Maggiano's - most unhealthy menu ever?

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stuvb12
stuvb12 Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Going there for a business lunch tomorrow. Thinking about braised beef cannelloni since it's ONLY 960 cal and 1960 sodium. Really hard to pick from a menu that looks like this:

http://calorielab.com/news/2011/01/24/5020-calories-for-spaghetti-meatballs-maggianos-nutrition-facts-unveiled/

over 13,000 sodium for spaghetti with meat sauce, is that even possible?

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  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
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    it's a family style restaurant, which means portions feed 4-8 people. it is delicious!!! i love the bruschetta, tomato caprese, chopped salad, rigatoni d, mushroom ravioli el forno, salmon lemon and herb, eggplant parmesan, chicken piccata... actually, it's all great!

    and no, it's not the most unhealthy menu ever. i think cheesecake factory wins that distinction.
  • girlruns
    girlruns Posts: 344
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    Ditto on Cheesecake factory.

    If you only eat 1/2, you come in under 500 calories. Plus you get leftovers!
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    Gross, 5000 cal pasta!

    Yea go for it, it’s one of the lowest cal items there. Even a bowl of soup and salad = 900ish cals. You could hold the dressing but I bet that's not even the worst part.

    Never heard of this place but there are locations in Canada. I don't ever plan on going but ewww, out, out dam fatty restaurant!! Bring on the Whoppers, positively low-cal food in comparison, ha ha. Plus pasta + sauce = 50 cent dinner, why would I give a restaurant $10-20 to do the same?
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
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    Gross, 5000 cal pasta!

    5000 cal pasta divided by 8 servings = 625 cal a serving

    that is pretty reasonable, i think.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    Gross, 5000 cal pasta!

    5000 cal pasta divided by 8 servings = 625 cal a serving

    that is pretty reasonable, i think.

    For $11.25 a dish not pp, I don’t think so. The restaurant would go broke.

    See https://www.maggianoscarryout.com/Pages/MenuPageWebUI.aspx to confirm the cost of “Coach Joey’s Angel Hair Pasta with Sausage" Calories are on the first website the op posted, 5300 calories.
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
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    yes, it is family style, even at lunch. since i've eaten there several times i *know* and am not just guessing. but thanks.
  • ashley0616
    ashley0616 Posts: 579 Member
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    I happen to love Maggiano's, Hubs and I go there for special occasion dinners when we are going to be downtown. They have a gluten free menu which is awesome, as well as many low fat, lower calorie options. It's still a restaurant, so it's not going to be as healthy as eating at home. But you do get a lot of food for the price, and always have leftovers (Hubs and I can eat there for about $50 including wine) and you get to share which is the best! You can also ask that they put anything on the side, including sauces or dressings, and you can skip bread service to save calories. For an eating out treat, I love it.

    I've also read about the Cheesecake Factory. Having only eaten there once, and that was way back in high school, I can't say from experience on that one, but the "Eat This, Not That" guy really hates them.
  • ashley0616
    ashley0616 Posts: 579 Member
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    Going there for a business lunch tomorrow. Thinking about braised beef cannelloni since it's ONLY 960 cal and 1960 sodium. Really hard to pick from a menu that looks like this:

    http://calorielab.com/news/2011/01/24/5020-calories-for-spaghetti-meatballs-maggianos-nutrition-facts-unveiled/

    over 13,000 sodium for spaghetti with meat sauce, is that even possible?

    This web site does not seem reputable to me in the least. Many of the nutrition "facts" are mathematically impossible.

    For example:
    Carbs have 4 calories per gram, fats have 9 calories per gram. Lets look at the caprese salad, which is just mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, basil or spinach, and olive oil with balsamic vinegarette.
    Carbs: 2680 x 4 = 10720
    Fats: 18 x 9 = 162
    Total "calories" for this dish: 10,882
    But the nutrition "facts" list 530 calories.

    Right.

    I don't trust sites like these that have "leaked information" and "secret facts." If you are concerned about nutrition, contact the restaurant directly and they should be able to provide you with ACCURATE information. Even if the calories listed are accurate and the rest is just made up for looks, 320 for a cup of soup is acceptable, as is 4,000 for a family style plate of fettuccine Alfredo. They aren't going to make it the way you would at home, they are using real cream, real milk, regular fat cheese, etc. It's supposed to be decadent, it's supposed to be a treat, not how you eat every day.

    Edit: Sorry, to answer your original inquiry: order something off the seafood menu. Ask them to have it steamed or poached, no extra butter or oil, with steamed no butter veggies on the side and rice. They will do that for you, and you'll have a delicious high protein lunch for very few calories.
  • stuvb12
    stuvb12 Posts: 4 Member
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    I've eaten at Maggiano's before, but this is the first time I'm going there thinking about calories. That's true that the portions are really large and probably won't eat it all at one sitting, it was just shocking looking at the nutrition facts. They don't publish their nutrition on their website or anywhere really. Some person kept asking and eventually got them faxed and put that online. A lot of their menu isn't on that faxed list either. Sounds like I shouldn't even look at Cheesecake Factory's nutrition if I think this is bad.
  • steffilily
    steffilily Posts: 149
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    When I come across a restaurant like that, i pick a dish that I would really love to have and see if half of that will still be good for me. Then as you order, ask the waiter to also bring a to go box so that as soon the dish arrives, put half in that box and put it out of sight then enjoy your meal. You might even be allowed a piece of bread if they serve that for the table.
  • rthompson81
    rthompson81 Posts: 305 Member
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    If I went there I would order a chopped Italian salad sans dressing, and add grilled chicken or grilled shrimp. You can spice it up with limes as your salad dressing, or ask for a little balsalmic vinegar (not balsalmic vinegarette).

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