Popular Restaurants with surprising calorie count

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  • danimal5867
    danimal5867 Posts: 390
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    I rarely order in a restaurant without checking the nutritional facts first. And, yes, the sodium levels are completely out of whack in nearly all restaurants.
  • Skinnymunkii
    Skinnymunkii Posts: 191 Member
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    When I first started my lifestyle change, I got a craving for ice cream. I don't keep it in the house, so off we went to Sonic. I looked at the menu board and saw they had a new "mini" size for their Sonic Blasts, and thought to myself...yay! This should be reasonable! So I got one, enjoyed it, and looked it up when I got home. I wasn't very happy to find that even the mini size STILL had around 600 calories.:noway: I swear they put extra calories in their soft serve just to tick us off.:angry:
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    My fave meal out is the Boston Cheesesteak and Cactus Cut fries at Boston Pizza... 1140 calories for the sandwich and another 570 for the fries lol... I'll get it now... maybe once or twice a year and eat half the sandwich. And I'll make sure I run that day haha.
  • gjsmommy
    gjsmommy Posts: 90 Member
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    I just had dinner at Islands Restaurant tonight and saw that their Kaanapali Kobb Salad had a grand total of 1590 calories. I was shocked as many of the burgers were a lot less in calories than that.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
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    A Noodles & Co just opened up by my work, so I looked them up - and I was surprised that there were multiple options for entirely reasonable meals there. Not even being a total weirdo ordering the double this and that other thing on the side, just right there ordering off the menu. You do have to actually research though, because there's a huge range and the stuff you might think is healthy is actually loaded with sugar and the stuff you think is going to be awful turns out not to be. (Tuscan linguine FTW!)

    Also, they have the Soda Machine Of The Future (Of Ten Years Ago), which entertains me no end.
  • duckieee
    duckieee Posts: 7 Member
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    Red Robin is probably my favorite chain restaurant. And I absolutely LOVE their nutritional menu because it is SO customizable. I always get the whiskey river BBQ burger or chicken burger, and on their website, you can customize the burger and find out that the bun alone is 253 calories, and the calorie count for the onion straws and go halfsies on them etc. I LOVE IT! The sodium content is ridiculous, but it's a great way to ballpark customized meals and find out the rough nutritional value of each ingredient that makes up your meal!
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I ate at Red Robin with no planning, and it was a lot of work to find something that was reasonable in the calorie department. I let DD have a milkshake, and a kid's milkshake alone is upwards of 400 cals! And to be perfectly honest, it would've been much better with less sugar and more flavor.
  • susiesweets
    susiesweets Posts: 48
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    I also love Subway, but you MUST resist the cheese and sauce. Their ham is fat-free!

    WHAT!?! I'm sorry but there is no such thing as fat free ham. If it is considered fat free then it is (s)"ham and not ham.
  • MMarvelous
    MMarvelous Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Cheesecake Factory.....nearly everything is over 1k calories.

    I agree. I ate there tonight but I preplanned my meal before I went. I usually get the grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and succotash....I ate half of the meal which was 560 and don't DARE think about getting a slice of cheesecake unless you like eating 700-1200 calories UGH
  • annwyatt69
    annwyatt69 Posts: 727 Member
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    My son is a manager at a Texas Country Dairy Queen and I know what the food is cooked and fried in. When you order the grilled chicken salad, you have to ask for no bacon or cheese or get it on the side. They only have fat free Italian dressing, so I bring my own fat free with me. Now if I want a grilled chicken sandwich, he rinses it before he grills it and that removes the buttery sauce that has all the high calories. He seasons it with pepper and serves it to me with grilled jalapenos on a plate. You can special order anything at a Texas Dairy Queen. Also, fried foods there are fried in soybean oil, which is high calorie, yes, but as healthy as olive oil or safflower oil. Also, many of the calories come from the buttered grilled bun. Ask for them to not butter the bun before it is grilled. The calories shown on MFP can be lowered tremendously by asking them to do simple things.
  • Coming4U
    Coming4U Posts: 93 Member
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    Cheesecake Factory.....nearly everything is over 1k calories.

    I agree. I ate there tonight but I preplanned my meal before I went. I usually get the grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and succotash....I ate half of the meal which was 560 and don't DARE think about getting a slice of cheesecake unless you like eating 700-1200 calories UGH

    Again eat off the skinnyliscious menu...it is fatastic and low cal
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
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    When I go out to eat, I normally preplan my meals. I did so last night when I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for my boyfriend's birthday... that way I know what to expect.

    The one place that really surprised me when I was doing this was Ruby Tuesday. Their food has a lot less calories and sodium than I was expecting and some really great low calorie options for sides (grilled vegetables, spaghetti squash, salad bar, etc). However, just like anywhere you eat, it's possible to get really high counts on both.
  • Molly_Maguire
    Molly_Maguire Posts: 1,103 Member
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    Outback Steakhouse
    Macaroni Grill
    Cheesecake Factory

    --And surprisingly--Taco Bell! I mean I know it's fast food, and no fast food is GOOD for you, but I was pretty shocked to learn that almost all of their stuff is pretty pricey, calorie-wise.
  • lwagnitz
    lwagnitz Posts: 1,321 Member
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    Tropical Smoothie. It's insane. Their smoothies are 300+ calories. I got a wrap once, and opted for the veggie hummus vs the buffalo chicken thinking I was making a better decision. How wrong was I.
  • jillian769
    jillian769 Posts: 247 Member
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    Red Lobster has many good options. I agree with an earlier post about Panera--but stay away from the sweets. Those numbers were SCARY!! I also agree about Starbucks. I can have a "skinny" latte, but was also surprised by the pastries!!

    Really? everything I've ever seen at RL is drenched in butter- even when you don't order drawn butter with Lobster, the fish is drenched in it. And those biscuits are the devil. Seriously, I'm not the most stringent person in the world, but dang folks! lol

    But yeah for SB skinny versions! RIght on!

    They have a separate menu called The lighthouse menu or something like that, I think you have to ask for it, but they have lots of really good stuff on there for decent calories.
  • pamperedlinny
    pamperedlinny Posts: 1,574 Member
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    There is a Salad Creations at the mall near me... it's like Subway w/o the bread and the salad is huge! They are my new fave when I'm there because I can pick anything and decide how good or bad I want to be... even the dressings have all varieties from really heavy to just oil & vinegar from diet to low carb. Best find ever!
  • TeriLynnSpano
    TeriLynnSpano Posts: 103 Member
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    The chicken fajita pita at Jack in the Box has 320 calories. It tastes good too. Thats a good calorie count for one meal. I love the fresh brewed ice tea with lemon and splenda, and during the summer a large is only $1.00:drinker:
  • Prahasaurus
    Prahasaurus Posts: 1,381 Member
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    I just had dinner at Islands Restaurant tonight and saw that their Kaanapali Kobb Salad had a grand total of 1590 calories. I was shocked as many of the burgers were a lot less in calories than that.

    How can a salad have 1590 calories??? What do they put in there, a pound of bacon and gallon of blue cheese dressing??

    --P
  • Erisad
    Erisad Posts: 1,580
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    Salads definitely. My favorite salad from Applebee's is about 900 calories. Also most of Friendly's platters are 4 digits in calories as well. Definitely saddened me. I haven't eaten there in over a year now. Probably for the best. :P
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
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    When restaurants had to start posting calories here in CA, I was shocked at Starbucks. You expect the pastries, but some of the "healthier" items like bran muffins and whole grain bagels are just as high!

    muffins and bagels are super high in calories .....not good for you at all

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