I wish restaurants had to post their calories somewhere.

[Anonymous]

I know most chains do this, but I never eat at chains. We only eat out a couple of times a month, but it's really hard to count calories when you have no idea what is going into the food. It just irks me that McDonalds is required to post their calories in a city like NY, but a fancy restaurant doesn't have to, even though you're probably eating just as many or way more calories than someone eating at McDonalds. Are we as a culture saying that wealthy people aren't fat or something? Not true.

I don't need calories given on a menu or anything, but I think they should be available on line or if you ask.

I'm not overweight yet, and I'm trying to stay that way. I just feel like I need to know just how much it's setting me back when I treat myself occasionally so I can make up for it later.

Anyone else with me or am I nuts?

[Anonymous]

Move to Maryland! Where do you live, OP?

I find that more Maryland restaurants post calorie counts, versus when we lived in VA.

[Anonymous]

I live in DC and I'm talking restaurants like Raskia, Zaytinya, Oyamel, etc. Even our local restaurants like our thai place, diner, etc. don't post them.

[Anonymous]

I think you can extrapolate from chain restaurants what not to order, fettucine alfredo, chimichangas, carrot cake, etc. The nice thing about independent restaurants is that you can ask them to prepare food for you in a healthy way (no oil or butter) or just order something grilled, order a half portion, etc. Ask a lot of questions about how things are prepared.

[Anonymous]

Isn't this part of Obamacare? I believe one item in the health care reform was that all chain restaurants had to post their calorie counts on the menus. I believe it doesn't fully take effect for a year or two, but some have already started (and maybe the states are requiring it also). I think it's a good idea, and I'll often make my decision based on that (skipping cheese and mayo seem to have the biggest impact).

I'm guessing the lobbyists (Restaurant Assn) didn't want it posted at fancier places since a lot of that stuff isn't that great either when it comes to calorie counts. As a pp said, you can probably get a feel for things after a while, in terms of which dishes/ingredients are going to drive the calorie count up.

[Anonymous]

Required in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Eat only 3/4 of what is on your plate. Don't order an appetizer or desert. Welcome to being thin.

[Anonymous]

Stop eating out.

[Anonymous]

I personally find the calorie posting annoying. I am eating out to enjoy myself; i know what healthier optins are as i do not live under a rock. If you are so concerned eat at home where you control preparation and ingredients

[Anonymous]

Something rubs me the wrong way about this being legally required. I understand that it is feasible with chains because the food is produced in a formulaic style in which each serving is exactly liek the one before. And rarely are there changes to the menu.

For fine dining, it is not so easy. Dishes are changed and revamped on a regular basis, ingedients are chosen that are often from different sources based on freshness and quality, an extra pat of butter may be added to crompensate for a drier piece of chicken, etc. I think the burden on the restaurant would be great, particularly if there is a penalty if the calories deviate from what is posted.

Take responsibility for your own health. Choose something that seems healthy and ask what ingredients are in it.

If you are talking about calorie counting, you can always do that by entering the ingredients individually and approximating the amount. It seems to me that you just want the lazy way to calorie count. If so, stick to chains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally find the calorie posting annoying. I am eating out to enjoy myself; i know what healthier optins are as i do not live under a rock. If you are so concerned eat at home where you control preparation and ingredients

I agree--I understand that most restaurants are not healthy--I don't need to be reminded of that when I am trying to treat myself. However, I will admit that when I see calorie counts on a menu that are absurd, I will pick something else. So even though it's annoying, it has forced me to make better decisions.

Then again, I sometimes eat at chain restaurants so my opinion probably counts for less on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

I just ate at Mortons and Capital Grille and they both posted the caloroes. I actually asked why and the waiter said that for any chains (even fine dining) the calories have to be posted now.

Personally I think this is BS. If Im going to eat a steak and mashed potatoes with bernaise OF COURSE it will have a billion calories. But I am going to eat it and enjoy it...whats the need for posting the calories? So people who obsess over them can make comments about how much fat the food has in front of me? I DONT CARE! I indulge once in a while and love it!

[Anonymous]

For fine dining, it is not so easy. Dishes are changed and revamped on a regular basis, ingedients are chosen that are often from different sources based on freshness and quality, an extra pat of butter may be added to crompensate for a drier piece of chicken, etc. I think the burden on the restaurant would be great, particularly if there is a penalty if the calories deviate from what is posted.

This is exactly right. Plus, calories are a horrifically bad measure of how healthy a dish is. If you're trying to eat healthy, calories aren't in the top 5 things you should be concerned about. If your chief concern is calories, may I suggect a boneless, skinless chicken breast, steamed broccoli and brown rice - at home. Let the rest of us enjoy our meals in peace.

Dining is becoming a lost art in this country. It's about the experience as much as the food, or at least it should be. Calorie counts further deteriorate the experience, in my opinion. I'm no small-government, keep the government out of everything libertarian, but Montgomery County is just absurd.

OP - a hour of reading will give you you a basic understanding of which dishes are healthy, and which aren't. Restaurants shouldn't have to spoon-feed you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

For fine dining, it is not so easy. Dishes are changed and revamped on a regular basis, ingedients are chosen that are often from different sources based on freshness and quality, an extra pat of butter may be added to crompensate for a drier piece of chicken, etc. I think the burden on the restaurant would be great, particularly if there is a penalty if the calories deviate from what is posted.

This is exactly right. Plus, calories are a horrifically bad measure of how healthy a dish is. If you're trying to eat healthy, calories aren't in the top 5 things you should be concerned about. If your chief concern is calories, may I suggect a boneless, skinless chicken breast, steamed broccoli and brown rice - at home. Let the rest of us enjoy our meals in peace.

Dining is becoming a lost art in this country. It's about the experience as much as the food, or at least it should be. Calorie counts further deteriorate the experience, in my opinion. I'm no small-government, keep the government out of everything libertarian, but Montgomery County is just absurd.

OP - a hour of reading will give you you a basic understanding of which dishes are healthy, and which aren't. Restaurants shouldn't have to spoon-feed you.

If you don't like the calories, don't look at them. I personally love having them posted, and I was SHOCKED the first time they were posted at some of my favorite chains. Things that I thought were lower calorie options, were far worse than I realized. It helped me make healthier choices. And it really helped me made the choice to eat at home more regularly. Even when making the healthiest choice, it frequently is just crazy how many calories are in some items.

The calorie counts really upset my MIL. She hates having to face the fact that her "healthy" choice is not much better, and sometime worse, than her husbands choice.

[Anonymous]

Sorry I posted above, but I forgot to add that my friend recovering from anorixia and bulimia (but still on and off) was so aggitated when she saw the calories it nearly ruined our meal. She started asking what she could subsititue in the dish to the waiter to decrease the calories. It was embarrassing. I know I know, you are going to say "then do not go eat with her" but I do not see how the calorie thing helps anyone.

Seems to just cause problems.