Yummy non-chain restaurants that provide nutritional info (e.g., calories)
I'm currently keeping detailed records of my calorie and fat intake (you can probably guess why) and looking for tasty restaurants were it is possible to get such info.
It doesn't necessarily need to have low calorie offerings (although that's a bonus).
Please help me stay out of 99, Outback and other such places!
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I have been a big fan the past 3+ years using the The Daily Plate for calorie counting and/or calorie/fat/nutritional info on foods.
www.thedailyplate.com or
http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/Of course most of the restaurant entries are more for chains and therefore most likely won't have the exact info for your particular restaurant. HOWEVER, there are so many foods/dishes beyond just restaurants listed on this site. So most likely if you look up in advance some of the items that intrigue you from your anticipated restaurant's menu, you should be able to find something listed that should hopefully offer you close enough to the info you seek, and help steer you to better choices and/or help with your daily tallies.
Personally, I think the biggest challenge if you haven't already figured this one out, would be to learn to know how to eye ball portion size for when comparing the portion info listed on the website to the portion you get served. (ie: the deck of cards, tennis ball, etc comparisons).
Unfortunately The Daily Plate is a little more cumbersome to get in and out of now that it is under LiveStrong, however, it still remains my website of choice for food calorie and nutritional info due to the extensive database (mostly user input) and how easy it makes calorie tracking as a result. The free version is normally more than sufficient for most uses.
Congrats on the quest and good luck!!!
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gansu girl
Feb 21, 2010 08:36 AM
As a long-time calorie counter and general health freak, I'd have to agree w/GHG - it's nearly impossible to find that info. And for the record, much of what the chains put out ends up being inaccurate. My m.o. is to eat in most of the time, and then if I'm whole-heartedly on the wagon when dining out to choose steamed/baked/raw/etc. things w/o sauces. Otherwise, I generally follow the 90/10 rule - I eat very well 90% of the time time and 10% is no-holds-barred eating for pure pleasure, calories be damned.
Good luck in your efforts, whether eating in or out!
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goodhealthgourmet
Feb 20, 2010 04:24 PM
it's *extremely* rare to find a privately-owned establishment that provides the nutritional information for their menu items unless it's a dedicated health food restaurant. having said that, the Healthy Dining Finder website occasionally has info for a couple of non-chain restaurants here and there...
