OMG! Calories at restaurants!

[Anonymous]

Did anyone see the article on calories at restaurants? 2500 calories in one pasta dish at the cheesecake factory, or an order of french fries at Five Guys are 1400 calories? I remember reading an article a very long time ago that listed kung pao chicken at 700 calories and I was pretty surprised. I had no idea there were so many calories in menu items now that I would consider normal. I don't expect french fries to be low calorie but not more than I what I would eat in a day cooking at home.

We end up eating out alot and half the time if we go someplace that will have a kids menu like a chain restaurant do not end up enjoying the meal all that much anyway. Ironically, we avoid McDonalds because it is so high fat, high salt, high sugar but now I'm wondering where it is good to go.

[Anonymous]

Le Pain Quotidien in Bethesda has calories counts for each item on the menu. The numbers do not surprise me because the portions are so high. McDonalds is fine if you always eat the Happy Meal instead of the insane adult portions.

[Anonymous]

Also look at food labels, the labels give calories for absurdly small portions. We as a culture are not as informed as we should be about our diets. It should not be a surprise that Five Guys fries contain over 1,000 calories. The portions are huge, they're fried in peanut oil (if I'm not mistaken on the oil).

[Anonymous]

I'm not surprised about Cheesecake Factory- I've always been able to make 3 meals out of one regular-sized entree there. (I don't like that place and don't choose to go there, but my former coworkers chose it for every department lunch.) Plus chicken carbonara is known to be fatty anyway. The PF Changs entree listed was double-fried, right? How could that even possibly sound healthy? Someone ordering anything "double fried" probably doesn't care about calories or doesn't understand the concept.

I recently ate at Le Pain Quotidien and wasn't impressed. Their calorie counts are low because their portions are stingy for the price. Paid $8 for French toast that was literally 2 pieces of wheat bread you couldn't even tell had been batter dipped, and 1 or 2 strawberries, cut up. That's it. $8. My 1.5 year old daughter finished it in like 3 minutes and wanted more.

I think people can still go most places, and a lot more places have nutrition counts on their websites. (Pizzeria Uno does now.) Cream sauces, cheese sauces, giant rolls on sandwiches, are dead giveaways to higher calorie counts. Fried things are usually fattier, but sauteed things might also be. Portion size is also an issue, so I'll usually try to eat half my entree and take the rest home, and maybe start with a salad. (For a hamburger, I like Wendy's - 360 calories isn't too bad - forego the mayo - and you can share the fries.)

[Anonymous]

Portion control is a serious problem in this country. What normal person eats an entire serving of fries at Five Guys??? They overload a huge cup and it practially fills the paper bag they give it to you in. I eat a small handfull and that's it. Sure, it's a waste of money, but I want *some* fries, not a paper bag full.

People in this country have gotten so wrapped up in "value" that they feel they need to see a huge plate of food to justify spending the money to go out to eat. Fine, but make three meals out of it and don't scarf down a bowl of pasta that could feed a whole family just because it's in front of you.

And ditto to the pp that said anyone ordering "double-fried" anything really can't be too concerned about calorie counts to begin with.

[Anonymous]

What article are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Is there a link to the article?

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see the article, too.

[Anonymous]

Here's a link..I saw it on my USA mobile app but this one should work too.. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2010-05-25-extremecalories25_N.htm.

I searched around and most of PF Chang dishes are over 1500 calories. I would normally avoid something that said double fried but I wouldn't think too hard about a pasta and chicken dish. I wouldn't expect it to be low calorie but I'm just amazed at how 1500-2500 calories for one dish is not all the uncommon. I would see something like 800 as a splurge. I used to feel guilt about leaving so much food on the plate but now not so much.

I usually avoid ordering french toast at brunch and get an omelet instead to avoid too many calories and sugar. I just found out my omelet has 300 more calories than the french toast DH has been enjoying.

[Anonymous]

Yahoo had an article couple wks ago about unhealthy salads. My favorite quesadilla explosion salad at chili's is 1400 calories!

[Anonymous]

People in the U.S. have no idea how to make a real salad. They cram them full of cheese and fatty, flavorless toppings in their quest to obliterate the green part.

[Anonymous]

PF Changs- get the Buddha's feast, and eat it with the brown rice.

I really can't believe that people didn't already realize this. It's all about portions.

[Anonymous]

Portions, and realizing that something called a "quesadilla explosion salad" cannot possibly be anything other than loaded with fat and calories. People--just because it's a "salad" doesn't mean it's healthy. Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People in the U.S. have no idea how to make a real salad. They cram them full of cheese and fatty, flavorless toppings in their quest to obliterate the green part.

Where do you live?

[Anonymous]

One thing I miss since moving to America from England is being able to pop into a sandwich bar and buying a simple sandwich with two normal slices of bread and a simple filling-a couple of slices of ham and tomatoes or a thin layer of egg mayonnaise. Sandwiches in America are massive with layers and layers of cold cuts, several sliced of cheese, lashings of mayonnaise in thick slices of bread or subs. Whenever I order a sandwich and stop them at the second slice of ham I get this odd look, like, is that it?