Restaurants With No Nutrition Facts -- What Do You Do?

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  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
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    Cora's is no more expensive than Denny's or Humptys...

    and there are 21 dishes from Cora's in the food database here, while Humpty's has one denny's has over 100... Cora's is the only one that gives a decent quantity of fresh fruit with the meals to instead of the token orange slice.
  • maggiepz
    maggiepz Posts: 141 Member
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    I'm really getting fed up with the restaurants that won't share the nutritional information and I've just stopped going there. Even MCDONALD'S shares the info and we all know fast food is bad for you.

    In my opinion major chains that don't share their nutritional information have something to hide!!!!! I truly believe this and that's why I no longer trust these restaurants. They don't want us to know because they are afraid they will lose business.

    A major culprit is Cracker Barrel. Cracker barrel has a supposed low carb breakfast that includes a supposedly low carb wheat toast that just didn't seem possible when i was trying to find something comparable. I've even called corporate (TWICE) trying to get nutritional information. I even posted on here and was told it was plain old wheat toast by someone that used to work there. I haven't been back since and we used to go all the time. It was my "cheat meals' and I also used to eat off their supposedly "lowcarb" menu. If you "don't have the nutritional information for our menu" how can you claim anything is low carb? Full of BS.

    Yep. I don't trust restaurants that don't have nutritional information. I don't expect the same of mom/pop and private restaurants of course.
  • callikia
    callikia Posts: 226 Member
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    Avoid if possible.
    If not, overestimate and give yourself a "cushion" for the day. Always assume it's worse than you think it is.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    We have a couple places here around town that are solely Hays, KS restaurants and not found anywhere else. There is no nutritional info posted online and although I haven't asked them if they have nutrition facts, I really do not think that they do. If in fact they don't have nutrition facts, how do you log it? Or do you even log it?

    None of the places I go to have it, because I don't tend to hit chains or large restaurants. I like mom and pops. So, I guess.
  • ksun10
    ksun10 Posts: 76
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    I choose not to go
  • carriempls
    carriempls Posts: 326 Member
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    I never eat at chain restaurants so I'm never able to get nutrition info online when I eat out.

    I'm a decent cook so I can usually do a good guess on ingredients and quantities. I either enter ingredients one by one if it's something fairly simple (like a salad or sandwich) or look for something similar if it's a bit more complicated.

    I eat lunch in my work cafeteria every day and they cook everything fresh from whole ingredients so it's pretty easy to figure out.

    Eating out other than that is a once in a while thing, more of a treat for me, so if I'm a little off I'm not too worried about it.
  • spike90
    spike90 Posts: 704 Member
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    I always try to pick another restaraunt that does have nutrional facts where I think the food looks, tastes, serving size, etc is similar. It is the best guesstimate that I can com up with (but I don't know how they cook it with butter, oils, fried, baked, and all). I always hope that the restaruant that I ate at is lower in calories and other numbers than what I picked, but I doubt that I am getting that lucky:)
  • enduranc3
    enduranc3 Posts: 8
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    I look up the calories for ALL the ingredients (ex: if i get a salad) and estimate :)
  • KourtneyP83
    KourtneyP83 Posts: 319
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    I usually get a kids meal and try to find something similar in the database. I don't do it often and I try not to frequent restaurants like that, but lets be real - sometimes we have girl's nights, meetings, work dinners, birthdays and so on at places like this and while we are all trying to live a healthy lifestyle, these things are going to happen. I usually am not devastated if I can't log it or find something similar...I try to eat sparingly or very low calorie the rest of the day.
  • amersmanders
    amersmanders Posts: 118 Member
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    I have the same problem as OP. I usually just enter a comparable item that has a higher caloric value compared to other comparable items so that I don't underestimate. Sometimes I enter the ingredients for a new recipe if I'm not having any luck. It stresses me out when I can't find an item!
  • gettingto98
    gettingto98 Posts: 22
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    honestly? i always, always just get something with unaltered ingredients so i can guess easily and nearly perfectly. maybe it's not the most fun, but it allows me to be social and go out without worry.

    examples:
    - get a plain salad - just greens, fruit, other veggies. if you must, get cheese or nuts or whatever, but it gets harder to estimate unless you count each nut, so i avoid. i also avoid croutons and other add-ons where you don't know the info. don't get dressing, just ask for vinegar. oil can be tricky because you can pour too much. if you trust yourself to know portions, get a grilled protein on top that you ask to just be prepared without oil.

    - get a grilled protein with veggies - again, only do this if you can judge portion or if the quantity is clearly laid out on the menu. ask for veggies on the side that are STEAMED or grilled without oil.

    - breakfast out: just get fruit, poached eggs (always cooked without oil!), and toast (very easy to estimate at 100 a piece).

    keep in mind: even with nutritional info, places lie. i get frozen yogurt a lot and even though it says it is 100 calories or whatever, that's only for a four/three whatever ounce serving. the cup they give you is designed to hold that much, but places will often HEAP more on top. i always just throw that away before eating. but just because they say it's only so and so calories for a certain amount doesn't mean they're actually only giving you that amount - for most people, by getting a little extra, they generate good will.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    Just take a guess - if I only ate at "restaurants" that provided calorie info I would be stuck with McDonald's, KFC and Dominoes, and that's not going to happen!

    There will be lots of occasions in your life when you eat something without nutritional info (eating at a friends house as one example). Don't stress about it, use it as an opportunity to practice making the best choice from what is available to you. And log an estimate - that's all you are doing at any restaurant, there is no guarantee that you are eating exactly the meal that was tested.
  • gracieabem
    gracieabem Posts: 211
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    I'd just take a guess. I hardly ever go to restaurants that have calorie info. Eating out is a rare enough treat for me that I'd rather not stress about it. I'd usually go for a lighter lunch before going out for tea and I'm usually ok with not having my usual night time snacks afterwards either. I like to just live life occasionally and forgot about calories.

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