Eating Healthier at Chain Restaurants
I
seldom eat at chain restaurants. I much prefer to eat great food
and it’s
worth the time to either cook it myself or find a good restaurant.
Even though I travel a great deal, part of my success in avoiding mediocre food away from home is the same as when I am at home – planning! Both chain and fast food restaurants are now pretty expensive and not only do I save money by, say, bringing my own lunch on the plane, I have a much better meal: it both tastes better and is better for me.
I have reviewed some healthier options from common chain restaurants. Generally you'll find that the recommended dinner meals will fall under about 500 calories or so. Unfortunately, many such chains do not stint on sodium, so if you're on a low sodium diet, be aware!
The following are the reviews of those acceptable meals, along with the nutrition information we've been able to obtain. Note that many chain restaurants no longer provide nutrition information on their websites, so we've posted their nutrition information when it's available to us.
Notes: Menu selections may vary according to restaurant location. If there's a chain restaurant we've missed, let us know about it by sending an email to webmaster@drgourmet.com. We can't guarantee that Dr. Harlan will test all of your restaurant suggestions, but he'll can certainly try to visit them when he is near one.
Applebee's [ PDF ] |
Red
Lobster [ PDF ] |
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