High cal restaurant dishes
 

I love reading this kind of stuff, it's fascinating. It's just amazing what restaurants will do to make their food taste better than the competitor, to keep people coming back.

I do agree (for the most part) that it is the responsibility of the individual to know what they put in their mouths, but this just seems like crazy extremes, who would expect food to be this unhealthy?

I think about all the times I went to restaurants and didn't care/didn't want to know how many calories/fat were in the food. I was so deliberately blind. Personally (just for me), I think this kind of food ruined my tastebuds for normal healthy foods. How can a baked sweet potato compare to cold stone creamery?

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/sl...56601&GT1=9033

Uno Chicago Grill pizza skins - 2050 calories, 48 grams of saturated fat and 3,140 milligrams of sodium

Ruby Tuesday’s Fresh Chicken and Broccoli Pasta - 2,060 calories, 128 grams of fat (including 60 to 70 of the artery-clotting saturated variety)

Ruby Tuesday's Colossal Burger Colossal Burger: 1,940 calories (without fries!)Total grams of fat: 141 grams

Cold Stone Creamery's Founder's Favorite - 1,740 calories, 48 grams of saturated fat and even 4 grams of trans fat (four times the healthy amount in a day).

Cheesecake Factory Outrageous Chocolate Cake - 1,380 calories (including 32 teaspoons of sugar)

Romano’s Macaroni Grill Twice-Baked Lasagna with Meatballs - 1,360 calories, 38 grams of fat and 3,900 milligrams of sodium

On The Border’s Double-Stacked Club Quesadillas - 1,860 calories, 52 grams of saturated fat and 3,440 milligrams of sodium

On The Border Ranchiladas - 1,870-calories, 46 grams of saturated fat and 3,810 milligrams of sodium

Ok I can count the times I've been to Macaroni Grill on a single hand but I love their bread. I don't really care much for their food but I do like their Lasagna. Granted, I don't eat the entire thing, DH and I would share one or split ours in half. I also never got the Lasagna with a meatball, just the Lasagna alone. I'm still guessing the entire meal is 1000 calories (half lasagna, no meatball, bread). Definitely why it is a very occassional treat.

Edit: Just looked up the regular Lasagna, not great but I'm guessing that meatball is a killer. Regular lasagna is 850 calories, 44 g of fat.

I sure wouldn't have thought that chicken and brocolli pasta would be that much fat or calories. I've ordered that stuff before thinking it was a little healthy.

I know those new bowls at KFC with fried chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn ,and cheese sure look nasty to me. I saw the commercial the other day and mentioned I don't see how anyone could eat that. My 21 yr. old son popped up and said "OH, those things are great, I love em".

Wow, that is extreme -- more the reason why I only occasionally dine out - period (though I have a tendency to shy away from chain places anyways, and the boutique bistro-y restaurants tend to serve healthier fare, but a caloric indulgence nonetheless.) But yea, I can't imagine finishing ANY of those dishes in one sitting. Ok, maybe the quesadilla ;)

Part of that huge calorie count is the portions and sizes. I can't even eat half of what they bring at Macaroni's or Carraba's. You could feed a family of four with some of those dinners.

Jay

Well crap. I've never been to Cheesecake Factory, but now I'll really have to try that chocolate cake sometime...split between three other people, naturally.

Cheesecake Factory is a definite must-try if there's one in your vicinity (and if you can bear the almost-always long wait times), but yea- ALL their portions are obscenely huge. I can't even finish an appetizer in one sitting - and yes! split the dessert.

I agree, those commercials make me sick.

I absolutely HATE Cheesecake Factory. Not only do they not specialize in any type of food (except cheesecake) they feel that each dish should be enough to feed a family of 4. I've never had anything there (except cheesecake) that was even remotely tasty. DH once had a burger that was so tall he couldn't get it in his mouth. Okay, I have to admit, they make a very good cheesecake, but oh, so overpriced! We got 6 slices for FIL's birthday (we each had our own flavor) and we did it takeout--the cost was almost $50! I could have made several cheesecakes for that price.

Give me a Non-Chain restaurant any day!! We have a little Italian place DH and I go to for our Friday lunch, one day, I got the ravioli. Four small crab stuffed ravioli in a very good sauce and a small salad. Just what you need for lunch. We also have a place that does sandwiches and such for lunch--you can get fries or sweet potato fries with your sandwich or burger, but all you get is a taste of the fries--no more than a dozen. I think that is great! Afterall, it is the sandwich that you ordered, the fries and pickle are almost more of a decoration! And to top it off, the owner is really into fitness so they use all non-fat mayo, sour cream, etc. It is great! You won't see that at any chain restaurants!

I love the cheesecake factory but not for their food :) Their food sucks bad but that isn't why you are going there in the first place. Go to the cheesecake factory, ask for a cheesecake to go or ask for one with coffee or whatever you want and it'll be a much better option. Also, On the Border (listed with 2 entrees), also has really bad food so its not some place you'd find me.

Allison - you should've gone to Costco or Starbucks. On my honeymoon, I wanted cheesecake and our hotel was near the cheesecake factory. There was also a borders near us. I went in the starbucks at borders and they had cheesecake factory cheesecakes (a large variety) and it was half the price of the cheesecake factory. So DH and I sat down and split half a cheesecake.

I've made a habit of looking at the nutritional contents of menus where I frequent.........although this is a bit *horrifying*:fr: :fr: I make better choices or split the entree...

I still can't figure out how Chili's steak and Portobella mushroom fajita has over 1800 calories and 45 grams of fat?!:?: If I duplicated this recipe at home, I would guess 1/2 of that!

Yeah---in general for any restaurant I estimate how it would be if I make it at home non diet style and add 4T oil. They do seem to manage to squeeze in more fat and calories than you would think would be possible.

I stand by my original assertion that restaurants have a magic fat injector they use to bump it up.

I want to know how a chicken breast can have 900 calories and still taste drier than sand though.

Chili's is the WORST. They are the ones who can take a chicken breast, grill it, serve it to you bone dry, and it still has almost 1000 calories. I actually add 5T oil when I eat there.

I agree- those look like the grossest things on the planet. What a horrid combo.

I agree Nelie. In fact, if we had planned it better, I could have gotten it at Costco! Our local Barnes & Noble often has cheesecake, but not a great variety. I've never looked at Borders--but it might be true (especially since Borders is right next door to Cheesecake Factory).

But HOW can less than 8 oz. of steak and 6 slices of MUSHROOM, onions have 1800+ calories???? we are NOT counting the guac. It must be marinated in oil/butter. don't tell me the flour tortillas are packing real killer calories too. and sodium content is huge too....my hands float when i washthem.

the Quasidilla salad was WORSE.....over 2300 calories.

And after dinner, a large Turtle Mocha at Caribou Coffee will cost you 730 calories!

I always check online nutritional information first if possible, too.

I think some of the biggest changes I've made are in how I eat out. I used to order whatever I wanted and usually ate all of it.

I am not good at ordering food and eating only half, so in general I order a lot less, and food that's a lot less fattening.

For example, at my fav Mexican restaurant I would order a chicken chimichanga and sometimes even with an enchilada or something. Of course it came with beans and rice and all the chips and salsa you could eat. Now, on the rare occasions I eat Mexican, I get only a single taco or an enchilada, replace the rice and beans with a salad and keep the chips away...

Occasionally I miss the chimi... or maybe I miss the "idea" of it... I might have one again (or 1/2) someday, but not right now...

I've always been kind of a picky eater when it comes to eating out, believe it or not, and most chain restaurants gross me out a little. I like little hole-in-the-wall ethnic places, usually, especially Thai or Vietnamese ones. The Cheesecake Factory -- don't get me started. When my brother comes to visit, he always wants to go there, and I've always thought their food was enormous and yet bland. They can really screw up a supposedly "Thai" dish. Their cheesecake isn't that great, either, compared to the kind you'll find at a nice little family-owned restaurant somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I can always find something to eat at any restaurant when I really want to!! I just always preferred high-quality stuff and hated spending a lot of money on chain stuff.

As for those KFC Bowls, I refuse to believe anyone eats that! It looks like the slop my grandfather used to feed his hogs when I was a kid. :barf:

It is pretty insane how many calories we used to eat before we paid attention to it, isn't it?? No wonder I gained all that weight!

Even at my most careless times of eating, I would never have thought that any of those things were "healthy", but I also would never have guessed they were that high in calories!

LisaMarie, I've always thought the KFC bowls look like all the leftovers scraped together too. Not something that appealed to me.

I thank my lucky stars that I do not like cheesecake...

Jay

Same here and amen!

hi all,

I like eating out! and chile's is my savior right now! i was suprised to see all those shocking high cal and fat cals in ruby tuesdays as well, for dishes that sounded reasonable! anyhow, I'm all for the guiltless grill menu section at chiles!!!!!!!! 1000 cals? no!


the guiltess grill menu chicken platter comes with a half chicken breast, rice, broccoli and corn on the cob...........all for 580 cals! I dont eat my corn either. I love it! I order extra lemon wedges on the side for the chicken, dry? no! At what, 7.60 price wise? you realy get the bang for the buck!

The fajitas, as marble mentioned, I love those too. I got them 1x last month and even did a search on them before going! I got the chicken ones though! I recently read an article that they use a lot of oil on the fajita dish, then add the tortillas and toppings, voila, the cal accumulation. THey do use soy sauce in the fajita dish as well and though I generally love it, last time i had it it was heavy on soy and i could really taste the salt! it did not help my weight loss that week ladies nor my feeling of well being the next day. anyways, please do consider the guiltless grill chicken platter i mentioned, it really is good and at such a price and cal intake, well worth it!

I wish more people or restaurant would consider a health section of this sort! oh, also.........careful, that dish i mentioned.........seems like they sprinkle the broccloli with a spice of sorts and very salty, you could ask they omit this if your watching your sodium. Also, could save about 200 cals. on the dish if you ask them to omit the rice and put extra veggies instead. I love the rice with the chicken though :) and so i go for it! I just dont do the corn so as not to ge the double starch.

I will never eat at Cheesecake Factory again. Not only is their food extremely fattening, it's also very expensive. My hub and son and I went there for LUNCH one day and it cost us nearly $70 for 2 and a half people.

That's just ridiculous.

The cheesecake at this place is only a tiny portion of it.

I actually love everything I've ever had at the Cheesecake Factory. My whole family loves that place. Unfortunately yes, the portions are insanely huge and everything is over-the-top calorie-wise.

It's funny I saw Chili's mentioned, I was just saying to my fiance the other day, why do people hate so much on McDonalds - when Chili's serves you three times the amount of food and calories in one meal?

All this talk about butter-soaked steak is making me hungry. :D

I used to loooooove eating out
 

Thank God the mature, reasoning, logical portion of my brain has been running since I've started eating healthier (outside of one oops). I am doing the calorie counting so eating out for me is not something I can do on a regular basis. That, and I quit smoking the same day I decided to start eating healthier (49 days strong :) ! My body actually feels better now so I'm kinda scared to put junk into it.

With all that said, however, I think eventually when I lose another five pounds and have five more to go I am going to try to account for daily life and have the occasional (once every two and a half to three weeks) treat whether it be a piece of cheesecake or french toast or a cheeseburger. I just think it's important like several others have mentioned that you don't overdo it. For instance, don't eat an entire meal at the Cheesecake Factory -a slice of cheesecake and coffee should suffice, don't get the three egg omelet with 2 sausage and 2 bacon and the french toast, don't get four pounds of fries with the burger. Everything in moderation is game in my book.

Eating healthier has actually made me angry at some of these places. Most people will eat whatever portions are put in front of them. Eating is a mindless activity for many people. It's a vicious cycle with both parties to blame. Have you ever noticed the portions at a high end French place?? You can have a four course meal and not filled stuffed to the gills yet the chef used good cuts of meat, full flavoured cheese, and heavy creams and such - it's all in the portion size.

Research has shown to satisfy a craving it only takes the first few bites - yet we continue to eat the rest.

I also prefer the non-chain restaurants, and there are literally hundreds in New York to choose from. It seems like a lot of areas around the country only have these high calorie high fat sit-down chains. But hey, when I go traveling to FL, I enjoy this rare treat to eat Denney's hash browns! I have it for a few days and then I'm like, yuck, I need to get back to regular food.

I guess I'm one of the odd ones out...When I go to Cheesecake factory, it's for their drinks. They have the BEST peach bellini. But I only have one, and the fiance and I go there maybe once every 2-3 months. It's probably high calorie, but that's my indulgence rather than the fattening cheesecake, which is good, but not "gotta have it" for me. Their food is good, just really really expensive. I usually get a chicken sandwich without cheese, bacon, or mayo. All that comes on it is chicken, tomato, and avocado. It's delicious, and I always have half of it to take home (big portion) but it's not something I couldn't make at home for less than half the price.

Someone mentioned the portion sizes. I ordered a healthier selection at Olive Garden one day and it was maybe a THIRD the size of their normal pasta meals. Just like the WW selections at Applebees are much smaller. But aside from portions, I still wouldn't see any of that as low calorie. I think of low calorie as lean meats with no sauces, no gobs of cheese and goo, whole grain pasta, veggies without any butter or other junk they might add to the cooking, small amounts of whole grain breads.

I certainly wouldn't find anything loaded with grease, cheese, bacon, pepperoni or other greasy meats to be healthy. I wouldn't even find the chicken and broccoli pasta healthy as it's not whole wheat and it's likely loaded in some kind of sauce. And what is it they cook the chicken in? Just plain grilled? Usually not. I have to specifically request plain grilling, no seasonings, nada...just the chicken please. As for the burger, I stopped thinking of any kind of burger as healthy. Now a turkey burger is less UNhealthy, but it's still not the healthiest fare out there. And while I love ice cream and cheesecake, I ruled those out as healthy many years ago.

So while I've never known the exact cals in any of this stuff, I just don't eat it and so I don't concern myself with the cals. If I decide to have an off day and eat something not on my usual plan, I don't count cals anyway, so again, I wouldn't be concerned with how many are in it.

But it is surprising to find the lasagna is way under the chicken and broccoli pasta.

It's also surprising that one of the Applebees WW meals will fill me up. Use to I'd have an appetizer and dessert with a meal, and the meals were much larger.

Lisa, LOL at the "hog slop" analogy of the KFC bowls. I always see the commercial and think that must be what dinner used to look like when I poured the scraps out.

Ugh. I was just at the gym and the tv news was reporting on the super-high calories in chain restaurant foods. One of the chains (can't remember which) manages to get 2100 calories into a broccoli and chicken pasta dish. I can't even imagine how that is possible. Does the sauce contain 2 sticks of butter per serving??? It doesn't even make sense.

I wondered if anyone had gotten the recipe online anywhere. All I could find though was one for Ruby's Sonoran Chicken Pasta. You should see just what's in the Sonoran Cheese Sauce:

6 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup hot water
1 tbsp chicken stock
1 cup half-and-half
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce, or more to taste
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
3/4 cup Velveeta cheese, cubed
3/4 cup prepared salsa (medium hot)
1/2 cup sour cream

OMG, That much fat is almost unbelievable. I would never have guessed. You know the real trick to cooking well is to make things taste great without having to use all of that butter, cheese, and half and half. Anybody could make something taste good if fat and calories were absolutely not limited.

Ain't that the truth! Thank god for herbs and spices!

Not just that. I mean, I kinda allowed for butter and cheese, but sour cream? flour? sugar????? Like, is that 1/2 tsp. of sugar gonna make or break that recipe?

yeah but does the sugar really matter nutritionally either 8 calories out of well over 2000


966 (the official ruby tuesday calorie listing for the dist - from dietfacts)

Quite frankly I look at that recipe and i am having a hard time believing 966 for the dish including chicken and pasta

That recipe must be for more than one serving

Edit-- I ran just the highest calorie 8 ingredients and am already at 2100 calories...

I have to admit, I do like them. And apparently they're very popular!
A good restaurant for dieting is Applebees. They have WW menu items.

I didn't want to fess up, but skinny DH loves those KFC things. And honestly, I've NEVER ONCE been tempted to eat even a bite of his (and I do usually want a bite of his junk food). LOL!

I don't get it! I love the Shrimp Portofino at Romano's Macaroni Grill. I just checked it out for nutrition, now keep in mind it has: Shrimp, spinach, pine nuts, lemon butter, mushrooms and angel hair (?) pasta in it...what's wrong with that? Well I'll tell you!! It has 1,130 calories ~ 720 from fat ~ 80 fat grams ~ 29 Saturated Fat grams ~ and I wanna know HOW?. Now I did bring some home for lunch the next day...but only because it was so good...otherwise I could've :ink: it down. It was a rather large helping...but...still.