Health Magazine Grades Best Restaurant Chains & Worst Restaurant Chains
by Larry Ervin, Suite101.com
March 6, 2009
How did your favorite eatery score among the 62 fast food and sit down restaurant chains graded? These stats that might make you want to do more cooking at home.
by Larry Ervin, Suite101.com
March 6, 2009
How did your favorite eatery score among the 62 fast food and sit down restaurant chains graded? These stats that might make you want to do more cooking at home.
Men’s Health Eat This, Not That (ETNT) got even busier this year, evaluating 62 restaurant chains (up from 21 last year) for their issue on The Best and Worst Restaurants in America.
The magazine totaled calories per entr?e, rewarded for fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, and penalized for excessive trans fats and “gut-busting” desserts.
While many chains cooperated with nutritional figures, some were given an F for stonewalling. See “Dishonorable Mention,” listed with the bottom half.
Here’s how the top half of the class scored. (For the bottom half, read Health Magazine Grades Worst Restaurant Chains.) Included are the magazine’s selected comments and extra credits noted where menu items made ETNT’s list of “The 20 Worst Foods in America”
Some slippage resulted in no chain earning above and A-minus this year. Where there was improvement it came mostly from offering some healthier alternatives to their mainstay calorie and fat-heavy sandwiches and entrees.
A-The magazine totaled calories per entr?e, rewarded for fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, and penalized for excessive trans fats and “gut-busting” desserts.
While many chains cooperated with nutritional figures, some were given an F for stonewalling. See “Dishonorable Mention,” listed with the bottom half.
Here’s how the top half of the class scored. (For the bottom half, read Health Magazine Grades Worst Restaurant Chains.) Included are the magazine’s selected comments and extra credits noted where menu items made ETNT’s list of “The 20 Worst Foods in America”
Some slippage resulted in no chain earning above and A-minus this year. Where there was improvement it came mostly from offering some healthier alternatives to their mainstay calorie and fat-heavy sandwiches and entrees.
- Chick Fil-A – Slipped from A+ last year. “Only two entrees break the 500-calorie barrier”
- Subway – “An impressive selection of 6-inch sandwiches with less than 400 calories”
- Jamba Juice – “Jamba Juice makes plenty of real-deal smoothies, but their menu is sullied with more than a few faux-fruit blends.”
- McDonalds – Up from B- last year. “Burgers are reasonable, but others, like pancake platters, send McDonald's numbers soaring.” Their Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese sports 42 grams of fat, 2.5 grams as trans fat.
- Starbucks – “Slow moving as it is, Starbucks is heading toward a more nutritious menu that includes items such as oatmeal and fruit-and-nut bars, specialty drinks made with skim milk.”
- Wendy’s – “Options such as chili and baked potatoes offer the side-order variety that's missing from less-evolved fast-food chains.”
- Taco Bell – “limit yourself to just two tacos or a single burrito”
- Boston Market – Slipped from an A- last year. “Nutritionally reasonable three-piece chicken meals… but with nearly a dozen calorie-packed sides and fatty meats”
- KFC – “To halve calories, order your chicken without skin.” Another grease spot on KFC's menu is their Chicken and Biscuit Bowl at 37 grams of fat.
- Blimpie – Kudos for removing trans-fats from the menu.
- Popeye’s – “With the exception of the mayo-loaded Deluxe Sandwich, Popeyes' menu isn't burdened by any items with more than 600 calories.” But beware “the trans fat lingering in its frying oil.”
- Panera Bread – Improved from a D last year. “The healthy selection of soups and salads offers a much-needed reprieve from the carb-heavy bagels”
- Arby’s – “sandwiches suffer from an abundance of creamy dressings, spreads, and melted cheese sauce.”
- Pizza Hut – Improved from a D last year. “Massive pasta portions are nearly 1,000 calories.”
- Fazoli’s – Slipped from a B grade last year. “Pasta portions are thankfully restrained and can be topped with chicken, broccoli, and tomatoes, or garlic shrimp.”
- Bob Evans – Also dropped a grade from last year. “Reasonable egg dishes and extensive sides ranging from broccoli to applesauce.” On the other hand, Bob also won both the “Worst Breakfast” and “Trans Fattiest Pancakes” for his Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes at 1540 calories three days worth of trans fat. Please pass the syrup.
- Burger King – “Thousand-calorie-plus burgers”
- Chipotle – A nod for coming out from behind their secrecy veil.They won "Worst Mexican Entr?e” with their 1179-calorie Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese)
- Domino’s –“Two slices of any Feast pizza contain from 460 to 880 calories”
- Quiznos – “The bigger subs can easily carry a full day's worth of saturated fat and two days' of sodium.”
- Carl’s Jr – “There's not a side on the menu that hasn't been given a long, hot bath in their trans-fatty frying oil.”
- Dairy Queen – “DQ offers a whole slew of abominable ice cream creations to wash down its sodium-spiked, trans-fatty foods.”
- Denny’s – Plummeted from a B grade last year. “Abysmal burgers and the carb-loaded Grand Slams are offset by a range of lighter alternatives on the Fit Fare menu.” The magazine also rates them under their “Fattiest Foods: category. “EVERY burger has a minimum of 3 grams trans fat.” Example: Double Cheeseburger with 1,540 calories, 116 g fat (52 g saturated, 7 g trans) and 3,880 mg sodium.
- Ruby Tuesday – “Burgers hover around the 1,000-calorie mark…they average 75 grams of fat apiece.”
- P.F. Chang’s – “Most entr?es begin in a wok with a puddle of oil and a scoop of sugar- and salt-laden sauce.” Chang’s has twice scooped the “Worst Chinese Entr?e” with their 1820-calorie Pork Lo Mein and in 2009 with their 1678-calorie Tam’s Noodles: “You’d have to eat 42 Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnut Holes to match the fat content in these noodles.”
- Chili’s – Slipped from C- last year. “Monster burgers and 2,000-calorie starters.” Multiple award winner including the winner of ETNT’s “Worst Chicken Entr?e” with their 2040-calorie Honey Chipotle Crispers with Chipotle Sauce and “Worst Starter,” the 2710-calorie Awesome Blossom. Also “Worst Dessert” with their 1600-calorie “Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream.” 2009 looks like another banner year for Chili’s, winning “Worst Mexican Entr?e of 2009” for their 1730-calorie Chicken Fajitas with The Works (Ranch Dressing, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Cheese, and Pico de Gallo + 4 tortillas) and “Worst Burger of 2009” for the Bacon Triple-The-Cheese Big Mouth Burger with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing at 2040 calories, 4900 mg of sodium and 150 grams of fat. It’s good to excel at something. Right?
- Baja Fresh – “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.”
- On the Border – “The elephantine menu suffers from appetizers with 120 grams of fat, salads with a full day's worth of sodium.”
- Macaroni Grill – Up from an F last year. “1500-calorie pastas, even lunch portions and salads have more than 1,000 calories.” If the F grade weren’t bad enough, Macaroni Grill also earned ETNT’s “Worst Pasta” with their 2430-calorie Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce and “Worst Chicken Entr?e of 2009”for their 2220-calorie Primo Chicken Parmesan. Wait, there’s more: They also won “Worst Kid’s Meal” with their Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese. “It’s like feeding your kid 1? boxes of Kraft mac ‘n cheese.”
See more restaurant grades:
Eat This, Not That: Top Restauant Swaps
References:
Restaurant Report Card | Eat This, Not That
16 Restaurant Industry Secrets | Eat This, Not That
Eat This, Not That: Top Restauant Swaps
References:
Restaurant Report Card | Eat This, Not That
16 Restaurant Industry Secrets | Eat This, Not That
Thanks, Daniel.
