All Entries For Diet Friendly Dining

The 7 Worst Restaurant Foods in America

We all enjoy eating away from home from time to time and try to make smart choices when we do. Sometimes we sabotage all our best efforts and give in to a moment of weakness. The more you know about Diet Friendly Dining when you are eating Food on the Run the more you will be able to resist temptation.

Recently Eat This, Not That outlined the 20 Worst Restaurant Foods in America. Here are seven you should avoid if at all possible.

Posted 6/28/2010  6:26:29 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 210 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: IHOP Restaurant

Since the first A-frame style restaurant opened in California, the International House of Pancakes has been an American favorite for generations. Although the restaurant construction style and name have been updated, you can still expect to find a delectable stack of pancakes when you visit one of over 1,400 restaurants across the U.S.

In 2007, IHOP Corp acquired Applebee's International Inc and brought two leading restaurant brands together. With a combined restaurant reach of more than 3,300, the IHOP Corporation has become the largest full service restaurant company in the world.

A few months ago we provided a review of Applebee's as part of our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series. Although a complete nutrition guide is not readily available for most of the pancakes, omelettes or burgers, a new IHOP For Me section on the menu provides nutrition information to help you find a meal under 500 calories with 15-20 grams of fat or less.

Posted 3/4/2010  12:58:37 PM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 202 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Mimi's Café

This French-cottage themed restaurant first opened in 1978 as a comfortable place to relax and enjoy a freshly prepared meal. The Simms family started the Café in Anaheim, California and introduced a new combination of ambience and service with convenience and value.

Today you can find Mimi's Cafés operating in 22 states across the U.S. and you will still find warm hospitality and delicious fresh cooked meals. My family recently enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a Mimi's in our community and their menu really caught my eye. I thought it would be helpful to review the healthier menu items as part of our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series.

The varied Fit and Fresh menu can allow you enjoy an evening away from home while also keeping a meal intake under 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less.

Posted 2/4/2010  6:00:14 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 103 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Applebee's

The world's largest casual dining chain has started the New Year with items that are 'unbelievably great tasting & under 550 calories'.

Since Applebee's does 'not provide nutritional information on items, except where required by law', it has been difficult to fully review and highlight healthier menu items as part of our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series.

For several years, the best we have been able to use as a guide at Applebee's has been those entrees highlighted with Weight Watcher POINTS values. For those of us that do not use the POINTS program, it has not been extremely helpful and many times, I simply avoid eating at this restaurant chain. While the new menu items only provide guidance related to calories and doesn't provide other helpful nutrient info such as fat, carbohydrates and sodium, it is better than nothing at all. In our ongoing attempt to arm you with healthier options before you dine away from home, here are some new menu items that may help you keep your meal intake under 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less when you visit Applebee's.

Posted 1/25/2010  6:11:57 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 258 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Golden Corral

When eating away from home, it is important to have an eating plan and strategy to help you remain successful as you move toward your weight loss goals.

One of the typical recommendations when choosing a restaurant is to avoid "all-you-can-eat" places. However, sometimes despite your plans, that is where you end up dining. Here are some things to keep in mind next time you visit Golden Corral

Posted 1/11/2010  6:05:59 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 114 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Ted's Montana Grill

A few weeks ago in my Buffalo Meat is No Bull blog I mentioned having had a delicious Buffalo burger at a Ted's Montana Grill restaurant. I thought it would be good to look at this unique restaurant chain named for the renowned media entrepreneur and environmentalist in our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series. The chain started in 2002 with one restaurant in Columbus, Ohio and has now grown to over 50 restaurants throughout 19 states.

In addition to a great tasting and nutrition conscience menu, Ted's Montana Grill also boasts a deep commitment to the environment. One of their environmentally focused goals is to be 99% plastic free and they re-introduced the paper straw that has not been used in the United States since 1970 to help them work toward goal achievement. If you want a to-go cup or food to go, those come in Bio-Plus Earth Containers and cornstarch based cups that bio-degrade quickly. Reuse is also a part of their environmental plan as well since menus are printed on recycled paper. They also look at non-food related ways to be sustainable by using water-efficient toilets and solar panels for energy and water conservation where possible as well as making all of their restaurants smoke free. At the same time, you find authentic early 20th century craftsmen-style architecture and natural materials used for a classic look and feel and a relaxing dining experience. With all this attention to so many details, is there any food that meets our criteria?

Posted 11/19/2009  6:10:45 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 62 comments

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The Top 10 Worst Restaurant Salads



Everyone loves a top 10 list and many of them provide a good chuckle or two. Today we bring you a more serious top 10 list that instead of a chuckle, may make your gasp. Why? Here are 10 seemingly innocent salads that contain more than 1,000 calories each!





Posted 10/5/2009  6:13:48 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 352 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Romano's Macaroni Grill

Nine months ago Romano's Macaroni Grill made some changes that included a new Chief Executive. Brad Blum's goal is to revitalize the dwindling Italian-food focused restaurant by changing a calorie-rich menu while maintaining happy customers.

Earlier this year we highlighted the unhealthiest restaurants in America as outlined by Eat This, Not That. At that time, Roman's Macaroni Grill rated a D- because it did not offer one dinner entrée with less than 800 calories and 60 menu items contained more than 2,000 mg of sodium. So how do they stack up now?

Posted 9/28/2009  1:00:00 PM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 86 comments

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Why is There So Much Sodium in Restaurant Food?

In our ongoing Food on the Run and Diet Friendly Dining series, one of the most common comments I find relates to the sodium content of the foods highlighted. Many readers challenge how a food containing 1000 mg of sodium can be listed as a healthier option. In responding to this common question let me simply say -- we try to highlight "healthier" choices. When many other menu items contain 1800 mg of sodium or more, 1000 mg is your healthier choice. That does not mean it is right for you or that it is a "healthy" choice just that it is one of your better options when also looking at other important nutrients such as total fat and calories.

Most of us need to pay closer attention to sodium intake than we do, myself included. However, for those with certain medical conditions, limiting sodium intake isn't just something that ought to happen but rather it is imperative that it does. If you are aiming to keep your daily sodium intake below 2300 mg, eating away from home at a restaurant right now will be extremely difficult. Why?

Posted 9/24/2009  6:53:56 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 121 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Chili's Grill

There are nearly 1300 Chili's Grill casual dining restaurants across the country. Last week we learned they will no longer be serving their famous Awesome Blossom. The pile of deep-fried battered onion rings and side of spicy cheese sauce supplied a whopping 2700 calories and was listed as the worst starter in the "Eat this not that!" 20 worst foods in America list. Estimates suggest this one dish contained a fat content that would equal around 67 slices of bacon. Since there is no way this would ever fit into a healthy diet, it is good to see it disappear from the menu.

In our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series, we encourage you to aim for a complete meal that is 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less. Here are some healthier choice guidelines to follow when dining at Chili's Grill.

Posted 9/21/2009  6:45:28 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 91 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Boston Market

UPDATE: Boston Market is switching to lower-milk-fat neufchatel cheese from cream cheese in creamed spinach and reducing the amount of sodium used in all existing menu items, according to this article.

When Boston Market first started, the founders set out to make life easier for busy families by providing "fresh, delicious, home-style meals just like you would prepare and serve at home if you had the time." A rapid growth led to difficult times with the McDonald's Corporation purchasing the chain out of bankruptcy in 2000. Since that time, rebranding and rebuilding have taken place with over 650 company owned restaurants in 28 states throughout the U.S. The rebuilding and rebranding of Boston Market has led to not only delicious home-style entrees, sandwiches, and soups but also a full service catering service and frozen meal availability in many supermarkets.

In our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series, we encourage you to aim for a complete meal that is 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less. Boston Market provides several wonderful home style meals that can help you meet those guidelines while enjoying dinner away from home.

Posted 9/7/2009  6:54:51 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 91 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: UNO Chicago Grill

Cincinnati has chili and Chicago has its own special style of pizza. In the early 1940's, people enjoyed pizza as a snack and not as the main course of their meal. Restaurant owner Ike Sewell desired to change that and in the process started what has become an American tradition -- the Chicago style deep-dish pizza. While the deep-dish pizza is an UNO feature, over the years the ever-expanding restaurant has seen additions to their menu, which include many diner and steak house favorites. When dining at casual dining restaurants, we encourage you to aim for a complete meal that is 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less. Our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series is intended to help you make informed decisions so you can meet that goal. The UNO Chicago Grill provides a very helpful website containing a nutrition kiosk of information that is also helpful in meeting this goal when dining at one of their 200 restaurants found in 31 states in the U.S., the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the United Arab Emirates.

Posted 8/6/2009  1:08:30 PM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 47 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Olive Garden

Our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series is intended to help you make informed decisions when enjoying casual dining. Our ongoing recommendation is to aim for a complete meal that is 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less.

Here are some specific things to consider and helpful suggestions to help you make smart choices when dining at Olive Garden Restaurants, which now offer nutritional information on their website. (They were notorious for not divulging nutrition info in the past!)

Posted 7/16/2009  6:49:03 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 141 comments

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Diet Friendly Dining: Ruby Tuesday

When dining at casual dining restaurants, we encourage you to aim for a complete meal that is 500 calories and 15-20 grams of fat or less. That can be difficult to accomplish at many establishments.
Our ongoing Diet Friendly Dining series, is intended to help you make informed decisions so meeting this goal is a little easier.

Here are some additional things to consider when dining at Ruby Tuesday Restaurants.

Posted 7/13/2009  6:11:06 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 51 comments

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Will You Stand Up for Menu Labeling?

Americans live busy lives and eating away from home has become a way of life for many of us. Surprisingly, studies have found that one third of our calories and one half of our food dollars go to food sources outside of the home. The dailySpark launched the Diet Friendly Dining and Food on the Run series, to help our readers make informed decisions about what they purchase when dining away from home.

On a previous blog I asked the question, "what do you wish casual dining restaurants would do differently?" Many of you shared a similar sentiment as BAMOM19 when she posted, "I wish they would all offer healthier choices, but at the very least should be required to post the nutritional content of all their dishes!"

What if I told you the quest to get nutrition information on menus started in 2003? Would you wonder why you still don't routinely see the information where you dine?

Posted 6/8/2009  6:00:14 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 169 comments

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