Outback has calorie counts on their menus now

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janesmith1
janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Personally I think it's awesome. We went there the other night with a friend. The DH ate whatever, didn't look at the cals, I looked at the cals and ate their side salad with house dressing (mustard vinegrette), and garlic mashed potatoes. It was in the range of 750 cals - high I know but not as high as what was on the menu. I love calories on the menus. People that want to make better food choices can.

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  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Chain restaurants are required to do this in my city, but I don't really eat at them so it doesn't help! However, on those rare times I do, like taking my grandmother to Olive Garden, I'm always surprised at just how many calories they can cram into certain dishes.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
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    I don't really eat at them either, and I just got back from Europe, so it was a nice revelation to come home to a relatively cheap chain restaurant with cal counts on it.

    The unfortunate thing about eating at high end restaurants is they use tons of butter, cream, butter, fat, etc. If anything we should know what Thomas Keller's restaurants are using in them - all of it is high fat.
  • angeldaae
    angeldaae Posts: 348 Member
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    Ruby Tuesday now has calories printed on the menu for the "light" items. I found it very helpful.
  • Bakkasan
    Bakkasan Posts: 1,027 Member
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    It makes my decisions easy and I tend to frequent ones with available information. It's a good move.
  • islebutterfly09
    islebutterfly09 Posts: 33 Member
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    I have noticed several restaurants in my area doing that, and it is very appreciated.. I tend to eat at them more often if the info is easily accessible.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    For a while, Ruby Tuesday had the calories on their menu for every item. Up until a few months ago when I had a birthday coupon, it was the last time I ate there. :laugh: Looking at the calories made us choose foods we didn't even particularly enjoy, just because they were slightly lower in calories. So we left not even feeling satisfied.

    Now, I don't give a damn what the calorie count is when I go out to eat, because I don't go to restaurants often enough for it to have any impact on my otherwise very good eating habits. Eating one "heavy" meal doesn't make you fat, just like eating one low calorie salad won't make you skinny.
  • anthemforagirl
    anthemforagirl Posts: 81
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    Ask them about the SODIUM content.
  • AmyParker979
    AmyParker979 Posts: 84 Member
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    PPACA (Health Care Reform) requires all chain restaurants with 20+ locations to have their nutrition information available. You should be able to find it now for most chain restaurants.
  • Impy84
    Impy84 Posts: 430
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    I also love cals on a menu. Wish more places did that
  • aspen_matthews
    aspen_matthews Posts: 94
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    @Jane - You're in California so you should be able to find nutrition information at all major chain restaurants now :-)
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
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    I don't eat out much and I certainly do not eat fast food, but I noticed when picking up my boss' lunch from McDonald's that they now have calorie counts on the drive-thru menu. I think this is a great idea. It certainly convinced me that avoiding their food is the right choice. haha.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
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    @Jane - You're in California so you should be able to find nutrition information at all major chain restaurants now :-)

    Thx! Right, I didn't really keep up with that because when we do eat out we never eat at chains.

    I think that all restaurants, especially the "good" "expensive" ones should post their cal counts. :)
  • BodyByButter
    BodyByButter Posts: 563 Member
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    If I go to a Thomas Keller restaurant, I am going to eat what I want and enjoy it without regard to calories.
  • angeldaae
    angeldaae Posts: 348 Member
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    Oh, another one... Waffle House has calories listed right on the menu now, for every item. There are actually some really decent options there. I would have assumed it was all bad.

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