Do you love to dine out but afraid of the moon-size fat-loaded serving platters that you see in many restaurants?
Health Magazine’s April issue presents the top ten healthiest chain restaurants around the nation. Criteria used to judge include healthy food preparation, whole grains on the menu, limited or no trans-fats in all dishes, low-sodium options, portion control, and how easily the costumer can access nutritional information.
1. UNO Chicago Grill. Except for its famous deep-dish (high fat) pizza, Uno’s restaurants offer many other healthy dishes on their menu. grilled entrees, whole-grain pasta, brown rice, flatbread pizzas are just some of the healthier choices.
2. Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes. This salad-soup-and-bakery eatery uses produce so fresh that it’s been guaranteed to have been “in the ground” 24 hours before it’s in a refrigerated truck on its way to the restaurant. At the salad bar you’ll find seasonal veggies, great salads and a range of non-fat dressings.
3. Mimi’s Café. This cozy café-style restaurant transforms normally less-than-healthy foods into better (and still tasty) potions. They also keep their portions small so you can occasionally get away with having one of their more indulgent entrees.
4. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. Healthy dining here comes in the form of whole-grain brown rice, sustainable Alaskan salmon, all-natural chicken, wok-based cooking (which requires less oil), and less sodium in the sauces.
5. Bob Evans. A surprising entry on the list, Bob Evans scores on its dinner menu which has plenty of low-carb, low-fat entrees and alternatives for children and adults (chicken tenders are grilled instead of fried).
6. Ruby Tuesday. It’s easy to find good stuff on this menu like organic greens, trans fat-free frying oil, and better-for-you beverages like organic teas and all natural lemonade.
7. Romano’s Macaroni Grill. What pushed Macaroni Grill onto the top 10 list is its “Sensible Fare” menu, being able to substitute whole-wheat penne in any dish and including a grilled skinless chicken breast with steamed broccoli and pasta on the kid’s menu.
8. Chevy’s Fresh Mex. Chevy’s makes a big deal out of the “fresh” in its name and with good reason including: no cans in the restaurant, fresh salsa blended every hour, and fresh avocados smashed daily for guacamole. All oils are trans fat-free, and the Mexican-style fare has lots of healthy options.
9. Olive Garden. Like Macaroni Grill, this Italian eatery has great-for-you options, as long as you keep your wits about you. Use the olive-branch icon to find low-fat garden fare. You can grab whole-grain goodness too by substituting whole-wheat linguine for any pasta.
10. Denny’s. Another surprising addition to the list, Denny’s offers lots of skinny options to counter its fatty mainstays. “Fit-Fare” dishes all have less than 15 grams of fat each. Their use of trans fats to cook its French fries kept it from landing higher on the list, but the rest of the fried food is trans fat-free.