Estimating calories in restaurant pizza

I'm going to a small local pizza place tonight and they do not have nutrition information available (I called). I've got my strategy down but I would like to have a piece of pizza as I don't restrict.

So I'm looking at the database and I'm kind of at a loss with what to go with. My instinct is to pick something with a high amount of calories because I have no clue and I'd rather guess over than under. But maybe there's a better way?

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    The only thing you can really do is give it your best guestimate based on something similar in the database or other source. We have a local place here that has enough locations to be required to include their nutritional information. We don't usually eat there, but I use their nutritional information when estimating for our usual pizza joint that doesn't have that information.

    For 1 slice of medium cheese with no other toppings, Dion's (the local pizzeria that is required to provide nutritional information) nutritional calculator shows 240 calories.

    We typically get a medium ham, pineapple, and jalapeno. The toppings in this case don't add many calories as a slice of this on Dion's nutrition calculator shows 250 calories per slice. Most of the calories are in the cheese.

    Another favorite is Pepperoni, red onion, and mushroom...290 calories per Dion's site.

    I use them for reference because they are both local and pretty similar, though Village Pizza is better and more fresh in terms of their ingredients. It's the best I can do IMO.
  • ldaltonbishop
    ldaltonbishop Posts: 95 Member
    edited August 2022
    I just go with a national chain's nutritional data for pizza, and try to pick a similar crust (thin, hand-tossed) and size -- some large pizzas are 16", some 18", etc. There will be some variation in the generosity of sauce and cheese, but you do what you can. If I can't find a match for toppings I choose cheese and then add in individual toppings....two ounces each of onions and mushrooms, for example. It's a guess, but fairly reasonable.
  • ehju0901
    ehju0901 Posts: 350 Member
    I don't get pizza super often, but when I do I usually just skip logging the food. Sometimes it isn't worth the effort and I just enjoy it for what it is and assume I'm going to be over my calories for the day.

    Not the best advice, but it's what I do. :tongue:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
    This is one of the best parts of learning to log food at home.

    I can look at any restaurant food and guesstimate closely enough how many calories it is - because I've learned about portions, ingredients and preparations by using my food scale and the FOOD diary here.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 865 Member
    Pick the closest thing. Even if you are off - one meal on one day isn't going to significantly affect anything that much.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    I just go with a national chain's nutritional data for pizza, and try to pick a similar crust (thin, hand-tossed) and size -- some large pizzas are 16", some 18", etc. There will be some variation in the generosity of sauce and cheese, but you do what you can. If I can't find a match for toppings I choose cheese and then add in individual toppings....two ounces each of onions and mushrooms, for example. It's a guess, but fairly reasonable.

    Supporting this, but just noting that in addition to checking crust type and size, you want to look at how much of the pizza the particular entry considers to be a slice. Some might be 1/6 of the pizza, some might be 1/8 or 1/12.
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
    Thanks, everyone! This was very helpful.