I was at Chili’s today and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a special menu that had low carbohydrate options on it. The items weren’t that different from the standard fare; it isn’t like they are suddenly cooking with soy or anything, but they did slightly alter some items. For example, I had the “knife and fork” fajitas, which were all you might expect minus the tortilla and plus some yellow squash. The burgers are served bunless and with veggies, etc. The best part was that they listed the carb and fiber counts. Before seeing this, I might have ordered one of the salads, but they weren’t listed, leading me to believe they were all more than 25 grams of carbs, as that was the largest amount I saw listed.
I am curious if others have seen carb counts on menus at other restaurants. I have seen Applebee’s commercials, so I know they have them, but I don’t particularly like Applebee’s, so I haven’t seen the menus.
We haven’t been to Chili’s in ages, but that’s nice to know. I’ve seen more nutrition info on menus lately, but it’s mostly low-fat choices and stuff with the little “heart-healthy” symbol.
I think the new practice of putting those shredded tortilla chips on salads must really up the carb content. I hate the damn things, myself, and always ask for them to be left off. And of course, they always put them on. Force of habit, I guess. I end up picking them off. Plus carrots, too. They’re full of carbs. And breaded chicken - salads can have lots of hidden carbohydrates.
The low-carb wraps at Sunway are pretty good, but kind of expensive for what you get. I think they’re rather small. Safeway has low-carb wraps, too, and they’re HUGE. At least twice as big as the Subway wraps, and about $1.00 less.
We never go to AppleBees because around here, the service is just fucking horrible. And that’s being nice. I could start a whole Pit thread about our bad experiences there.
TGI Fridays has a new “Atkins approved” menu, which consists of pretty much their regular meals, minus the potato. (Actually they have some appetisers as well, such as some sort of dip with veggies instead of the usual chips.)
Let’s see: someone already mentioned Friday’s. Ruby Tuesday’s apparently has a LC menu, including LC cheesecake for dessert (we don’t seem to have Ruby Tuesday’ in Ann Arbor).
Max & Erma’s also has one (I found it a bit weak).
Separately, The Macaroni Grill does not have a specific LC menu with counts, but they will substitute sauteed spinach or grilled asparagus in place of any side of pasta.
Hardees (yes Hardees, I’m not joking!) has a fantastic low-carb burger. 5 grams for 1/3 pound or 7 grams for 2/3 pound. Instead of a bun, it is wrapped in lettuce and has a delicious sauce. The packaging is designed so you can hold it and eat it like a regular burger. And the beef is aged Angus. It’s really terrific.