[mandalinn82]

I think that is very true. However, if a dish is specifically marketed to dieters / health-conscious eaters, they should be expected to conform more carefully.

Sometimes I think it'd be hard to be a restaurant chain

The initial drive to get calorie info available and onto menus was pushed forward by calorie counters. So was the push to get healthier, lower-calorie items. People are very used to having accurate calorie info for factory-made meals (like you'd get frozen, from Lean Cuisine or etc), but didn't recognize the fundamental difference between a factory (where exact proportions of items are measured onto the plate by machines) and a restaurant kitchen (where people are preparing and plating the foods themselves).

So restaurants have tried to meet the demand for calorie info and lower-cal dishes, but have to work within that limitation, or have to go to entirely individually packaged, frozen meals that are prepared in a factory and heated individually in a way that doesn't involve putting them near any of the other foods the kitchen is preparing, where oils may go from item to item being cooked (pretty much limiting them to a microwave!). And if you're getting a frozen dinner, why pay more to get it than you'd pay in the grocery store?

This isn't an Applebees problem specifically. It's a problem for EVERY restaurant where people touch the food being served, from Chilis and Applebees to fast food restaurants (after all, a "large" fry is a container size, but the number of fries in each container when they scoop them in isn't exactly precise...and try getting the exact correct weight on an ice cream cone from a soft serve dispenser). Some portions will be smaller, some will be larger. Some will have more oil, some will have less.

I assume every meal eaten out has to be "ballparked" given available nutrition data, but I still think that having the calorie count available for one analyzed portion is better than having no values to compare at all. And without turning restaurants into food packing plants, there's no way to get exact values in that setting. So I'll take what I can get (at least an IDEA of what a dish will be), and know that it always has to be considered an approximation.

And really, ALL calorie counts are approximations. The calories in your apple, even if measured by weight, may vary based on how much sun and water it got, variety, and how far it has traveled. Your chicken breast's calories depend on the diet that chicken got, the exercise, etc. Nature doesn't use FitDay

[TexasLoser]

Originally Posted by Ashley82290

I agree with the Chili's comment - I feel like they have a lot of good options, too. A few weeks ago I had their Guiltless Grilled Chicken. It was DELICIOUS! It came on a bed of vegetable rice and a side of broccoli. All of that for only 371 calories and 2 g of fat!

Their Guiltless Grilled Salmon is also great - I get it with a double order of steamed veggies and it's wonderful.

Also, they're really good about creating a salad that works for you. To me, the quality of the food is better at Chili's, but it may just be that the Applebee's restaurant in our area isn't so good - hopefully, other Applebee's restaurants are better than my local one.

Do you all think that Applebee's food is made fresh? I had heard that most of it was frozen and pre-seasoned and just cooked or reheated? I guess I got the impression that sauces and things like that weren't made from scratch, but were thawed and heated.

Interesting!

[ennay]

I hate to break it to you but I read a study years back that said most packaged foods were off on calorie count by as much as 25%. Some higher some lower.

Applebees is not intentionally lying, this is how it works in the real world too. I make a loaf of bread and put the recipe into fitday. Assuming I measured precisely, I have error already just from the fact that the ingredients have variation. Then I slice the loaf into 16 slices. Every time I eat a slice I charge myself for 1/16th of the loaf. I do not weigh the loaf and weigh each slice (which STILL wouldnt be accurate unless I ate the whole loaf right then because bread loses water or gains water as it sits in my kitchen). But I know damn well that the piece in the middle is bigger than the piece on the end.

There are times you might go to Applebees and only get 320 calories in that meal.

And you know, today I might be getting my period. I heard your metabolism goes up slightly. Or today it is hotter out. or colder out. etc.

Life averages out. Aim for the middle.

[mandalinn82]

Do you all think that Applebee's food is made fresh? I had heard that most of it was frozen and pre-seasoned and just cooked or reheated? I guess I got the impression that sauces and things like that weren't made from scratch, but were thawed and heated.

Oh, most of it is definitely thawed and heated. But the sauces aren't thawed and heated from a single packet per order...they're heated in a vat and spooned onto each plate. The recipe may call for "2 pieces of chicken", but the chicken pieces, though individually frozen, may be different sizes. And that doesn't even account for the fact that on a flat-top or other restaurant cooking surface, you're cooking lots of things next to other things...your grilled chicken breast next to Table 12's Monster Baconburger...and some of that bacon/beef grease migrates across the grill. And the logistics involved in cooking these foods on a separate surface would be prohibitive.

[TexasLoser]

Originally Posted by mandalinn82

Oh, most of it is definitely thawed and heated. But the sauces aren't thawed and heated from a single packet per order...they're heated in a vat and spooned onto each plate. The recipe may call for "2 pieces of chicken", but the chicken pieces, though individually frozen, may be different sizes. And that doesn't even account for the fact that on a flat-top or other restaurant cooking surface, you're cooking lots of things next to other things...your grilled chicken breast next to Table 12's Monster Baconburger...and some of that bacon/beef grease migrates across the grill. And the logistics involved in cooking these foods on a separate surface would be prohibitive.

I had read about that - different foods being prepared on the same cooking surface or even in the same pans. It really causes problems for those with food allergies. Really makes you think, doesn't it?

[devadiva]

As for the food allergies if that is brought to you wait staffs attention they can give specific instuctions to the kitchen. I am a waitress. That is something they will be very careful with if they can be but you must ask in advance if it is possible to modify an item to be prepared in a manner that willWORK for you. WE are all responsible for our own health concerns and need to take it in our own hands weater with doctor or rest.ect.

[Me Too]

I had the veggie patch pizza and a side salad, brought some home and had the rest for dinner, that's all I ate all day.
Bad me, but oh so good.

[beerab]

Well you'd think that they would have cooked the dishes say 10 times, then taken the average and said something like ~400 calories. Not saying exactly 371 calories. ~400 gives you some leeway IMO.

Obviously they will never be 100% that, but if something is advertized as 370 then it's actually coming out more like 500, then they should advertize it as such. Even if they give it a range like 400-500 calories I'd be like okay yeah, they can't give us exact numbers but I know this is going to be a lot lower calorie than a dish of chicken fettucini alfredo

[jendiet]

omg, I always order those veggie pizzas...LOOOOOVE them. but...I don't go to applebees very much. too broke.

I make my own version at home now:

can of artichoke hearts
can of black olives
green olives
mushrooms
cheese (mozarella or cheddar)
whole wheat high fiber tortillas
alfredo sauce
tomatoes
1 onion
peppers (whatever you like)

optional: you can also make white cheese spinach tortilla pizzas instead. use alfredo, ricotta, and mozarella. top with yummy spinach and minced onions and garlic.

lightly brush tortilla shell with olive oil. lightly spread alfredo sauce on. process the veggies so you can hand spread them easily (minced is best).

evenly apply cheese to tortilla shells. but don't put on thick. next spread veggies out over the shells. You can put the tomatoes right onto the alfredo sauce instead of on top. Next re-sprinkle the shells with cheese (again NOT thick). bake until shells are golden brown.

everyone in the family loves them. And I think $9 pays for about 15 tortillas this way.