flavor. The corn had black pepper, which gave more excitement to a typically bland side. I usually like my corn sweet and salty but the black pepper helped make it more interesting.

The chicken-fried chicken meal cost $12.90.

Cracker Barrel's chicken-fried chicken seemed expertly fried because the two-piece entrée managed to keep the moisture in the chicken. Compared to the dish from Denny's, I thought the pieces of chicken seemed thicker.

I thought the sawmill gravy was fine but didn't think it really added to the taste of the chicken. I also noticed that the meal didn't really have a distinct smell or taste. In my opinion, some extra seasoning could've elevated the meal.

That being said, I loved the mashed potatoes. It might sound simple but I thought they were so good because they had great saltiness and starchiness and weren't just mushed down to nothing. I asked for a side of eggs but I received corn instead. To me, the corn tasted bland, like it could've been directly poured out of a can.

The chicken-fried chicken cost $12.

When I got Denny's Everyday Value Slam, the first thing I noticed was the smell of buttermilk pancakes. They were so buttery, thick, golden, and fluffy and had the perfect amount of sweetness with just a bit of syrup.

To me, the thin-sliced bacon was a bit overcooked to the point that it shrunk too much and lost a bit of moisture. I also got scrambled eggs with the Everyday Value Slam, which tasted the same as the ones from the country-fried steak meal.

I really appreciated Denny's portion size and price with this meal, which was only $6.50.

The Momma's Pancake Breakfast from Cracker Barrel was just delicious, as always. This is typically my favorite meal at the chain and the pancakes were great.

I took a bite long after they lost their warmth, and the cold pancake was still sweet with the restaurant's maple syrup poured on top. I also like that the flatness of the pancake gives it a crepe-like quality, so it perfectly soaks up the butter and syrup.

To me, Cracker Barrel's batter and cooking method is superior to Denny's.

Where I thought Denny's bacon was overcooked, Cracker Barrel's bacon seemed slightly undercooked to me. The bacon didn't have much crispiness and had some opaque fat. I was able to try Cracker Barrel's scrambled eggs, which were also pretty good. They were pretty similar to Denny's.

Momma's Pancake Breakfast cost $9.

Denny's New York-style cheesecake was perfect. I lived in New York City for a few years and one bite of that cheesy, creamy texture took me back to walking around the city enjoying its fantastic dessert staple.

The cheesecake had a soft, sweet, thin graham-cracker crust. The strawberry topping had just the right amount of sweetness but didn't overpower the cake. The strawberries themselves and whipped cream on top were sweet and tasted fresh.

For $4.30, Denny's cheesecake was certainly the best thing I had from my meal.

Cracker Barrel's mini strawberry cheesecake was also good. I'm not sure if it's a frozen item that's thawed to order or a dessert that's made fresh each day but, to me, it tasted similar to a defrosted cake.

I felt like the cheesecake filling was a bit too sweet and lost a bit of that punchy cream-cheese taste. I also thought the strawberry glaze was too sweet. The graham-cracker base tasted good but it was too soft and didn't do much to hold the cake together.

Cracker Barrel's mini strawberry cheesecake cost $3.50.

Though Denny's meals were certainly good, I'd say I preferred Cracker Barrel's food more. In my opinion, the food I got from Cracker Barrel had a better flavor and some ingredients tasted fresher.

Cracker Barrel's dishes overall seemed more flavorful and more dimensional than the similar choices from Denny's I tried. Still, I must note that Denny's strawberry cheesecake blew me away and was one of the best things I tried.

But I preferred the taste of Cracker Barrel's country-fried steak, fried chicken, pancakes, and every side that came with each course. I especially noticed a difference in flavor between the gravy from the chains — the one from Cracker Barrel just seemed fresher.

My Cracker Barrel meal was only a few dollars more expensive than Denny's, and the price was worth it. I'll probably stick to Cracker Barrel for my protein and pancakes but I'll definitely revisit Denny's for more of that cheesecake.