If you could design a healthy fast food restaurant...

  • ...what would you offer? Or what would you want to find at a healthy alternative drive-thru eatery?

    I started this on another thread, but here's what I came up with, just to start...

    Quote:
    If it had to be a drive-thru, then finger foods have to be on the menu. You can't eat a salad while driving. You can't properly eat a burger while driving. So a healthy, seasoned, grilled chicken strip makes sense. Maybe even salmon strips. Ground beef or lamb kibbee. Falafel. All the meats should be free-range, cage-free, grass-fed, wild-caught as appropriate.

    Wraps are an option. The wraps can be made with whole grains and flax. There could be a variety of fillings to choose from.

    Grilled or raw veggies, fresh fruit that's washed and cut when an order is placed. (I hate the precut veggies and fruit. They have preservative all over them and it tastes awful!) And some yogurt-based dips.

    How about sweet potato oven-fries?

    There should be some options for people with allergies.

    Beverages served could include a varitey of iced teas, fruit juices blended with sparkling water. Smoothies.

    Come up with more ideas!
  • For breakfast, I'd offer sweet potato or jicama hash browns. Egg white scramble wraps. I'd use uncured turkey bacon. I'd include spinach, chard and other greens in the scrambles.

    Toasted oatmeal made with steel cut or extra-thick rolled oats. Toss ins can include baked apples, dried or fresh berries, bananas. I'd offer real organic maple syrup or agave nectar.
  • I did, sort of. Right now it's only delivery but eventually I'd like to make it into a little deli. So no drive-thru but certainly fast-ish food.

    My menu has sandwiches, pasta and bean salads, chips, yogurts and desserts. Everything on the menu is low-cal and aims to be low sodium.
  • Most definitely lettuce wrap options for those who don't eat bread.

    --Turkey, avocado, tomatoes
    --Burgers (grassfed)
    etc.
  • The only two things you really need in a healthy fast food restaurant are good, whole foods with lots of veggies... and a nutritional menu, so people can choose what they eat carefully. My typical meal size is 300 calories, so I'd want a really great 500 or 600 calorie "fast" meal I could split into two and save half to snack on later.

    Qdoba is really good about this, despite their heavy burritos: http://www.qdoba.com/calculator.aspx

    I also like the local Boston chain b.good, whose black bean veggie burgers are AMAZING. They offer grilled veggies (fry-cut) as a side, salads, many burger prep options that incl very low-fat varieties, and mini sizes of all their burgers at lower prices. Oh, and everything is freshly made (incl the beef, turkey, & chicken burger patties) and made-to-order. http://www.bgood.com/view_Nutrition.php

    Actually, there are just TONS of healthy "fast food" choices around my campus. For example, Clover foods brands itself as vegetarian, all-fresh, all house-made, healthy "fast" food and uses lots of your suggestions. http://www.cloverfoodlab.com/?cat=27
  • Chipotle is my favorite healthy fast food place.