Restaurant Shame List

Reinventing_Me

Don Pablo's Mexican Grill or Kitchen or whatever it is. Why the HECK should a chicken fajita salad have 841 calories, 45g fat, and 1268mg sodium WITHOUT Dressing or salsa?!?!

Molly_Maguire

The one time I ate there I felt like I had just ingested an entire cow smothered in lard. Horrible.

BAHAHAHAAAAA! I know that feeling!

DontStopB_Leakin

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard their Bloomin' Onions are like 2,300 calories! (You'd have to be some kind of idiot to eat a whole one by yourself, but STILL)

<<<<That kind of idiot. Of course, that was like 4 years ago when I was rocking the whole "obese" thing, but still. I'm pretty sure I'm still that kind of idiot. Thank god they don't have that crap anywhere close to me.

caldon4523

I agree with the notion that no one is forcing anyone to eat at any of these restaurants. And as for portion control, I'm all against that. I prefer going to a restaurant where the meals are extravagant. I've been to five star restaurants where more plate is shown then food.

DontStopB_Leakin

What is this "just eating half" that everyone is speaking of? I paid ten bucks for my meal. The cheap *kitten* in me demands I eat the entire thing. Which is why I pretty much avoid all the restaurants listed.

Peep_chic

At pf changs if you eat half a plate is decent amount of calories but you'll still be hungry. Last time I went to red robin they had an inocent looking salad at 1,000+ calories. I had a burger that day about the same calories but at least it wasnt lettuce.

been285

my willpower,,, or should I say WON'T power is lacking.
if I cannot leave the table and the uneaten half,, I am doomed.
maybe I will try bringing a toy,,, like I was 5 years old to distract me ... sigh

monkeynumber100

You can go to Qdoba and get a naked chicken burrito and keep cheese off it, and it will run you about 400 calories, watch what you eat and don't overindulge.

THIS!!!

Qdoba is one of my go to places in a pinch. They have a cool feature on their website so you can customize what you ordered (or are about to order) so you can see the nutritional value of your exact meal. My go to is a Naked (no tortilla) Chicken Burrito with black beans, pinto beans, 3 kinds of salsa, lettuce and fajita veggies for 580 calories and 13g of fat. I think that is really good and it is a lot of food - probably enough for two meals for some. It is really heavy on sodium at 1655mg, but like I said "in a pinch".

white_horse

Baja Fresh is terrible. Someone mentioned Chiptole but Chiptole isn't bad if you pick carefully, no where near as bad as Baja Fresh. Chicken Quesadilla 1300 calories. I can make the same thing at home for half that.

misticache

Applebee's
Texas Roadhouse
Friendly's

I mostly eat at non-chain restaurants and I never know the calorie counts at those!

Got to disagree on the Texas Roadhouse one, you just need to look at the menu and pick smartly. They have some way over caloried stuff, but I had the Fillet, a baked potato with butter and a house salad and came in at about 800 calories which I thought was an awesome count considering

I have to admit though, if you get the blooming onion, and your steak loaded with cheese, and your potato loaded with bacon and cheese you are probably going to go over, but we are all smarter than that

This and applebee's has healthier options as well and they tell you right on the menu how many calories and stuff.

PuggleLover

Got the spinach shrimp salad at applebee's (lunch portion but two helpings) and logged it... only to find out there were 800 calories in it! I was so mad.

smarty3

At places like Qdoba and Chipotle it's actually quite easy to get yummy entrees for low cals, just build it online before you go!
Naked burritos are a blessing!

newCourtney

Cheesecake Factory is the WORST! Portion sizes are out of control!

^^THIS!!!

ncwinn4

Yeah someone already said it, but the margarita grilled chicken at chili's in the bomb. Order it without the chips, comes with blackbeans and a bed of rice. Seems pretty decent in my book. There are some places where you just cant find anything reasonable to eat. To name a few:

PF Changs
Cheddars
Any wing or pizza place
I even think jason's deli can be a trap if you aren't careful.

An while of course its best to just avoid eating out all together, it's not always pratical. So when you do go out you'd like there to be some things to make you say "that's not so bad" instead of "well $#$% it". Personally I've noticed when I go out and eat something that's a calorie beast I tend to binge on throughout the day.

mtaylor33557

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard their Bloomin' Onions are like 2,300 calories! (You'd have to be some kind of idiot to eat a whole one by yourself, but STILL)

<<<<That kind of idiot. Of course, that was like 4 years ago when I was rocking the whole "obese" thing, but still. I'm pretty sure I'm still that kind of idiot. Thank god they don't have that crap anywhere close to me.

Yes the blooming onion is terrible, but delicious, and I can't control myself if it's on the table... so now if we want an appetizer we split the seared ahi tuna, and then get the smallest steak, and veggies without butter or oil and squeeze a little lemon on it.. it's tasty.. and not a complete day ruiner. I've eaten at Outback several times and stayed on track, for the most part...

misticache

CPK has the best salads... I go for the 1/2 Miso Salad with Shrimp... under 500 calories!!!

Cheesecake Factory has a fabulous menu called "Skinnylicious"... really good stuff and still big portions

I agree TGIF should just burn down. Even if I wanted fatty foods, I wouldn't pick that craptastic chain

Applebees is GROSS with a capital G

Fried Chicken Places: KFC, Popeye's and Cane's

Here's one that needs to go away: Long John Silvers..... WTF is this?

See I like Applebees because they at least make a token effort. Their under 550 menu has a few options and is actually pretty good. The Sirloin and Garlic Shrimp is actually pretty good IMO (other than the Sodium which of course is something all restaurants seem to have issues with).

I was just thinking of Applebees. I love their peppercorn steak with double steamed veggies. It is about 600 calories if I splurge and get a little butter for the veggies, but not too bad if I have prepared for a meal out. And usually I can only finish half of the steak anyway!

Applebee's has gotten in trouble many, many times with the FDA for their caloric value being completely incorrect. They are repeat offenders. They advertise food that is truly 1000+ calories as only being 500. Not all of them do this, but most of the ones in my area have been fined repeatedly for doing this. Just thought you might want to know.

I take back what I said about them then. I had no clue. Thanks for opening my eyes.

TheKitsune6

Every restaurant that ever served a salad.

DontStopB_Leakin

Baja Fresh is terrible. Someone mentioned Chiptole but Chiptole isn't bad if you pick carefully, no where near as bad as Baja Fresh. Chicken Quesadilla 1300 calories. I can make the same thing at home for half that.

But Baja Fresh tastes sooooooooooooo good. Thank god they don't have them here.

milele_transfome

I'm off topic, but I've found that my favorite chain choice is the IHOP chicken Florentine crepes with no Hollandaise and no cheese. SO tasty and I log it as if I had the Hollandaise and the cheese just in case my chef used extra butter or oil!

misticache

I like Eat n Park because they have some good low calorie options. I like when they put the calories on the menu. Buffalo Wild Wings puts calories on to but problem is everything like over 1000 + calories.

DontStopB_Leakin

CPK has the best salads... I go for the 1/2 Miso Salad with Shrimp... under 500 calories!!!

Cheesecake Factory has a fabulous menu called "Skinnylicious"... really good stuff and still big portions

I agree TGIF should just burn down. Even if I wanted fatty foods, I wouldn't pick that craptastic chain

Applebees is GROSS with a capital G

Fried Chicken Places: KFC, Popeye's and Cane's

Here's one that needs to go away: Long John Silvers..... WTF is this?

See I like Applebees because they at least make a token effort. Their under 550 menu has a few options and is actually pretty good. The Sirloin and Garlic Shrimp is actually pretty good IMO (other than the Sodium which of course is something all restaurants seem to have issues with).

I was just thinking of Applebees. I love their peppercorn steak with double steamed veggies. It is about 600 calories if I splurge and get a little butter for the veggies, but not too bad if I have prepared for a meal out. And usually I can only finish half of the steak anyway!

Applebee's has gotten in trouble many, many times with the FDA for their caloric value being completely incorrect. They are repeat offenders. They advertise food that is truly 1000+ calories as only being 500. Not all of them do this, but most of the ones in my area have been fined repeatedly for doing this. Just thought you might want to know.

I take back what I said about them then. I had no clue. Thanks for opening my eyes.

Like I said, the ones in your area might be totally legit with their calorie counts. But when they had their deal with WW (don't know if they still do) they were taken to court atleast twice by the FDA for mislabeling and misleading. But honestly, all restaurants could be doing that. Applebee's is just one that got caught.

meat03man

No one forces anyone to buy or eat any of the entrees, so who really cares if a menu is chock full of high cal choices

I agree with this guy, I have been overweight all my life and it's because I chose to eat ridiculous. We all know that getting a combo large sized with fries and a coke packs on an extra 500 or so calories but we order it because we want to. I am glad restaurants have jumped on a healthier option menu though. Plus saying portion size is out of control is silly, don't eat it all take half home....I know I couldn't do that before getting on this site and watching my portion size but now it's easier to do.

SomeoneSomeplace

Cheesecake Factory. They have a new "skinny" menu but their regular menu is horrible... and so good...

ITS SO GOOD. Their portions are ridiculous tho. I mean really who eats that much?! I have a friend whose a 100 pounds soaking wet and she can eat an entire meal from there. But their portions are just crazy. And delicious. So delicious.

Chilli's is bad too. I mean their Caesar Salad has over 1000 calories, how is that possible?

And blooming onions are amazing. Whenever we go to outback and order one my diet goes to ****. My family is a big fan of appetizers. So even if I order a healthy meal that's where I get in trouble.


Also the 99's calories are pretty crazy. There's 2200 calories in their Chicken Parm...650 in their kids pasta... crazy crazy crazy.

But honestly who finishes an entire meal at a restaurant when the portions are that insane?

OOOH QUIZNOS A veggie sub has more calories than a Big Mac FACT

acstansell

you should take a look at dominos pasta bread bowls..... pasta in a bowl of bread CARB OVERLOAD

Pizza in general is deadly and kills my diet at least twice a month. And frozen pizza is just as bad. It makes me sad.

TGI friday's has some decent choices, but their sodium counts are bad. I wish they had better choices w/appetizers. Often times I do an appetizer and that's it.

Buffalo Wild Wings and Quaker Stake are horrible too.

oh_em_gee

At TGIF I get the petite sirloin, broccoli, and tomato mozzarella salad. It might not be the healthiest food ever, but I'm there less than once a month. Applebee's is harder because I love the chicken fajita roll up and buffalo bites. At least I don't eat the 4 appetizer sampler as a meal anymore

RilantheFirebug

Cheesecake Factory.

Seriously. In the "Eat This, Not That" book they have like 3 or 4 dishes under the top 20 worst (calorie and nutrient) dishes in the US.

ahamm002

This is shaping up to look more like a Restaurant Awesome List than a Restaurant Shame List.

The reason these restaurants are so successful is b/c they make food that people want to buy. If they started serving lots of healthy food w/o as much butter and salt they'd be out of business in a week. The restaurants are simply a reflection of the average American's preferred tastes!

It's pointless to try and eat healthy at these restaurants. So I find it best to just eat very low calorie all day long (or just fast) and then pig out at the restaurant. If I'm going to cheesecake factory, then I'll usually run 5-6 miles in addition to eating very little food up until dinner.

kaotik26

Sadly, Buffalo Wild Wings. Ordered a wrap and it was still 850 calories

77tes

I love CPK! A half salad makes a good and tasty meal. I also like splitting a thin crust pizza (chicken, spinach, artichoke) Yum. But, these are for treat days, not a daily thing. And, yes, the sodium in every restaurant meal is crazy high.

oh_em_gee

I eat lean cuisine pizza. It's not health food by any means, but where else can you have a personal pizza for under 500 calories?