How do you add mystery restaurant foods?

graysmom2005

Tonight the hubby and I will probably be going to Dogfish Head for dinner tonight. You can not get nutritional info on their food and myfitnesspal only has their beers. How do you log in the calories for a meal that you have NO CLUE what's in it. I know that there are always high calorie mystery ingredients in most restaurant foods. I have no idea how to log this. Ideas? Thanks!

Rage_Phish

drink only beer (i suggest IIPAs) so you can be sure of the nutritional info

MB_Positif

I just try to enter as many of the ingredients as I can individually. Or I find something that sounds close. Enjoy! Love Dogfish Head beer! I used to work for Stoudt's Brewing Company, have you ever had any of their beer?

sushisuzi2

Just compare it to another restaurant like it.

Most of all, ENJOY it.

helvetikat

I eat at small local restaurants a lot, and often run into this problem. I just try to search and find something similar that is already in MFP's database.

Larommi

I find something close and if there is multiple choices I always pick the most calories or round up on the calories, just to be safe.

A

katie_rn

i would probably try to find something close to the menu item. otherwise, you can always ask for things to be grilled instead of fried and other alternatives. have you searched google for the nutrition information? you can always add it manually under foods. enjoy the night out!

Larommi

A lot of restaurants get food from places like Sysco, so you can try looking there as well.

Reisse62

I would add it in as a recipe, That way I can list some of the main ingredients get the calories you need.

AdAstra47

I've never heard of Dogfish, don't know how high-end it is. But I figure if I'm spending a bunch of money somewhere, I have a right to know *exactly* what I'm getting. I pick foods that I *think* would be good for me / on my diet. Then when it's time to order, I tell them I have multiple food allergies (I don't, but I tell them that 'cause it gets results, no restaurant wants a customer going into anaphylactic shock) and then I ask for an ingredient list for those foods I'm considering ordering. For example, that will let you know whether they put flour in their sauce (which skyrockets the carb count). They don't have to give you their secret recipe, you don't have to know how much garlic or paprika or how many eggs they use, you just need to know that it's in there. That usually lets me make what I think is a pretty accurate estimate, entering the ingredients individually.

My other suggestion is just to never go to a restaurant in the first place, if they don't have the courtesy to provide nutrition information up front. Most do, nowadays, so I can go online & decide what I'm ordering long before I ever set foot in the door.

kgool

I would just have been for dinner and log it, but that is just me.

You can always pick something close from a similar menu, when in doubt I estimate over or add quick calories.

Reisse62

Call them ahead of time and ask for the calories of items you are interested in. Restaurants are slower these days(recessions) and typically more than happy to accomodate your request. My husband and I just had an anniversary lunch at a restaurant and they custom made a desert for us to fit our dietary restrictions. If you call early in the day this will get them time to come up with something for you.

Other than that order sauces on the side and measure what you use. Salad dressing on the side, I have worked in restaruants and they ladle the dressing into a bowl, then put the sald in, and it is way too much!

Have a great evening with your husband!

RyvreTam

I'm always having this problem since I live in a Chicago suburb. There are so many joints and authentic and family restaurants, I almost never eat at a chain anymore. I try to estimate using a chain restaurant that I think is closest. I really wish more individual places would offer their nutritional info, or at least an estimate.

pittielover23

I find something close from another restaurant. I figure it is going to be somewhat similar since most restaraunts use similar additives.

melsinct

Call them ahead of time and ask for the calories of items you are interested in.

Non-chain restaurants do not have this information. It would be like calling up your grandmother and asking how many calories are in her Sunday dinner. Chain restaurants by law must have this information, and I believe a "chain" is defined as having 20+ locations.

To answer the original question, I just find something similar in the MFP database or break it down myself by ingredient. Like for lunch today, I had leftovers from a local Thai place. I just took an MFP listing for pad thai that seemed reasonable and went with it.

graysmom2005

Yeah, I think I'm just going to have to suck it and call this day a wash as there is NO WAY I could even try to figure out any of the entrees there. We decided to go to a place called Tower Oaks Lodge which is owned by Clydes. Every meal is complex with lots of ingredients and i'm sure cooked with lots of butter and oil. I don't see any good way getting out of this one...plus I only have 700 calories left for the day. It's surely going to go over that...not to mention there are about 12 desserts that look A-MAZING. :-D

georgiajuly

Yeah, I think I'm just going to have to suck it and call this day a wash as there is NO WAY I could even try to figure out any of the entrees there.

I hear you. If I can't figure it out, I usually wind up logging as 1000, 2000, or 3000 calories, depending on how full I feel! So far, haven't had to do 3000.

milaxx

As someone with allergies I always ask the servers what's in a dish. Especially if it is something I can't identify. For me it is a matter of life or death because weird things trigger a reaction. I have to carry an epi-pen to be safe.