Worst Restaurant Food You Ordered?

[Alex Brecher 10,486]

This comes up in the media sometimes. They’ll list the calories, fat, sugar, or sodium content of a few shocking menu items. The worst part is that these numbers aren’t so farfetched or rare. People really do order and eat these items, and the numbers really are as high as reported. Those shakes, pizza, appetizers, Pasta dishes, and even salads can have one or more days’ worth of calories and all kinds of unhealthy nutrients.

What’s the worst restaurant food you ordered – knowingly or unknowingly, before or after surgery? For me what comes to mind was a salad at a Mexican restaurant I went to a few times with my family. It was described as a “mountain,” and that was fairly accurate. And while it did have a mountain of lettuce and tomatoes, there were more than a few additions in there to drive up the calories. It had chicken, Beans, and cheese, plus guacamole, and.it was served on tortilla chips with melted cheese. And the amount of dressing needed to dress that salad? I don’t know, maybe a half-cup? A cup? I’m guessing the entire salad had between 2,000 and 3,000 calories. It was awfully good, and I ate the whole thing.

[ThreeFifty 166]

That sounds delicious

Ive had a pizza, where the crust was a pretzel. Funny, I saw a taco bell commercial last night where they were advertising a deep fried, cream filled captain crunch ball lol

Edited July 13, 2015 by kingdavid757

[James Marusek 5,244]

Based on the sugar and calories, I have permanently given up shakes (at Steak and Shake), salad and breadsticks (at Olive Gardens), pizzas (all types), ice cream, coffee (at Starbucks). But that still gives me a lot of choices.

[Healthy_life2 8,319]

@@Alex Brecher

Ok, I have not had this. Its a new menu Item at applebees. The name alone made me laugh.The Triple Hog Dare Ya with Bacon, pulled pork, and ham. Not only that but they advertise refill after refill of fries for free.

you have to see the commercial. Link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bQQAct040k

[Alex Brecher 10,486]

@@Alex Brecher

Ok, I have not had this. Its a new menu Item at applebees. The name alone made me laugh.The Triple Hog Dare Ya with Bacon, pulled pork, and ham. Not only that but they advertise refill after refill of fries for free.

you have to see the commercial. Link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bQQAct040k

WOW! I almost had a heart attack from just watching the commercial

[peaceout 273]

In recent years, The Cheesecake Factory has received bad press for it's nutrition content. But before all that, there was a chicken dish there that I would always order on my birthday. Now that the nutrition information is available, I looked it up and saw that it contains 2290 cals! Ouch! In their defense, those portions are huge and should have been enough to last a normal person 2-3 meals, but of course I would clean my plate, and then order an 1100-calorie slice of cheesecake!

[gowalking 10,790]

Interesting topic and responses Alex. I actually don't have an issue with restaurants where you know you are eating waaayy too many calories. What bothers me is when you think you are ordering healthy and come to find out that you may not be.

People are getting smarter about asking for dressing and sauces on the side as they know many are calorie laden but I recall early on in my weight loss journey and thinking if I ordered crab legs at Red Lobster, I'd be fine. When I went online to check the menu, I saw to my surprise that the sodium count for that meal was in excess of 1800 grams. I've no idea why it's so high but had I eaten those crab legs, I'd have gained Water weight for sure and would have presumed a weight gain for some unknown reason which would have been very frustrating.

I know a great number of people rely on chain restaurants and they are the worst offenders as the above poster noted about the meal at Cheesecake Factory. Am glad that I live in a city where there are so many restaurant options that don't include the chains. One of my go to type of foods is Greek/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern. The fish especially is usually very fresh and simply grilled. Plus they have an awful lot of non-meat items to choose from. Ever have the lemon artichokes? Yum.

[Sharpie 3,306]

It is a eye opening experience to see how many calories are in foods we think are healthy. Zaxby's has a Zalad or their house salad that is 1200 calories . I also had problems with Chinese food of any kind, rice gets stuck everytime and it's usually high in sodium. I don't eat fast food as a rule but can eat Wendy's chili and Chicfila chicken tortilla Soup.

[jane13 2,256]

I eat out a lot because hubby likes to go out to eat. Since I began this journey I have lost about 59lbs. Hubby has been losing weight since I seriously began my journey in January 2015, when I weighed 282. I asked him shortly post-op how he felt about ordering a la carte or sharing. He is super cool about it and just Saturday night at Fridays he said you aren't suppose to drink while eating and I find that if I drink before I eat - I get full quicker. He gets a take home box as well. I finally weigh less than him after about 8 years. I couldn't imagine doing this without his support. We eat out 4-5 times a week.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I've been eating healthy (and a lot less) for 13.5 months now (have lost 90 pounds and am below goal). These eat-all-the-crap-you-can-gobble restaurant offerings now make me ill to even contemplate!

I certainly wasn't a binger pre-op, but I ate so much more than I can now because (of course) I had a bigger stomach that held more, but also because I ate so much faster and chewed my food so much less than I do now.

Completely aside from my new stomach's restriction, eating for 13.5 months the way we all should eat has helped me build a lot of strong, new habits.

Hubby feels the same way -- we both eat far less than we did prior to my having WLS. All chain restaurant potion sizes are just too large for normal people. I'm old enough to remember what restaurant portion sizes in the 1950s and 1960s were -- MUCH smaller than they are today.

[gmanbat 5,889]

The worst one was a burrito I got at a bar in which I discovered a metal and paper garbage bag tie half way through eating it. I did find metal shavings in my cole slaw at another place, though.

The worst stuffatoriums for me were the buffets of various types. They would have to get 15 light eaters in to make up the deficit after my journey through.

[Elode 8,093]

Chinese buffet with multiple trips. I don't even want to know how bad that was.

[Babbs 14,680]

My favorite thing in the world is seafood Alfredo. If the restaurant had it, I ordered it. Here's the stats on Olive Gardens Seafood Alfredo:

1210 calories

97 grams of carbs (yes, I said 97)

71 grams of fat

There is 42 grams of Protein, so there's that.....

Yikes. No wonder I was obese.

[catfish87 3,471]

At Cracker Barrel they have a dessert called an apple dumpling. Back when I was keeping track of calories, I looked it up. 3229 calories

Years ago, I'd eat a whole one....AFTER my meal.

[goodnuff 239]

Taco Bell Mucho Grande Nachos. 1,300 calories 82 grams of fat.

Weekly, until I found out they had that much fat. Or maybe until they were discontinued? Probably the latter.