Restraurant Question/Help

anaisbutterfly7
anaisbutterfly7 Posts: 71 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

I am going out to lunch with my friend today. He picked a restaurant that is local to Denver, and I can find the menu online (to pre-plan the lunch), but I cannot find any nutritional information on the website. I am going to get two chicken tacos a la carte with guacamole. I was thinking about adding a guacamole and bean tostada (a la carte).


How should I track this? I have no idea. :(


Thanks for any help!

Replies

  • anaisbutterfly7
    anaisbutterfly7 Posts: 71 Member
    http://www.bluebonnetrestaurant.com/menu.html

    That is the restaurant.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 671 Member
    Take a scale and ask for the recipe?

    jk

    I imagine you can't. Give it your best guess and round up. As long as you don't go often, this shouldn't impact your overall results too much.
  • Catwoman1037
    Catwoman1037 Posts: 102 Member
    I would call the restaurant and ask if they have a nutrition information page hidden on their website. If not, they may be able to at least give you the calories in the foods. The food pics look yummy!
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    I have this problem constantly as I rarely eat at chain restaurants.; I just search the database for food that looks similar to what i'm eating and go from there.

    And don't pick the lowest calorie option you find. You're only cheating yourself if you do that.

    Look for something mid-range.
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member
    Oh man I was hoping it was the famed Casa Bonita! lol.
    Just guess.... look at the chicken estimate how much there is... size of tortillas etc.
  • RunsOnEspresso
    RunsOnEspresso Posts: 3,218 Member
    If I can't find the calorie count I usually try to guestimate (and over estimate!) and find something similar in the database.
  • anaisbutterfly7
    anaisbutterfly7 Posts: 71 Member
    Oh man I was hoping it was the famed Casa Bonita! lol.
    Just guess.... look at the chicken estimate how much there is... size of tortillas etc.


    As a Denverite, it is my duty to say: The food there is inedible. I heard that a billion times before I finally went to Casa Bonita....it's so true though!

    Cliff Divers though!
  • kristen2713
    kristen2713 Posts: 253 Member
    I have this problem constantly as I rarely eat at chain restaurants.; I just search the database for food that looks similar to what i'm eating and go from there.

    And don't pick the lowest calorie option you find. You're only cheating yourself if you do that.

    Look for something mid-range.

    This is exactly what I try to do in these cases...there's a lot of info out in the calorie database on here....some good and some not so much. I try to look at what is more "normal" when there are a lot to choose from and then choose one in the mid range of that. Great job with wanting to keep consistent at tracking!!
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member
    Oh man I was hoping it was the famed Casa Bonita! lol.
    Just guess.... look at the chicken estimate how much there is... size of tortillas etc.


    As a Denverite, it is my duty to say: The food there is inedible. I heard that a billion times before I finally went to Casa Bonita....it's so true though!

    Cliff Divers though!
    Yea I just moved to Colorado and have heard the same thing. That being said, me and the boyfriend still plan to go just once because cliff divers in a strip mall mexican place.
  • Sunitagt
    Sunitagt Posts: 486 Member
    I have this problem constantly as I rarely eat at chain restaurants.; I just search the database for food that looks similar to what i'm eating and go from there.

    And don't pick the lowest calorie option you find. You're only cheating yourself if you do that.

    Look for something mid-range.

    +1
  • anaisbutterfly7
    anaisbutterfly7 Posts: 71 Member
    Oh man I was hoping it was the famed Casa Bonita! lol.
    Just guess.... look at the chicken estimate how much there is... size of tortillas etc.


    As a Denverite, it is my duty to say: The food there is inedible. I heard that a billion times before I finally went to Casa Bonita....it's so true though!

    Cliff Divers though!
    Yea I just moved to Colorado and have heard the same thing. That being said, me and the boyfriend still plan to go just once because cliff divers in a strip mall mexican place.

    Like :)
  • anaisbutterfly7
    anaisbutterfly7 Posts: 71 Member
    I took everyone's advice. I made healthier choices by asking for chicken and bean. I also asked if they had any nutrition info (but they don't). I wrote down everything I ate and then made my best guesses. I erred on the side of more calories.

    Thanks everyone!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I have this problem constantly as I rarely eat at chain restaurants.; I just search the database for food that looks similar to what i'm eating and go from there.

    And don't pick the lowest calorie option you find. You're only cheating yourself if you do that.

    Look for something mid-range.

    This is my advice too.

    I eat at a lot of small local places and ethnic (non-chain) restaurants so I just take my best stab at it.

    Last night I had a Thai spicy beef salad and looked up 4-5 different entries on MFP, found everything from about 220 cal to over 900. So I just went with something mid-range around 480 and added a few ounces of extra beef separately as it was fairly meaty.

    I think this would only pose a real problem if you eat out more than 1-2 times per week in places where "guessing" is necessary.

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