How To Eat Low-Carb At Your Favorite Casual Dining Restaurants

Last week I was interviewed by my local newspaper here in South Carolina--Spartanburg Herald-Journal--for an upcoming feature story about how I've turned my weight loss success into a business and an interesting topic of conversation came up that coincides with a blog post I've been working on for a while. I told the freelance writer who was interviewing me last Friday that we were just on our way out the door to go to lunch at Denny's and she said, "Well, you can't eat anything healthy there, can you?"

Opportunities to educate never end. :)

I explained how with just a few substitutions of key ingredients that inevitably end up on all the dishes (in the case of Denny's, that would be pancakes or French fries), you can have a very nice low-carb friendly meal that will keep you on the straight and narrow as you pursue a healthier lifestyle. She was surprised because conventional wisdom is that the large portions and high calories served when dining out will prevent you from eating healthy. Not necessarily, as I'll SHOW you today.

After I shared this YouTube video about which restaurants are good for low-carbers, I decided to start taking pictures of the foods I order so you can visualize exactly what I'm getting when I go out. These were taken at various times over the past few months and are a good representation of the kind of things you can order when you visit your favorite casual dining restaurant (I may hit fast food in a future blog post, but I'm not a big fan of it).

In no particular order, here's what I ate at various places:



Christine and I really love to go to Denny's because they allow you to make reasonable substitutions with all of their meals to make them perfect for anyone who is livin' la vida low-carb. As long as you avoid the starchy (hashbrowns and French fries) and the sugary (French Toast and pancakes) menu items and choose better options instead, you'll be good to go.

Here's a sample of what I recently ate on our trip to Denny's:



This is the Meat Lover's Scramble and I substituted mixed veggies consisting of squash, broccoli, peppers, and green beans for the hashbrowns and a side salad with Ranch dressing for the pancakes. You get two slices of bacon, two sausage links, and a ham, sausage, bacon, egg and cheese scramble with it as well. One thing's for sure, you WON'T leave hungry after eating this meal!

TOTAL COST: $7

Here's what Christine had for her meal at Denny's:



A simple two chicken breast meal with mixed vegetables and a side salad (not pictured) is plenty of protein and non-starchy carbohydrates to keep you satisfied for hours. Adding some butter to your mixed veggies will give you some much-needed extra fat to make this meal tastier and healthier.

TOTAL COST: $9



Although I was quite upset with Ruby Tuesday when they decided to remove their outstanding low-carb cheesecake from their menu and when they pretty much turned their back on the low-carb consumer after trashing their low-carb menu in 2006, I've begun to warm back up to them because they do offer some excellent dishes for low-carbers to enjoy.

There's one meal I must get when I go to Ruby Tuesday:



The Mini-Burgers & Salad Bar deal is one of the best things around for someone following a low-carb lifestyle. You get unlimited trips to the fresh salad bar where I get a bed of spinach leaves piled high with cheese, eggs, sunflower seeds, bacon, and dried cranberries with Ranch dressing on top to start off. Then I order the mini-burgers without the buns and eat them with mayonnaise and pickles. Add a bowl of mashed cauliflower (YES!) with a couple of dollops of butter and this meal is to die for when you are livin' la vida low-carb!

TOTAL COST: $9



I know what you're thinking--wait a minute, Jimmy, are you saying I can eat at Olive Garden on my low-carb lifestyle? Yep, as long as you can avoid the temptation of those hot buttery garlic breadsticks (a tall order to ask of low-carb newbies, but not too bad once you've ditch the carbs for a while). Load up on some of their famous salad (sans the croutons) and don't forget to put lots of cheese on top, too! But please avoid the "no sugar added" dessert sham they have to offer at the end of the meal. Not good!

Here's a wonderful dish I ordered at the Olive Garden:



A delicious grilled salmon steak with a touch of lemon and seasoning that is oh-so-yummy and full of healthy omega-3 fats along with a generous portion of non-starchy veggies (mostly broccoli) that I ate with butter to increase the fat content of the meal. You'll never eat this low-carb (about 2-3g carbohydrates) in an Italian restaurant!

TOTAL COST: $13



I got excited about Applebee's when they introduced world-famous chef Tyler Florence into their marketing efforts to spruce up their menu in late 2006 with a fabulous covert low-carb dish called the Crispy Brick Chicken. So imagine my surprise when Christine and I went there recently and they've removed it from their menu. GASP! Why do they always remove the GOOD stuff?! Oh well, it was hard, but we found something to eat there.

Here was my choice for a meal from Applebee's:



I adore shrimp and always have since I was a kid, so imagine my delight when I got to choose a salad made with spinach leaves--my favorite low-carb veggie--along with some almond slivers, diced tomatoes, a little cheese from Christine's salad, and I substituted Ranch dressing for the warm bacon vinegarette (too much sugar in this dressing!). Not too filling, but the full-size version of this meal is a refreshing low-carb dinner.

TOTAL COST: $12

Not to be outdone with my salad, here's what Christine ordered:



A spicy chicken breast cut up into bite-sized pieces on top of a bed of salad greens, cheese, diced tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and Ranch dressing. The chicken was quite savory with a hint of spiciness to perfectly complement the cool salad ingredients. Not too shabby for a low-carber to order and enjoy!

TOTAL COST: $11



Finally, I can't say enough good things about Cracker Barrel. While all the other restaurants have pretty much given up on catering to the low-carb community with a specific menu, they have been one of the only major national chains to keep a low-carb menu prominently displaying options for controlled-carbohydrate lifestyles. WOO HOO, Cracker Barrel! Check 'em out for yourself:



I ordered something off Cracker Barrel's dinner low-carb menu:



Smothered Grilled Chicken Tenderloins with a side salad and a double portion of green beans (with butter on top, of course!) made this a wonderful low-carb meal. I'm a big fan of cheese and bacon, too, and you get plenty of it with this menu item. The green beans are those sweet kind that have a little bit of crunch to them--but what else would you expect from Cracker Barrel?"

TOTAL COST: $9

So there you have it! Suggestions about how you can eat low-carb at your favorite casual dining restaurants. This is by no means a comprehensive listing of what you can order when you eat out, but it gives you an idea about what you can do to make virtually ANY meal a low-carb one. Steaks and salads are ALWAYS acceptable, although be careful about hidden carbs in sauces, toppings, and dressings.

Livin' la vida low-carb need not be difficult or inconvenient to follow. When you make this your permanent lifestyle change, adapting to what fits YOUR life is important. And that will include the occasional visit to restaurants.

Captain D's Now Has Low-Carb Menu Items

Captain D's steps up their menu to serve the low-carb consumer

When the most popular low-carb friendly restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday decided to get rid of their famous low-carb cheesecake in May 2006 followed just a couple of months later by scrubbing their entire low-carb menu for good, I put out a public challenge to the restaurant industry.

"This leaves the door wide open to another restaurant to step it up and cater to the growing obese and diabetic population. If you make the menu attractive enough to people and still keep the items healthy, then it very well could work. Who's it gonna be? Anyone? The millions of us who are livin' la vida low-carb are waiting...patiently...anyone?"

Applebee's has tried but they are too afraid (of what?!) to call it a low-carb menu item while my former favorite fast food place Subway went the other direction earlier this year when they REMOVED the low-carb wraps from their menu. Idiots!

Then you've got places like the Olive Garden serving a "no sugar added" dessert to diabetics that contains GOBS of sugar and nearly 70g carbohydrates! EEEEK!

Well, despite these futile attempts by other well-known restaurant chains, I was pleased to share with you recently about Cracker Barrel and their "Low-Carb Offerings" menu which is perfect for low-carbers. Now I have another restaurant chain to add to the small, but growing list of courageous companies willing to offer people who are livin' la vida low-carb some healthy low-carb alternatives--the Nashville, TN-based Captain D's.

When I was growing up, I just LOVED it when momma brought home Captain D's for dinner. Of course, it was the fried fish and hush puppies that I remember the most with that unmistakable aroma that filled the whole house. Ah, those were the days!

But those things are much too high in carbs for my low-carb lifestyle now which is why I was happy to hear they offer what they call a "Carb Counter Meal" that comes straight from the grill.

Their web site boasts of their new low-carb offerings:

"Counting carbs? Choose baked fish or chicken meals with a variety of low carb side items to customize your meal."

How about that? But are those sides indeed "low-carb?" Let's see!


The Carb Counter Fish meal on the menu at Captain D's

First up, they have a Carb Counter Fish meal that is served with fresh steamed broccoli (low-carb), mixed vegetables (pretty low-carb even with the carrots) and a crisp side salad (with Ranch dressing keeps it low-carb). If you pick out the carrots in the mixed veggies, this meal is only about 5-6g carbs. EXCELLENT CHOICE!


The Carb Counter Chicken meal gives another low-carb option

The other low-carb alternative is the Carb Counter Chicken meal that is also served with fresh steamed broccoli, mixed vegetables and a crisp side salad. Again, if you remove the carrots, then you should keep your carb intake to below 6g carbs. Sweet!

So there you go! Another major American restaurant chain has joined in with Cracker Barrel and decided that people who are on low-carb diets are important enough to provide specific menu items for their dietary preference.

Sure, most places will bend their menu with substitutions, but you gotta respect a company like Captain D's for being unafraid to specifically address a real need--low-carb options for the discriminating low-carb consumer base!

The only problem is Captain D's is not as widespread as Cracker Barrel. In fact, I don't even have one close to my home (the nearest one is 50 miles away!), but I will certainly seek it out specifically when I am traveling. If a company is willing to cater to my needs, then the least I can do is give them my business.

I encourage you to frequent Captain D's as well and let them know how much you appreciate their Carb Counter meals by leaving them feedback about it. I know they will appreciate hearing from those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb, so let's validate their decision to create this special menu for us by sharing our positive feedback about it! THANKS everyone!

Cracker Barrel: A Low-Carb Diet Utopia

Cracker Barrel is the only major restaurant chain catering to low-carbers

On my recent trip from Spartanburg, South Carolina to Nashville, Tennessee for that obesity conference I attended there, Christine and I stopped for lunch in Lebanon, Tennessee at the Cracker Barrel franchise. I've always been a fan of these unique restaurants because of their reputation for being a fun, family-friendly place for good down-home cooking.

In fact, when we went on vacations in the 1980's, my mom often took us kids to Cracker Barrel because she knew we could occupy ourselves playing the little peg game, browsing around in the Old Country Store, or playing checkers on that big board outside while rockin' in those famous chairs lined up along the front. This place brings back a lot of happy memories for me, especially all those plates of homemade Chicken 'N Dumplins I downed. :)

But, now I'm in my mid-30's and that option isn't on my low-carb lifestyle anymore (gladly so!). Most places I have to come up with my own low-carb menu choices and they work with me to make that work. But have you been to Cracker Barrel lately? Not only do they make options available for low-carbers, but they actually CATER TO US with our own low-carb menu items! WOW!!!


Look for the "Low Carb Offerings" section of the Cracker Barrel menu

When I opened up the menu for Breakfast, I was flabbergasted that they actually used the phrase "low-carb" on their menu. Now that's a switch considering restaurants like Ruby Tuesday are running away from the low-carb market. And yet there it was staring me right in the face--"Low Carb Offerings" for Breakfast.

Amazing!

They explain why they have this separate low-carb section on their menu.

"Here at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store we know that many folks are watching what they eat, so we’ve prepared some of our favorite choices with fewer carbohydrates. From our Country Grilled Sampler to our Double Meat Breakfast, you can enjoy a low carb breakfast without sacrificing great taste."

Incredible!!! They also offer a lower-carb whole wheat bread option with "real butter and low sugar fruit spreads" for those who prefer to eat a few more carbs, but still want to watch their carbohydrate intake. They even offer Splenda as a sugar substitute--surprisingly, this is something not all the chain restaurants have done yet.

But wait, there's more! :)

Cracker Barrel also has a "Low Carb Offerings" for Lunch & Dinner with a whopping 11 genuinely low-carb meals to choose from, including roast beef, grilled chicken tenderloins, spicy grilled catfish, grilled steak salad, and so much more. These meals range from 0-10 carbs each--well within anyone's definition of a low-carb meal!

"We know many folks are watching what they eat, so we've prepared some of our favorite dishes with less carbohydrates. All salads served without croutons."

They even offer Blue Cheese crumbles as an added low-carb delight to any of their low-carb dishes. Side items that are excellent for people who are livin' la vida low-carb include Green Beans, TABASCO® Spiced Pork Rinds, Turnip Greens, and Tossed Salad with Blue Cheese, Peppercorn (my favorite!), or Buttermilk Ranch dressing.

While restaurants like Applebee's try to sneak in a low-carb menu item without explicitly calling it that, it's nice to know that at least one of America's top sit-down restaurants actively markets themselves to the low-carb dieter. With companies like Subway taking away our favorite low-carb menu items, perhaps the time has come to spend more money at Cracker Barrel.

Is it any coincidence that Cracker Barrel is the leader of their genre of restaurant for the past several years? They're innovators for the restaurant industry to mimic. As a strong support of the low-carb lifestyle, all I can say to them is THANK YOU for getting it and reaching out to people who are trying to limit their carb consumption. You don't know how good it feels to have a company willing to at least acknowledge our wants and needs with a menu that's actually low-carb.

The only complaint I have (and it's minor) is there are no low-carb dessert options. Ruby Tuesday used to have an outstanding cheesecake which had only 2g net carbs and was out of this world. Now, we're left with restaurants like the Olive Garden pushing a "no sugar added" dessert for diabetics and low-carb dieters that has an eye-popping 69g carbs in it!

EEEEEEK! We'd love to have a real low-carb dessert, Cracker Barrel, although I realize you sell some sugar-free, low-carb candy products in your country store. Just some food for thought to tweak your low-carb menu even more.

We appreciate your decision to include the low-carb customer in your in-store marketing efforts and it will not go unnoticed during the upcoming summer vacation season. I challenge everyone who supports livin' la vida low-carb to be on the lookout for Cracker Barrel restaurants along your traveling path this summer (they're EVERYWHERE!) and make an effort to stop in early and often to show them our support for being a low-carb diet utopia.

And if you appreciate Cracker Barrel's decision to meet your needs as a low-carber, then be sure to let them hear from you about it. Express your appreciation to them by writing or calling TODAY! Then go pay a visit to see for yourself what an awesome low-carb menu they have!