Eating out

tmclo

When you are in a rush. Where do you eat and what do you order ?

sollyn23l2

Chipotle burrito bowl

Adventurista

Chili at Wendys drive thru

yirara

I hardly ever eat out. If I don't feel like cooking and want to walk a bit I order sushi and pick it up. Otherwise I might do instant ramen.

Sett2023

I meal prep a lot, so, in a rush or in no rush, I simply heat some container in microwave (Always have at hand any possibile kind and combination of food). Instead, I eat out about once a week, but never on a rush, it's an "event", a feast (usually on Friday or Saturday evening, as part of the weekend's entertainments, along with theatre, cinema etc). We go in pizzeria or trattoria (I'm in Italy).

AnnPT77

Fast food? I don't really like fast food. But if I were going that route, as happens occasionally:
Salad from Subway; Taco Bell veggie power bowl minus rice plus extra black beans; salad & cup of calorie-efficient soup from Panera; nonfat Greek yogurt cup or hard-boiled eggs plus an apple from a convenience store.

Note that some of the fast food purveyors have food combos on their web site, or allow for +/- of standard ingredients . . . things that don't appear on the menu board at the location.

In a pinch, when traveling with a friend who actually likes McDonald's (I don't), I've had a nonfat latte, a couple of round eggs (like the ones they put on the McMuffin, but without the muffin), and a side salad. It wasn't great, but it was nutritious and fairly calorie-efficient.

Retroguy2000

I honestly cannot remember the last time I had "fast food", it was so long ago. None of it interests me.

AdahPotatah2024

I stopped eating fast food, too, just recently. When I did, it was usually a cheeseburger, no fries and a small soda. Once in a while, I'd order a few of those potato tacos from Taco Bell and a cinabun coffee...I love Chic fila sandwiches, but my daughter boycotted them because of some charities they give to..so haven't eaten for awhile. I might sneak one of those sometime, haha

AnnPT77

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

I honestly cannot remember the last time I had "fast food", it was so long ago. None of it interests me.

OP didn't mention "fast food", I did.

OP's question was "When you are in a rush. Where do you eat and what do you order ?"

Do you ever find yourself in those circumstances?

frhaberl

Chic-fil-a market salad
Wendy’s apple pecan salad
Panda Express broccoli beef with side of veggies
Jimmy John’s Turkey Tom
Panera turkey chili
Starbucks green tea latte with soy milk or egg bites
Chipotle salad bowl

I generally prefer eating at home or a nice restaurant, but at least once a week my family will want a fast food meal, so I’ve learned my best bets at a variety of chains so I don’t have to stress over what I’ll eat.

rileysowner

McDonald's 3 quarter-pounder patties a-la-carte.

Corina1143

I did some research years ago. I looked up the easy-to-get-to places between work and home, picked out the ones I liked, looked up the foods I liked at those, checked out the calories and macros, made a list, put it on the fridge. I update it occasionally, still use it. Quick and easy to
Check out the parking lot to see how busy they are.
I also have a list of frozen dinners and what to put with them, like Swedish meatballs and noodles with extra broccoli, Voila dinners, etc on the fridge.
My fastest place that fits the bill is probably Subway. Close, quick, pretty good, reasonably healthy for fast food.

yirara

Just been realizing: if I’m in a rush I don’t rat out as it takes more time than whacking a quick meal together. Have to geab soes, walk through basement, grab mu bike, push it around house and over a railroad bridge, cycle there, wait for food (or preorder and wait at least 45 min) and back home. Ordering in isn’t faster either.

Sett2023

yirara wrote: »

Just been realizing: if I’m in a rush I don’t rat out as it takes more time than whacking a quick meal together. ... Ordering in isn’t faster either.

In fact, ditto here, and that's (one) of the reasons I use to meal prep. I have always so much in freezer, and in less than 5 minutes I can sit a family of 5, serving healthy, nutritious and delicious foods. Moreover, I can preplan all the week's meals - in Italy we have complete, cooked meals both for lunch and dinner - so I never find myself in the situation of "OMG, what can we eat for XX" that, I know from the very very rare times it happened, would end in bad choices. In this way, instead, all the week is balanced, and also every meal is balanced in itself. If there's time, I add some last minute things such as polenta or basmati or green salad etc, and if there's no time I have however a lot of vegetables and grains in freezer too, so no problem, it's okay in every case.
ETA: that doesn't mean we never eat fast food (typically, hamburger by a place linked to a local farm, so both meat and vegetables come from them, good quality), but this also it's a choice, not a rush-obliged thing. I use this about once every three weeks, and it's preplanned.

Sett2023

Note: I just realized: in Italy, when you're in a hurry the natural/more frequent choice is not a fast food/take away, but a bowl of pasta. So, however healthy and nutritious, but too much caloric if you eat only that (that is: the correct way of eating pasta - in accordance with Mediterranean eating rules - would be a quarter of plate pasta, the other quarter proteins and the other half vegetables - that is, "spaghetti, tomatoes and tuna" is perfect, but you have *also* to cook only about 60 grams of pasta/person, and add a lot of vegetables as side. When in a rush, instead, I/we tend to add no sides and exaggerate with pasta, like 200 grams each, + sauce. That's why my first meal prepping, nearly 40 years ago, had been vegetables, and since then veggies had been and continue being the biggest part of my freezers' boxes' content.)

yirara

Sett2023 wrote: »

Note: I just realized: in Italy, when you're in a hurry the natural/more frequent choice is not a fast food/take away, but a bowl of pasta. So, however healthy and nutritious, but too much caloric if you eat only that (that is: the correct way of eating pasta - in accordance with Mediterranean eating rules - would be a quarter of plate pasta, the other quarter proteins and the other half vegetables - that is, "spaghetti, tomatoes and tuna" is perfect, but you have *also* to cook only about 60 grams of pasta/person, and add a lot of vegetables as side. When in a rush, instead, I/we tend to add no sides and exaggerate with pasta, like 200 grams each, + sauce. That's why my first meal prepping, nearly 40 years ago, had been vegetables, and since then veggies had been and continue being the biggest part of my freezers' boxes' content.)

Yeah, that's pretty much what I cook if I'm short of time and lack ideas. A bowl of pasta is quick, nutricious, yummy. Or some quick stir fry. I tend to not use ready-made products but when I was injured and could not make much use of my right arm I cooked Tom Kah soup with a readymade spice paste a lot. Massive amount of veg, some noodle, some protein, and ready in less than 20 minutes, cooked in one pan.

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nossmf

Most of the meals I prepare for my family take 30 minutes or less, so to me being "in a rush" means I have 15 minutes or less to prep, eat and go. I usually have a variety of leftovers in the fridge, though I normally reserve those as work lunches. At home, in that kind of high-speed situation, I may go for grilled cheese with tomato soup (10 minutes prep, 5 minutes to eat). If I have less time than this, I'll probably just grab a protein shake and a piece of fruit.

springlering62

We have a dog who needs socialization and Cookout has an outdoor patio and walk up order window.

Once or twice a month, we take him “bye bye eat”to Cookout and he goes wild with excitement.

I can get a double junior burger, and a double order of onion rings for about 700 calories. We often take our own zero cal ketchup and low cal mayo.

I never thought about it til we started, but onion rings are far fewer calories than fries.

Otherwise, it’s a fresh sushi roll for me as a treat when husband is at his weekly luncheon.

I’ve already prelogged a bye-bye eat to Cookout for Thursday.

If it’s a sit down restaurant, typically a salad with a double order of grilled chicken.

If it’s a treat restaurant, like the pre-concert tapas one next week, I’ll both bank calories and study the menu beforehand and have an idea of what I want.

SafariGalNYC

If eating out in a rush or grabbing something to go -Depends where I am .. have some great salad to go places and cafes by my office in NY, when I’m in Rome, there is a tiny shop by our home that has great espresso and some antipasti to go. I grab a panini or cornetto for my husband.

If I’m making something quick at home, grilled fish and veggies, frittata. Done in 15 min.

lynn_glenmont

Generally I'll go to a quick (not table-service) SW/Mexican-influenced place like Chipotle, Taco Bell, or Cafe Rio where substitutions or omissions are welcomed and easy to do. I'll usually skip the rice, especially if I'm getting something that already comes in some kind of tortilla -- although if I'm going for a veggie meal, I won't skip the rice. I may skip the cheese in a burrito, because I don't find that it adds much to the taste. Generally I have either sour cream or cheese, but not both. If it's Taco Bell, there's so much going on in most of their items in terms of different forms of cheese and sauces that it's easy to skip or go "light" on some of them and I don't miss it.

lynn_glenmont

All these responses about not eating out when you're in a rush -- maybe I'm misreading the OP, but since it specified eating out, I assumed we were talking about a situation where you're already out and going home doesn't make sense, like you've doing errands 30 minutes or more from home, and aren't done with your errands, but you're getting hangry. I know some people pack insulated lunch sacks for those situations.