Restaurant Info

JojoTabby

I’m new to the app. Where do I finfd restaurant food information?

Cheesy567

Only some restaurant info is in the database, mainly larger chains. You find it by searching for the name of the restaurant and/or the item you want to find. Some major chains have some of their main menu items available as a sub-menu within the database. Others have been added by other members and you might want to check the accuracy of the entry.

If you are looking for a restaurant that is smaller and isn’t in the database, you can do one of several things. You can search for a similar item from a major restaurant or choose a similar item from the database. You might have to use some common sense here and avoid entries that are on the extremes of the ranges, for instance. Avoid things labeled “homemade” too as a general rule unless you made them and it’s your entry.

If the restaurant has calories listed but the item simply isn’t in the database, you could do a “quick add” to log the calories (I don’t recall off hand if you can do this with macros or not, so your macros might be off for the day, try and see)

If you just can’t find something anywhere close, you can try and break down the entree and search for its core components… for instance, if you ordered a fried egg sandwich you could search for the bread, the egg, guesstimate the oil/butter/ spread used, etc. If you do this, don’t forget about heavy calorie oils, dressings, sauces, etc. that might go unseen.

rocklobster189

Logging of restaurant food has to be the biggest gap in MyFitnessPal. Finding anything local is impossible. Guestimating calories, protein, and other nutrients is close to impossible with any sense of accuracy.

Gaps like this is what’s making me look for an alternative option to MyFitnessPal.

Lietchi

rocklobster189 wrote: »

Logging of restaurant food has to be the biggest gap in MyFitnessPal. Finding anything local is impossible. Guestimating calories, protein, and other nutrients is close to impossible with any sense of accuracy.

Gaps like this is what’s making me look for an alternative option to MyFitnessPal.

If the restaurant doesn't publish nutritional info, you can hardly expect MFP to have the info? A different app won't change that.
I usually guesstimate based on the ingredients or I choose an entry from a well-known chain. Since I don't eat out a lot, that works fine for me.