Have you been surprised by the nutrition of restaurant food?

2»

Replies

  • ncthomas09
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
    So today I went to Chili's with some friends and got Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers, I was expecting it to be bad but got quite the shock when I looked it up later: Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken
    Calories-1680
    Fat-73
    Carbs-203
    Wow, thank goodness I only ate half, but now I need to convince myself to throw the rest away and be done with it! As I start trying to eat a healthy diet, I need to learn to look things up before I go out to eat!

    Hmm, totally out of topic, but I have been hearing a lot of people buzzing about chipotle. What is it, exactly? Lol, Sometimes i feel like I live under a rock or something.

    Chipotle is like subway meets burrito. You can go in and build your own tacos and burritos...I don't care for them personally.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    I used to eat out ALL THE FREAKING time. No wonder I was over 200 lbs.

    Seriously. It blows my mind what I was doing to my body before I got on a healthy regimin.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    Always look up a restaurant's nutritional info before going. I go by this: If the place doesn't have nutritional info, either don't go or overestimate.

    I overestimate, too. I work in a small town with lots of mom & pop places to eat, none of which have printed nutritional info. I should take my lunch, but I only do that a day or two per week. The other days I log what I think I ate and hope for the best.
  • vmekash
    vmekash Posts: 422 Member
    I love the chain rest's that have a section on their menu called "Low Calorie Fair" or something similar. Then under the title for that section it will say, everything here is under 700 calories. Not HORRIBLE for a chain rest., but then you have to realize that everything outside that section is OVER 700. Yikes!
  • TrekGuru
    TrekGuru Posts: 6
    YES I have been suprised. Try looking up Applebee's stuff and check out the sodium. One of thier under 550 items had over 3000 mg of sodium that is THREE GRAMS!!!! bring your own lowfat dressing and eat a salad that has NO Meat. Most food chains have a factory where they make thier salad dressings, pre season the meat, make thier sides, and add a LOT of sodium and calories and FAT to each dish. They make it the cheap way not the healthy way. :-) We have the best salads at home because we do not have to ask to HOLD anything. I am getting to the point that I am going to make my own salad dressing. My meal will be good at home until I have to add the salad dressing (I use half a serving and still get alot of bad stuff) Good Luck eating out and stay away from sandwich shops....shudder.....you really don't want to know the bad news on nutrition there. :-)
  • kfoley1215
    kfoley1215 Posts: 2
    I work at Ruby Tuesday. You know those garlic cheese biscuits everyone loves so much? 115 calories a PIECE. Oh, and we recently started selling a delicious pumpkin cheese cake... at 785 calories per slice!

    Ugh. :(
  • a_vettestingray
    a_vettestingray Posts: 654 Member
    All the time, but honestly the thing that surprised me more is that some SALADS have more cals / fat then a stake & potato. How the hell does something that should be ‘healthy’ end up being some of the worst choice to make?

    Oooh this one irritates me! A couple of years ago, I went to Red Robin with the hubs and the MIL. I decided to be "healthy" (this was before I was on MFP) and get a salad while everyone else got burgers and fries. While we were waiting on our food, I was browsing the Nutritional Info pamphlet on the table. I want to know how my stinkin' salad had more calories than everyone's burgers! I should have went with a burger :grumble: !
  • BehindBlueEyes988
    BehindBlueEyes988 Posts: 433
    Everything from Subway. Drives me nuts they claim they are healthy and great for you. But the sodium content of even a six inch is through the roof, nothing but preservatives, and their bread has over 50 separate ingredients. I simply just can't eat there anymore. If I'm going to be bad as such, it'll be something yummier, like Panera!
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    The whole entire Outback menu is depressing.

    No, if you choose wisely. The have a section in their menu where you can "customize," your choices. Victoria steak (about 6 oz), and vegetables for less than 600 calories. I think that it also includes a small salad. Check it out next time.
  • angiechimpanzee
    angiechimpanzee Posts: 536 Member
    I've been shocked negatively as well as positively. Restaurant food is sometimes freaking sickening with the nutritional information. Often the calorie counts for ONE DISH are more than I eat in an entire day.

    But pleasantly, I saw that the sushi place I go to is only 310 calories and 700mg sodium for 8 california rolls (but maybe that's california rolls everywhere?) Also, at Red Lobster you can get simple stuff like maine lobster tail, crab legs, or shrimp skewers for only 60-100 calories each and very little fat but lots of protein.

    But typically when I go to restaurants now, if I know its something 1000+ calories & tons of sodium & fat & whatnot, I only eat half and save half for another day.
  • annwyatt69
    annwyatt69 Posts: 727 Member
    I learned while taking my last nutrition class that even the calories that the franchises post are not always accurate, and their "light fare" is seldom light. However, my son works at a Texas Dairy Queen and is a food manager there. He had changed things at this particular DQ, so calories, fat content, etc. are not accurate. He omitted the butter and uses a spray and changed the fry oil to Soybean. He also bakes some things instead of fries. Kudos to this DQ!
  • kellystr8
    kellystr8 Posts: 22 Member
    I ate at Panera Bread the last two days and I think I did pretty good (except for the 1/4 carrot cake muffin i had today). I ordered from the You Pick Two menu, 1/2 bowl of the classic cafe salad with chicken/no onions and a cup of broccoli cheese soup yesterday and black bean soup yesterday. Almost 400 cals yesterday and 600 today. I'm going out again next week for an anniversary dinner so I'm definitely going to plan ahead again.

Categories