Unhealthy Kid’s Food

As featured on MSN, the following is an article byDave Zinczenko and Matt Goulding from Men’s Health magazine, as featured on MSN.

The Worst Restaurant Foods for Kids

The restaurant industry has declared war on our kids’ waistlines. Eat This, Not That! helps parents fight back.

By Dave Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, Men’s Health

Childhood obesity rates in America have tripled since 1980. Today, 16 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight or obese. In addition to those 9 million children who are already in trouble, an additional 15 percent of American kids are classified as “at risk of becoming overweight or obese.”

We’re not just talking baby fat here—70 percent of overweight adolescents end up overweight or obese in adulthood. And since obesity increases your odds of heart attack, stroke, and early death of all causes (sometimes by as much as 33 percent), consider the impact of an entire generation of overweight children on our country’s health care system—and families. It’s a chilling thought, especially if one of those children is your own.

In spite of these terrifying statistics, the restaurant industry has done little to help combat the problem. If anything, the overstuffed, fat- and calorie-packed kids’ meals on many chain restaurants’ menus indicate that they’re just making things worse. What’s even more frustrating is that it’s hard to tell how good—or atrocious—any particular food item can be just by looking at the name. Who knew a kids’ turkey burger could pack half a day’s worth of calories? Or a simple plate of spaghetti and red sauce could have the sodium equivalent of FOUR large orders of McDonald’s french fries? Luckily, Eat This, Not That! is here to help you order smart and sensible food for your children when you’re eating away from home. Skip these dietary disasters to help keep your kids lean, strong, and healthy.

Worst Kids’ Side: Bob Evans Smiley Face Potatoes

• 524 calories
• 31 g fat (6 g saturated, 0 g trans)
• 646 mg sodium
• 57 g carbs

Not even an extended bath in hot oil could wipe the grins from the faces of these creepy-looking potatoes. When eating out, side dishes make or break a meal, and with more fat and calories than Bob’s Sirloin Steak, this side falls woefully into the latter category. Let this be a lesson to all the kids out there: Just because they’re smiling doesn’t mean they’re nice. Choose the Home Fries instead for a fraction the calories and a quarter the fat.

Eat This, Instead: Home Fries

• 86 calories
• 7 g fat (1 g saturated)
• 547 mg sodium
• 27 g carbs

Worst Kids’ Sandwich: Au Bon Pain Kids’ Grilled Cheese

• 670 calories
• 41 g fat (25 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
• 1,060 mg sodium

Au Bon Pain turns a simple sandwich into a complicated mess—this grilled cheese has as much saturated fat as 25 strips of bacon! The Au Bon Pain kids’ menu contains just as many items over 500 calories as under, so it’s important to be vigilant. Choose the small mac ‘n cheese to satisfy your kid’s cheese cravings for a mere one-third the calories and none of the heart-harming trans fats. And to keep your own diet trans fat-free, avoid any item on this list of the trans-fattiest foods in America.

Eat This, Instead: Kids’ Macaroni and Cheese

• 250 calories
• 14 g fat (9 g saturated, 0 g trans)

Worst Kids’ Mexican Meal: On the Border Cheese Quesadilla

• 850 calories
• 66 g fat (26 g saturated)
• 1,250 mg sodium
• 26 g carbs

This quesadilla accounts for half the calories your child should consume in an entire day (that’s nearly 3 McDonald’s cheeseburgers, for comparison). It also comes super-stuffed with sodium, which is especially bad for kids because it makes them thirsty, which means they’re more likely to drink an excess of super-sweetened, high-calorie fruit juice or soda to compensate. Talk about a real diet disaster. Choose a soft chicken taco, but order it without the fat- and calorie-packed rice and beans.

Eat This, Instead: Soft Chicken Taco

• 250 calories
• 11 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
• 910 mg sodium
• 24 g carbs

Worst Kids’ “Healthy” Burger: Ruby Tuesday Kids’ Turkey Minis and Fries

• 873 calories
• 46 g fat
• 88 g carbs
• (Sodium content not listed)

In a perfect world, ground turkey is leaner than ground beef and a turkey burger is a decent thing to feed your kid. But Ruby Tuesday finds a way to confound all expectations by cramming half a day’s worth of calories into these tiny burgers. We chose the turkey version because it presents itself as a healthier alternative to the beef burgers, but in reality it has only 44 fewer calories than the mini-cheeseburger with fries. Not exactly a “healthy” alternative at all. Discover other atrocious “health” foods on our list of the 14 worst “healthy” foods in America.

Eat This, Instead: Chop Steak with Mashed Potatoes

• 403 calories
• 30 g fat
• 15 g carbs

Worst Kids’ Spaghetti: Romano’s Macaroni Grill Fettuccine Alfredo

• 890 calories
• 67 g fat (38 g saturated)
• 1,450 mg sodium
• 53 g carbs

This simple dish of spaghetti and white sauce serves up nearly three-fourths of your kid’s daily sodium allowance—or, about as much salt as you’d find in 4 large orders of McDonald’s french fries. It’s also packed with saturated fat and has the caloric equivalent of 6 Hostess Twinkies. Order a kids’ cheese pizza to trim nearly half the calories away. Discover other cool calorie-saving tricks from 10 ways to make fast-food healthy.

Eat This, Instead: Mona Lisa’s Cheese Masterpizza

• 480 calories
• 14 g fat (8 g saturated)
• 940 mg sodium
• 62 g carbs

Worst Kids’ Drink: Baskin Robbins Made with M&M’s shake (small)

• 980 calories
• 36 g fat (22 g saturated, 1 g trans)
• 129 g sugars
• 153 g carbs

It’s a marvel of modern food science that Baskin Robbins can fit this much fat and sugar into a 16-ounce cup. To do so, it took a reckless sense of abandon and over 70 ingredients (including many from this list of the most controversial food additives). All told, it has more calories than 4 packs of M&Ms and as much sugar as you’ll find in 13 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts! A word of warning about super-sweetened drinks: the average American consumes an extra 400 calories from sugar-sweetened beverages every day. The fastest way to see your kid’s belly grow is to feed him super-sweetened juices, smoothies, sodas and milkshakes. The Drink This, Instead: Smoothie should be consumed only as a dessert, and only on very special occasions.

Drink This, Instead: Strawberry Citrus Fruit Blast (small)

• 350 calories
• 1 g fat (0 g saturated, 0 g trans)
• 85 g sugars
• 89 g carbs

Worst Kids’ Meal in America: Chili’s Pepper Pals Little Chicken Crispers with Ranch Dressing and Homestyle Fries

• 1,110 calories
• 82 g fat (15 g saturated)
• 1,980 mg sodium
• 56 g carbs

Most kids, if given the choice, would live on chicken fingers for the duration of their childhood. If those chicken fingers happened to come from Chili’s, it might be a pretty short life. A moderately active 8-year-old boy should eat around 1,600 calories a day. This single meal plows through 75 percent of that allotment. So unless he plans to eat carrots and celery sticks for the rest of the day (and we know he doesn’t), find a healthier chicken alternative. Chili’s Pepper Pals menu has one of the most extensive collections of kids’ entrees and side dishes in America, all of which prove considerably healthier than this fried chicken disaster.

Eat This, Instead: Pepper Pals Grilled Chicken Platter with Cinnamon Apples

• 340 calories
• 8 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
• 755 mg sodium
• 38 g carbs

The trouble with your kids’ waistlines isn’t limited to fat-packed entrees and oil-dripping sides. Avoid any of these 14 worst “healthy” smoothies no matter how much your kid begs. As for food that you can feed your kids, check out our list of the best foods for kids. It should show you that the battle with the bulge isn’t over yet.

Jack in the Crack

Jack in the Box–home of the jalapano poppers (except when TGI Friday’s made and sold them as a frozen food at grocery stores), information about the location of angus beef, and–how can I forget–making the antenna ball come back to pop culture.

If you go to Jack’s office you can have a number of fun activities, including a prank call widgit, which makes me wonder who exactly JitB’s demographic is.  Growing up, I certainly did not eat here often because my family thought it was too expensive.  Then, my mom heard about their MSG levels and felt justified for not spending “ten dollars on some greasy burger that I can make at home for $4, and it’ll be way healthier, I’m tell you that right now.”

It didn’t matter to me as long as we got to Del Taco, really.

But in searching for JitB’s MSG levels, I found this clip.  I have no idea how it’s relevant, but I wanted to share it.  Because it’s funny.  And ridiculous.

Anyway, I always agreed with my mom that their food was too expensive, and I still feel the same way about it today.  We knew they were expensive because the burgers looked kind of the way they looked in the promo pictures.

That is a big deal to my mom, the presentation.  But so is having hot food, which is what they were really pushing in the 70’s:

But I’m not sure what they were doing in the 80s by blowing him up.  I think, though, that it was the same stunt they used recently by making Jack “disappear.”  They could always go back to interviewing adorable children who struggle to eat the mammoth–size burgers they offer:

And, if that fails, there’s always the “generational inheritance” thing they’ve got going with introducing Jack’s children into the commercials.

Jack in the Box packaging has changed as much as their commercials have.  Today, they are using very modern-looking typeface (opposed to the paper wrappers here) to this:

Here’s hoping they keep the mascot alive.

Podcast

Download Tasty Baubles – Podcast 1

The above link will take you to my first-ever podcast.  In it, I discuss the blogs I follow (Cake Wrecks and OC Mexican Restaurants) and why.

Talk about representing!

Freshness Guaranteed

Today, I introduce you to yet another fast food joint dedicated to Mexican cuisine: Baja Fresh

Like a wise person once said–Mexican food is all the same in that it uses all the same ingredients.  Well, you can hear the words directly.  Fast-forward, if you want, to 2:53 for the direct commentary.

Despite the fact that it truly does consist of the same basic ingrediants–cheese, beans, and meat wrapped in a tortilla–I am never disappointed with that combination.

So, Baja Fresh has a slogan this year:

“Freshness is our first ingredient.”

Can’t you tell?  They’ve got the food wrapped in foil, then stuck inside the paper “Baja Fresh” wrapper, then that is put into the Baja Fresh paper bag envelope, which is accompanied by the napkin and your choice of fresh salsa from a cart (which you put into spacious to-go-containers) in an even larger Baja Fresh bag.

With that kind of encasing, I can’t see how the food won’t be fresh!  But that didn’t stop one Matthew Hoffman from visiting…

Clearly, it’s a fun-filled fast food fantasy land where people with spiky hair can join the hired help and serenade customers with Enrique Iglesias.

To find the nearest Baja Fresh, click here and have the Chicken Salad Wrap.  It’s super tasty.

Colantro Picker

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Sugar And Spice

The finest details–today, I offer to you the most absolute of branding touches.

Notice, if you will, Exhibit A (above).  I thought the fast food brand on Ketchup mackets was clever, but this is a whole new ballgame.  Burger King has raised the bar and branded their pepper, sugar, and salt packets.  It almost makes me respect them, but then I remember their creepy ad campaign.  That’s just wrong.

Who in their right mind wants to sponsor a company whose mascot is a life-size creeper who looks like he wants to pimp your [expletive] and make you [expletive] [expletive] [expletive] [expletive]?  Case in point:

At one point, I think they were really pushing the idea that their burgers were grilled over an open flame.  I think that’s called foreshadowing.

It also makes me really happy that food commercials today use fake food.  That’s just gross.

But I have always been a fan of the Burger King french fry.  I am not sure what it is about the BK fry, but even their new french fry containers, which have transformed from those wax paper wrappers like every other food chain thus far, into Exhibit B:

I hate to say it, but this is just another company trying to cash in on Apple’s -pod suffix.  I also hate to bring up how the Burger King is just like the Jack in the Box head, only creepier.  Have we forgotten already?

Amazingly enough, this was taken for some random reason that you can figure out by clicking here.

I am anxious for Burger King to have a normal mascot, someone who isn’t creepy, and using regular “We grill meat the way it’s supposed to be–over an open flame” kind of ads, instead of ones that feature a playboy Balla who is good with the ladies.

I don’t want burgers from him.  Or fries.  Or pepper.  Or salt.  Definitely not sugar.

America’s Unhealthiest Restaurants

MSN has also featured this following article, provided by Men’s Health, written by Dave Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.  I’m really glad they included alternatives, but most of all–I am SHOCKED that Long John Silver’s isn’t listed here!  Whaaaaaaaaaat??

Your favorite fast food restaurant is often like your favorite city: Visit some neighborhoods and you live the high life. Visit others and you’re just plain asking for trouble. And that’s where Eat This, Not That! comes in: We’ve analyzed and graded 66 different chain restaurants—fast food and sit-down—to determine which ones have healthy options, and which could turn out to be diet disasters. What we found will surprise you. Specifically, some of the fast food joints you’ve come to think of as terrible for you actually ranked alright—McDonald’s scored a B+, for example, so the Micky D’s drive-through just might be your fast-lane to weight loss. Something even more shocking, though: More than half of the sit-down restaurants we graded ended up with our lowest scores!

To separate the commendable from the deplorable, we calculated the total number of calories per entrée. This gave us a snapshot of how each restaurant compared in average serving size—a key indicator of unhealthy portion distortion. Then we rewarded establishments with fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, as well as offering whole-wheat bread. Finally, we penalized places for excessive amounts of trans fats and menus that temp you with gut-busting desserts. Hey, if the neighborhood is crowded with shady characters, sooner or later, one of them will jump you.

Here’s our list of the Worst Restaurants in America. It’ll help you stay on the safer side of town.

Baskin-Robbins: D+

We thought we’d see some improvements after we identified Baskin’s Heath Shake as the Worst Drink on the Planet. But all they did was lower it from 2,300 to 1,900 calories, leaving an almost equally egregious drinkable disaster to set back unsuspecting sippers. It’s typical of the menu there; B-R’s soft serve is among the most caloric in the country; the smoothies contain more sugar than fruit; and most of what Baskin sticks into a cup winds up with more fat than a steakhouse buffet. Check out our list of the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America to see other liquid offenders. If you learn how to make smart choices when you sip, you can lose a few pounds a month—without giving up your favorite foods or ever dieting again.

Survival strategy: With frozen yogurt, sherbet, and no-sugar-added ice cream, Baskin’s lighter menu is the one bright spot. Just be sure to ask for your ice cream in a sugar or cake cone—the waffle cone will swaddle your treat in an extra 160 calories.

Carl’s Jr.: D+

Most fast-food restaurants today are making at least some attempt to offset their bulging burgers and deep-fried sides with healthier options such as lean sandwiches or yogurt parfaits. But Carl’s Jr. is swimming against the nutritional tide, trying to attract those with hearty appetites and less concern about fat, salt, and calories. The lightest item on the breakfast menu, for instance, is the Hash Brown Nuggets—but even they have 21 grams of fat, and 5.5 of them are trans fats. (As a rule, you should try to get 2 grams or fewer of the stuff in an entire day!) The burgers are worse, and there’s not a side on the menu that hasn’t been given a long, bubbling bath in their trans-fatty frying oil.

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More Healthy Eating Advice

• Best and Worst Burgers
• America’s Healthiest Supermarket Foods
• Search: Low-Calorie Diets

Survival strategy: Find another place to grab lunch. Failing that, you should settle on either the Charbroiled Chicken Salad with Low-Fat Balsamic Dressing or the Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich—the only sandwich on the menu with fewer than 400 calories.

Denny’s: D+

Too bad the adult menu at Denny’s doesn’t adhere to the same standard as the kids’ menu. The famous Slam breakfasts all top 800 calories, and the burgers are even worse. The Double Cheeseburger is one of the worst in the country, with 116 grams of fat, 7 of which are trans fats. Make sure you try to avoid it whenever possible.

Survival strategy: The Fit Fare menu gathers together all the best options on the menu. Outside of that, stick to the sirloin, grilled chicken, or soups. For breakfast, order a Veggie Cheese Omelet or create your own meal from à la carte options such as fruit, oatmeal, toast, and eggs.

Dairy Queen: D+

Dairy Queen’s taste for excess rivals that of other fast-food failures such as Carl’s Jr. and Hardees. But unlike Carl’s, DQ offers an avalanche of abominable ice cream creations to follow up its sodium-spiked, trans-fatty foods. Here’s a look at one hypothetical meal: A Bacon Cheddar GrillBurger with onion rings and a Small Snickers Blizzard—a staggering 1,740-calorie meal with 2,640 mg sodium and 83 grams of fat, 2 grams of which are trans fats.

Survival strategy: Play solid defense. Skip elaborate burgers, fried sides, and specialty ice cream concoctions entirely. Order a Grilled Chicken Sandwich or an Original Burger, and if you must have a treat, stick to a small soft-serve or a small sundae.

Ruby Tuesday: D+

The chain earned its fame from a hearty selection of hamburgers. The problem: They average 75 grams of fat apiece—more than enough to exceed the USDA’s recommended limit for the day. Even the veggie and turkey burgers have more than 850 calories! The chain rounds out its menu with a selection of appetizers than hover around 1,000 calories (supposedly to be split four ways), a smattering of high-impact entrées like potpie and ribs, and sloppy selection of salads that’s just as bad.

Survival strategy: Solace lies in the three Ss: steak, seafood, and sides. Sirloins, salmon, and shrimp all make for relatively innocuous eating, especially when paired with one of Ruby Tuesday’s half-dozen healthy sides such as mashed cauliflower and baby green beans. Other than that, think Mick Jagger, and think about occasionally saying goodbye to Ruby Tuesday!

Chili’s: D

From burgers to baby back ribs, Chili’s serves up some of the saltiest and fattiest fare on fast-food row. In fact, with 3,810 mg of sodium and 122 grams of fat, Chili’s Smokehouse Bacon Triple Cheese Big Mouth Burger earns the distinction as being one of the worst burgers in America. The Guiltless Grill menu is Chili’s attempt to offer healthier options, but with only eight items and an average sodium count of 1,320 mg, there’s meager hope for nutritional salvation.

Survival strategy: There’s not too much to choose from after you omit the ribs, burgers, fajitas, chicken, and salads. You’re better off with a Classic Sirloin and steamed vegetables or broccoli. Another decent option is the Chicken Fajita Pita with Black Beans and Pico de Gallo. The appetizers are off limits—the Texas Cheese Fries with Jalapeño-Ranch Dressing has 2,070 calories, 160 grams of fat, and 73 grams of saturated fat!

Uno Chicago Grill: D

Uno has some serious strikes against it: The chain invented the deep-dish pizza, they encouraged gluttony with their Bigger and Better menu, and in 1997 they faced false-advertising charges for erroneously claiming that some of their pizzas were low in fat. They’ve cleaned up some of the more conspicuous health hazards and have increased nutritional transparency at all of their stores, but from appetizers to desserts, this menu is still riddled with belt-busting fat.

Survival strategy: First off, cast aside the bloated breadstick that Uno tries to sneak onto most plates. Next, choose flatbread over deep-dish pizzas—it could save you more than 1,000 calories. Beyond that, stick to soups or entree items served with mango salsa.

Chevy’s: D

Don’t let the made-fresh-daily shtick distract you; Chevy’s massive portions push many of meals beyond the 1,000-calorie threshold. The Taco Trader’s menu has three strikes against it: 1.) The consistently dangerous amount of fat in its entrees (the average salad has 67 grams); 2.) the outrageous salt levels that make it difficult to find a meal with fewer than 2,000 mg of sodium; and 3.) the chain earns its poor score by failing to offer complete nutritional disclosure. It provides no information for its appetizers or quesadillas, for instance, and although it maintains it uses trans-fat free oils, there’s no trans-fat data for the full entrees.

Survival strategy: The best items on the menu are the Homemade Tortilla Soup, with just 393 calories and a full 26 grams of protein, and the Santa Fe Chopped Salad, which has only 470 calories when you order it without cheese. If you can’t resist an entrée, order it without all the fixin’s—tamalito, rice, sour cream, and cheese. That should knock more than 300 calories off your meal.

On the Border: D-

On the Border is a subsidiary of Brinker International, the same parent company that owns Chili’s and Romano’s Macaroni Grill. It should come as no surprise then that this chain is just as threatening to your health as its corporate cohorts. The overloaded menu offers appetizers with 120 grams of fat, salads with a full day’s worth of sodium, and taco entrées with a horrific 960 calories—and that’s the calculation without rice and beans. Border crossing is a decidedly dangerous enterprise.

Survival strategy: The Border Smart Menu highlights four items with fewer than 600 calories and 25 grams of fat. Those aren’t great numbers, considering they average 1,800 mg of sodium apiece, but that’s all you’ve got to work with.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill: D-

For years now we’ve been on Romano’s case to clean up the menu at his beloved Macaroni Grill. So far we’ve had no luck. This Italian grease spot serves some of the worst appetizers in the country, offers not one dinner entrée with fewer than 800 calories, and hosts no fewer than 60 menu items with more than 2,000 mg of sodium—almost an entire day’s worth of salt! A select few menu items earn the restaurant’s Sensible Fare logo—a fork with a halo over it—but unfortunately these items can still carry up to 640 calories and 25 grams of fat.

Survival strategy: Macaroni Grill will let you build your own dish. Ask for the marinara over a bed of the restaurant’s whole-wheat penne, and then top it with grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. Just beware their salads—the Seared Sea Scallops Salad has more than 1,000 calories and 90 grams of fat!

Baja Fresh: D-

It’s a surprise Baja Fresh’s menu has yet to collapse under the weight of its own fatty fare. About a third of the items on the menu have more than 1,000 calories, and most of them are spiked with enough sodium to melt a polar icecap. Order the Shrimp Burrito Dos Manos Enchilado-Style, for instance, and you’re looking at 5,130 mg sodium—that’s more than 2 days’ worth in one sitting!

Survival strategy: Unless you’re comfortable stuffing 110 grams of fat into your arteries, avoid the nachos at all costs. In fact, avoid almost everything on this menu. The only safe options are the tacos, or a salad topped with salsa verde and served without the belly-busting tortilla bowl.

Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback, T.G.I. Friday’s: F

These titans of the restaurant industry are among the last national chains that don’t offer nutritional information on their dishes. Even after years of badgering their representatives, we still hear the same old excuses: It’s too pricey, it’s too time-consuming, it’s impossible to do accurately because their food is so fresh, or we have too much variety. Our response is simple: If nearly every other chain restaurant in the country can do it, then why can’t they?

Survival strategy: Write letters, make phone calls, beg, scream, and plead for these restaurants to provide nutritional information on all of their products. Here’s the contact information for each of the restaurants that refuse to fess up!

• Applebees: 888-59APPLE, or send an e-mail from this link
• IHOP: 818-240-6055 (press 1 for Guest Visit issues)
• Outback: send an e-mail from this link
• T.G.I. Friday’s: 800-FRIDAYS

For a comprehensive Restaurant Report Card on all of the other fast-food and chain restaurants, please click here. You can also join the Eat This, Not That! premium Web site, which acts as a 24-hour-a-day online personal nutritionist, offering other useful tips, tricks, hints, and insights into navigating the restaurant industry’s nutritional landmines and making the best eating choices each and every time. Or, check out the regular site for other great articles—like the 20 worst foods of 2009.

America’s Best Fast-Food Restaurants

This article is featured today on MSN and has the scientifically-proven proof about which Fast Food chains are the most healthy for us–HURRAH!!

It was provided by Men’s Health and was written by Dave Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.

Eating out invariably raises a number of tricky questions: sit down or drive through? Burgers or pizza? Thin or stuffed crust? Choosing one over the other could mean saving hundreds of calories in a single meal, up to 50 pounds of flab in the course of a year, and countless health woes over the course of a lifetime. That’s why Eat This, Not That! launched an investigation and put 66 major chain restaurants under the nutritional microscope—so that you and your family can continue to eat out, but do so knowing the types of insider tips and savvy strategies that can help melt fat all year long. And the good news is that many fan favorites scored top marks!

To separate the commendable from the deplorable:

• We calculated the total number of calories per entrée. This gave us a snapshot of how each restaurant compared in average serving size—a key indicator of unhealthy portion distortion.
• We rewarded establishments with fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, as well as offering whole-wheat bread.
• We penalized places for excessive amounts of trans fats and menus that temp you with gut-busting desserts. Hey, if the neighborhood is crowded with shady characters, sooner or later, one of them will jump you.

What we ended up with is the Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Report Card, which will show you how all of the nation’s largest eating establishments stack up nutritionally.

Check out those restaurants that scored a B+ or higher:

Chick-fil-A: A-

Between the breakfast and lunch menus, there are only two entrées at Chick-fil-A that break 500 calories, a rare feat in the fast-food world. What this means is that you can’t possibly do too much harm—especially if you stick to the chicken. And unlike the typical fast-food chain, Chick-fil-A offers a list of sides that goes beyond breaded and fried potatoes and onions. (Just beware the large cole slaw, which adds an extra 600 calories to your daily intake!) That’s why we dub the Atlanta-based chicken shack one of our all-time favorite fast-food restaurants.

Also, be sure to check out our exclusive list of the best and worst restaurants for kids to see why Chick-fil-A receives an even higher grade when it comes to kids’ meals.

Survival strategy: The worst thing you can do is supplement your meal with a milkshake—not a single cup has fewer than 600 calories. And instead of nuggets or strips, look to the Chargrilled Chicken Sandwiches, which average only 320 calories apiece.

Subway: A-

A menu based on lean protein and vegetables is always going to score well in our book. With more than half a dozen sandwiches under 300 calories, plus a slew of soups and healthy sides to boot, Subway can satisfy even the pickiest eater without breaking the caloric bank. But, despite what Jared may want you to believe, Subway is not nutritionally infallible: Those rosy calorie counts posted on the menu boards include neither cheese nor mayo (add 160 calories per 6-inch sub), and some of the toasted subs, like the Meatball Marinara, contain hefty doses of calories, saturated fat, and sodium.

Survival strategy: Cornell researchers have discovered a “health halo” at Subway, which refers to the tendency to reward yourself or your kid with chips, cookies, and large soft drinks because the entrée is healthy. Avoid the halo, and all will be well.

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More Healthy Eating Advice

• America’s Healthiest Supermarket Foods
• Best and Worst Burgers
• Search: Low-Calorie Diets

Jamba Juice: A-

Jamba offers a viable and tasty solution to the dearth of fresh fruits and vegetables in the American diet: Stick it all in a blender and let us slurp it up. But make this your rule: If it includes syrup or added sugar, it ceases to be a smoothie. Jamba Juice makes plenty of real-deal smoothies, but their menu is sullied with more than a few faux-fruit blends. Just make sure you choose the right one.

Survival strategy: For a perfectly guilt-free treat, opt for a Jamba Light or All Fruit Smoothie in a 16-ounce cup. And unless you’re looking to put on weight for your new acting career, don’t touch the Peanut Butter Moo’d, which has more sugar than an entire bag of chocolate chips!

Au Bon Pain: A-

Sure the menu has its pitfalls, but what menu doesn’t? The bottom line is that Au Bon Pain combines an extensive inventory of healthy items with an unrivaled standard of nutritional transparency. Each store has an on-site nutritional kiosk to help customers find a meal to meet their expectations, and the variety of ordering options provides dozens of paths to a sensible meal.

Survival strategy: Most of the café sandwiches are in the 650-calorie range, so make a lean meal instead by combining a hot soup with one of the many low-calorie options on the Portions menu. And if you must indulge, eschew the baked goods in favor of a cup of fruit and yogurt, or serving of chocolate-covered almonds.

Boston Market: B+

With more than a dozen healthy vegetable sides and lean meats like turkey and roast sirloin on the menu, the low-cal, high-nutrient possibilities at Boston Market are endless. But with nearly a dozen calorie-packed sides and fatty meats like dark meat chicken and meat loaf, it’s almost as easy to construct a lousy meal.

Survival strategy: There are three simple steps to nutritional salvation: 1) Start with turkey, sirloin, or rotisserie chicken. 2) Add two non-creamy, non-starchy vegetable sides. 3) Ignore all special items, such as pot pie and nearly all of the sandwiches.

Cici’s Pizza Buffet: B+

Cici’s began in Texas in 1985 and now boasts more than 600 locations, proving definitively that Americans love a good buffet. The good news for our waistlines is that the crust is moderately sized, and the pizza comes in varieties beyond simple sausage and pepperoni. But if you check your willpower at the door, you’re probably better off skipping the pizza buffet entirely.

Survival strategy: It takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell your body it’s full, so start with a salad and then proceed slowly to the pizza. Limit yourself to the healthier slices like the Zesty Vegetable, Alfredo, and the Olé, which is a Mexican-inspired pie with only 108 calories per slice.

McDonald’s: B+

The world-famous burger baron has come a long way since the days of Fast Food Nation—at least, nutritionally speaking. The trans fats are mostly gone, the number of gut-wrecking calorie bombs are now fewer than ever, and the menu holds plenty of healthy options such as salads and yogurt parfaits. Don’t cut loose at the counter just yet, though. Too many of the breakfast and lunch sandwiches still top the 500-calorie mark, and the dessert menu is fodder for some major belly-building.

Survival strategy: The Egg McMuffin remains one of the best ways to start your day in the fast-food world. As for the later hours, you can splurge on a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder, but only if you skip the fries and soda, which add an average of 590 calories onto any meal.

Taco Bell: B+

Taco Bell combines two things with bad nutritional reputations: Mexican food and fast food. The result should be horrendous, yet somehow it works out so that a little prudence at the ordering window can bag you a meal with fewer than 500 calories. The potential for belly-building is still there, but the calorie bombs are generally easy to spot. And to limit the chances of a mistake, Taco Bell reengineered some of its classic items and listed them under the Fresco Menu for a savings of up to 10 grams of fat per item.

Survival strategy: Grilled Stuft Burritos, anything served in a bowl, and anything prepared with multiple “layers” are your worst options. Instead, order any combination of two of the following: crunchy tacos, bean burritos, or anything on the Fresco menu.

Wendy’s: B+

Scoring a decent meal at Wendy’s is just about as easy as scoring a bad one, and that’s a big compliment for a burger joint. Options such as chili and baked potatoes offer the side-order variety that’s missing from less-evolved fast-food chains like Dairy Queen and Carl’s Jr. Plus they offer a handful of Jr. Burgers that don’t stray far over 300 calories. And for our money, the 1/4-pound single is one of the best substantial burgers in the industry. Where they err is in their recently expanded line of desserts and a lackluster selection of beverages. But you’re happy just drinking water, right?

Survival strategy: The grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps don’t have more than 320 calories, which is less than even a small order of french fries. Choose the chicken or a small burger and pair it with a healthy side, and then hit the door before you receive the 500-calorie penalty for giving in to your Frosty hankering.

You can check out the complete Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Report Card here. Finally, sign up for your FREE Eat This, Not That! weekly newsletter or subscribe to the new Eat This, Not That! premium Web site. You’ll get thousands of useful tips, tricks, and secret insights into everything going on in the world of food and nutrition, so you can stay lean for life while still enjoying all of your favorite foods. It’s like having a personal nutritionist on call 24 hours a day!

Fish ‘N Chips

I want it stated for the record that I have made a huge risk in my life by reporting on the restaurant I will rant about today.  For one thing, I am not a fan of fish–sushi, I love, but fish in any other form is not something I enjoy.  Thus, I eat chicken for the most part.

Today’s post is for Long John Silver’s where they propose to “Throw Boring Overboard” with their new Freshside Grill menu that I did not want to look twice at.

Lobster Bites is not a meal I remember having from years gone by–and my younger years were full of family trips, usually after church on Sunday, to enjoy the ambiance of a sea-side paradise in Hemet.

My mom would usually order the Fish, and so would my father, who opted to drench it in Tartar Sauce instead of Malt Vinegar like my mom.  My brothers favored one piece of chicken and one piece of fish.

We all requessted extra crispies (which I have recently understood can also be called “drippings” but it is, essentially, the batter that has floated away from the fried food item that acts as a bed for the meal)…

…but I always got the chicken, except when they had the Popcorn Chicken.  I have no negative experiences with that deep-fried meal.

When I revisited the Seafood Station, it was around 2006, and their slogan was “Surfs Up!  Dive in!”

I wanted to dive out like food did later that day.  Ugh.  So, it was with those two separate and conflicting memories that I went again to deliver a post about the American corporation that made a profit on Fish ‘N Chips.  Watch a cute English/Scottish/Irish guy make the meal here.

The meal I got was unlike the Long John Silver’s meal I remember vividly–maybe it’s the bright colors that help me remember what the restaurant was like.  For one, I did not get a tray liner with my meal where there are usually weekly coupons and meals floating on the ocean foam.  Another thing was the lack of a Long John Silver’s table number where a worker would whisk out the hot-with-greasy-grease food.  😦

However, it is still the only place you would care to get tartar sauce on tap, and serves the only meal where every item is accompanied by ketchup and can still taste gross.

“Remember to share good fortune with friends”

The main food places my family habitually went to were Burger King, Carls Jr., and Del Taco.  Much to my mom’s chagrin, we didn’t deviate too much from these places, and my mom has always been partial to food not of the beef patty type.  One time, I went shopping with my mom and we decided to eat without the boys and we went to Panda Express.

There, we experienced the most nauseating overload of MSG we could have ever hoped to avoid.  We never wanted to go back, and we didn’t for about 8 years.  That’s a day I went back.

I was at a friend’s house and they wanted to get Chinese food…at Panda.  I went along, and after having a plate of chow mein and orange chicken…

I was hooked.

I don’t have a lot to say about how their packaging has changed, but they do have a unique service to offer, which is their Panda Bowl.  It’s a really durable little container and if I were more green, I suppose I would re-use it for something.

After all, the lid is just so cute!

Another staple that has been a part of the Chinese food tradition is, of course, the fortune cookie–that tasty vanilla oragami waffer with the “fortune” (more like a proverb) inside that sounds like a cute little Asian woman named Ping dictated that week’s letter (see: “remember to share your good fortune with friends”).

Whether or not it’s good fortune, I deviated the other night with my Panda Express trip.  Normally, my chow mein with orange chicken Panda Bowl is what I get, but I was feeling feisty.

I ordered the Kung Pow Bejing Beef!

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