Restaurants and calories...

dianeellen2

Hi

At the weekend my husband and i went out to a restaurant (Harvester) for lunch on Saturday

On the menu the instructions were, pick a main, choose an extra (potatoe type things), choose a sauce and help yourself to salad

I was amazed to see every option had caloires clearly listed next to the meal (even the sauces)

The potatoe products choices were interesting; baby potatoes 110 cals, mash 170 cals, rice 240 cals, jacket potatoe 260 cals, fries 380 cals

My thought is...i wonder if this has made a difference to what the restaurant sells ...have fries sales decreased...it would be good to know - before MFP i would have convinced myself that the fries would be fine, not much more than potatoes - but in reality over 3 x more calories!

If the calories had not been on the menu i would have had the jacket potatoe but both hubby and i chose baby potatoes!

I wonder how many other people have changed their choice based on the 'numbers' being printed on the menu - there were some interesting calories to be seen; starters ranged from 70 cals (melon) to 430 cals (breaded mushrooms) mains from 1230 cals (rack of ribs) to 260 cals (flame grilled chicken breast) sauces from 150 cals (burger relish - which was more than herb butter at 120 cals) to meaty gravy at 30 cals.

Desserts were ven more surprising, Lemon explosion (layers of meringue,lemon sauce, Cornish vanilla ice cream, topped
with fluffy cream and a crispy wafer (780kcal) or surprisingly Sundae Best (Creamy Cornish vanilla ice cream drizzled with Belgian chocolate sauce (260kcal)

So...breaded mushrooms, rack of ribs, burger relish, fries and lemon explosion = 2970 cals
Melon, flame grilled chicken breast, gravy, new potatoes and Sundae best = 730 cals!!!

Lesa_Sass

I would say that it does help some people make better decisions but there are a large number of people out there that it does not matter to. I am willing to bet that it this would actually keep some people from eating there, simply because they do not want to see their bad decisions in black and white (I have a relative or two that would be mad at this).

I wish all restaurants had this, or at the very least, had a bar code beside the dish for those of us that have an app that reads them.

_VoV

Some chain restaurants here in the US are listing calorie counts for some items, but that what you describe is fantastic! I don't know how effective they are for people who want to be like ostriches with their heads in the sand. I was that sort of person once, and I think I made a habit of trying to make my eyes glaze over so as not to see the calorie counts.

iuew

i would love it if the calories were right there on the menu.

unfortunately, most of the restaurants in my area don't do that, so i avoid them for the most part unless i have a chance to look online first and pick something out in advance.

the strategy most restaurants in my area use :

a menu loaded with large portions of fried food or baked food soaked in butter
one or two grilled chicken offerings that are dry as a bone.

i've had the grilled chicken at more restaurants than i can think of, and it has mostly been lousy everywhere but subway.

dianeellen2

I wish all restaurants had this, or at the very least, had a bar code beside the dish for those of us that have an app that reads them.

What an excellent idea

dianeellen2

unfortunately, most of the restaurants in my area don't do that, so i avoid them for the most part unless i have a chance to look online first and pick something out in advance.

This is now our main 'go to restaurant' just becuase its easy to make good choices - without the preplanning hassle

HOWDY11

WOW Very interesting and soooo cool that the restaurant provides that info. Makes dieting so much easier to see it than guessing! We love to eat out and I think that may be sabotageing my diet. MFP has really helped. I'm fairly new at this site and loving it. Feel free to friend me. I love the support and accountablity. Tamie:flowerforyou:

WannabeSexyBexy

Pizza Express have online info too

http://www.pizzaexpress.com/our-food/nutrition/calorie-tables.aspx

UpEarly

For a while, Ruby Tuesday had all the calories listed next to each food item on the menu. They found it hurt their sales - people were skipping appetizers and desserts, or just going to other restaurants that didn't present the information so prominently. A few months after the menus with calories were printed, Ruby's did away with them, and presented nutritional information tucked into a small brochure in the table tent stand instead. Their sales returned to normal after that.

Some people just don't want to know.

jared767

Good for them..but definitely not for us. Although I can understand why they did that. As for me, I rely on nutritionix calculator for any restaurant's meal. It has helped me a lot with my choice to maintain a positive lifestyle.

Some people believe that eating at restaurants is a no-no since it's detrimental to their healthy choice. But speaking for myself- I just can't avoid it. I love eating out with my family or friends and if I stop it, I would feel like I am depriving myself of the things that I love to do.

To those who are interested, you can check the application at www.nutritionix.com