the 20 worst restaurants foods in america

good god

why does a place called cheesecake factory sell ghastly sounding savoury dishes?

the quesadilla burger looks horrific : /

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/files/book_burger%20quesadilla.jpg

wait am i voting for the best or the worst

seems like they'd be the same thing sorta

your voting on which of these we should force feed cutty

voting for most edible, or most horrific?

if we're voting worst i'm tempted to vote for the "cheesecake factory kid's pasta with alfredo sauce" b/c it *looks* passable enough healthwise but it's secretly awful and it's aimed at kids.

i'm gonna go ahead and rep five guys either way

yeah five guys cannot be fronted on

note that the outback ribs are "the first nationally available entrée in America to pack more than 3,000 calories," i think they deserve some votes for that

i vote for the kids death pasta

anything from cheesecake factory.

that pasta breadbowl thing sounds p disgusting

what about the cheesecake?

x-post

Whats most amazing to me is the SIZE of all those portions. The french toast is SIX SLICES OF BREAD. All the plates are massive, and loaded to the brim. Even if the food is healthy (like the thai salad) the portion size means calorie city. Gives me a gut ache just looking at it :/

I dunno, there are a lot of meals out there in america that have way more calories than these things. (they just also look more appetizing)

note that the outback ribs are "the first nationally available entrée in America to pack more than 3,000 calories," i think they deserve some votes for that

― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 1 December 2009 01:15 (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

isn't the male recommended dose a day like 2k? america scares me

Outback is an Australian-themed eatery, so we're shifting the blame for that one.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/nine-million-australians-are-a-ticking-fat-bomb-20080619-2tjv.html

lol @ "ticking fat bomb"

i guess i can "understand" anything on this list but the pasta breadbowl. simply do not understand the appeal of a pasta breadbowl. they're just so HEY HERE'S SOME BREAD WITH SOME SHIT ON IT EAT IT NOW

here's some bread with some bread inside would u like bread with that

isn't the male recommended dose a day like 2k? america scares me

― mascara and pies (a hoy hoy), Monday, November 30, 2009 8:23 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

percentages on nutrition labels are based on a 2k diet, but i doubt many men have a minimum requirement that low

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/files/book_platter.jpg

;_;

Went with "quesadilla burger" even before omar posted that image, because even the name is.. wtf is that going to be? How could it ever be edible?

out of all of these places i've been to:

IHOP (not a big fan. though i do like the sound of rooty tooty fresh & fruity pancakes. probably best to go here at 5 am really drunk. i actually prefer Friendly's if i had to choose.)

applebees (a blight on the nation)

sbarro (the mall choice. but haven't eaten at/in/in front of one in years. edible but never memorable.)

t.g.i. fridays (i've only been to one or two, but i can almost swear that i had some decent food at one in philly years ago. like, a steak that wasn't that bad.)

jack in the box (haven't been to one since the 70's! i remember that i loved to yell in the drive-in clown's mouth though. route 7 in my town back then had a jack in the box, hardees, kentucky fried, carvel, farm shoppe, and a pizza hut.) (farm shoppe turned into a friendly's eventually. same deal.)

I have never actually eaten any of these things.

percentages on nutrition labels are based on a 2k diet, but i doubt many men have a minimum requirement that low

yeah last time i checked my requirement was closer to 3k idk im kinda old now tho

the only 1 of these ive had is 5 guys fries

MarKuS J.
is Hungry

San Dimas, CA

4 star rating
12/17/2008

Nothin' says better than getting drunk at 5pm til 8p at Applebee's with your boss!!

*My boss loves to drink but denies that he is an alcoholic despite the fact that he tells us he got drunk last night at least twice a week plus the weekend. Son, sober up!! I call that alcoholic. Imagine having a Remi Martin 1800, Crown Royal, RSVP, and Miki D's as a chaser says it all.

-- Anyhow, he convinced me to have a drink along with another co-worker at Bee's 10 miles away from my house. We went straight to the bar and immediately ordered appetizers; boneless buffalo, rolls, spinach dips and fries. Along the first 3 shots of Patron Silver.

*I am not a heavy drinker and I get the reds after 2 shots depending on how hard it is...this time after 2 shots. Then we ordered entrees, I had the 8 oz. steak with coleslaw and Ice tea. They ordered another set of Patron. Then another.

Another. Another. Then beers as their chasers. More beers.

At this point I had 6 shots + half my ice tea + 1/4 of my steak.

---- I was so red I could tell coz I was itchy. But that didn't stop them!!

*They had 8 shots each plus 4 beers between them and was asking for more rounds until our "concerned" waitress politely told my boss they can't anymore as we have reached the limit. LIMIT??? Damn!

The food was good. But the experience was better. I made home. Puked before going to bed and waking up at 330am with the heaviest,shittiest hangover in a while. Rober and I looked crap the next morning. Well, my boss, called in. What a bitch!

***It's all good. All good.

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ok but still yr daily requirment in one meal crazy

this blog has done some great reporting re how nba players love cheesecake factory and pf changs http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/4556/cheesecake-redux

sbarro is the worst of all these. how can you fuck up cheap greasy pizza that bad?

Cindy W.

Please sir. I want more.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
6/18/2009

I know why America is obese. Just look at the portions at CF. I'm not complaining though. I come here because I expect to eat one meal and have enough to take home for lunch tomorrow. Whew (I'm rubbing my distended belly.)

Cheesecake Factory has long been a dependable favorite. I have cravings for the sweet brown bread flecked with oat which I can only satisfy there. Today I was especially ravenous and inhaled 3 warm buttered slices. Mmmm so good.

I've had quite a number of items from its extensive menu over my lifetime, and today I was yet again surprised by the new "special menu." I thought I was going to order an oldy but goody, Cajun Jambalaya or the BBQ Chicken Salad, but the Chicken Bellagio pasta ($12.95) tempted me. Thin breaded chicken (so that it had a nice crisp when you bite it) sat atop basil pesto (redundant I know) spaghetti noodles. On top of the 2 large thin chicken patties was a sizable sheet of prosciutto with arugula leaves raining upon them all. Honestly, it was very good. It's not a difficult dish to make by any means, but it was hearty and filling, and the slight bitters complemented the salted meat and the tender chicken. I love the textures you get to experience. Mmmm. And of course, I had leftovers to enjoy the next day.

Since I felt like treating myself, I caved to a slice of cheesecake too. I was torn between the carrot cake (which I've had and is very good) and a cheesecake of sorts (e.g. tiramisu, key lime). I came across a Carrot Cake Cheesecake... and I thought, it's perfectly meant for me! So I gave it a shot. It definitely is carrotcake swirled with cheesecake, cream cheese icing and patted down with almond slice. It was decadent. I liked it but I do think I will have to stick to one or the other going forward.

Now I am home and replete with food, and content knowing I have more of both entree and dessert just waiting for me in the fridge. Cheesecake Factory never disappoints.

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Cheesecake Factory actually serves the best chain food! It's their portions that are offensive, which is why, when Mom invited me to a Veteran's Day lunch at the mall a couple of weeks ago, we stuck to appetizers.

the last time i went to a cheesecake factory i ordered a veggie sandwich that came on a hamburger bun and was slathered in cheese and probably cut my lifespan by ten years.

Also: I dunno anyone else's experiences, but the Cheesecake Factories here are always packed. By the time Mom and I left our lunch date, I overheard the host saying it would be a 50 minute wait for a party of three.

I love how purple the prose always is on lists like this.

"Nevertheless, IHOP claims the Centennial State as the source of inspiration for this egregious egg envelope. "

However:

I love the textures you get to experience. Mmmm. And of course, I had leftovers to enjoy the next day.

sounds like porn written by:

http://www.christophers.org/view.image?Id=880

you just know she ain't "conservative" with her cheesecake factory choices ;-)

makes me wonder if A) KFC is still test-marketing the double down sandwich and B) who Charmin ever hired for their seasonal Enjoy the Go rep

Oh man I cannot fucking believe how many calories these pasta dishes are.

i feel like it takes a lot of effort to make something that unhealthy, like i could accidentally drop a couple of slices of tombstone pizza on alfredo pasta i make at home and it would still be healthier than some of this shit.

I have an impulse to defend the appetizer sampler by pointing out that at least surely SOMETIMES it is not all consumed by a single individual -- I mean, it is an appetizer sampler

That shit can be responsibly ordered "for the table"

yeah but then everyone orders the quesadilla burger as their main course and they drop dead in the parking lot

Cheesecake Factory also makes good martinis! Gin burns through asiago cheese, you know.

i actually ate at the cheesecake factory for the first time ever on saturday (i drove my wife and mother-in-law to the mall), the food was pretty decent for chain food and didn't seem unhealthy on the surface (pasta with veggies) but yeah it was a pretty massive portion.

my mother-in-law ordered cheesecake made with splenda

Also, in defense of Five Guys fries: the picture doesn't adequately capture this, but you would have to be nuts to get a whole large order of fries for yourself. If you casually order a large, they will actively intervene and tell you that a large is really large. I have never even dreamed of doing anything other than what they recommend in this piece -- splitting a regular -- and even then, between two people, we leave about a quarter of them uneaten. So it's not like those fries are fooling you: if you're eating thousands of calories of them, you know full well you're eating thousands of calories of them.

(clarification: we leave a quarter uneaten not because we're health-conscious but because we are FULL)

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/files/book_taco%20mess.jpg

luv how they did their own photography instead of using the official styled food ones - i mean this just looks so NAST

lol @ spilled rice

THERE IS JUST SO MUCH FUKKEN RICE U GUYZ!!!!

xpost lol

Outback is an Australian-themed eatery, so we're shifting the blame for that one.

Uhhhh, there ain't no food in Aus anything like most of the crap Ive seen on OSH menus.

(well, ignoring the fact we obviously also have McD's/BK/tgif etc)

Steakback Outhouse

They have a drink called "Wallaby Darn."

My sister has worked there since she was 15 and before she was 21 sometimes she wld sneak herself Wallaby Darn (I think it's made in an Icee-type machine) & feel like some super sneaky badass bcz it has a (presumably small) amount of alcohol in it.

A google search shows it's Wallaby Darned (eyeroll pun), a “Down under frozen wonder with peaches, DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps, champagne, Smirnoff Vodka and secret mixers.”

Cheesecake Factory is the worst place on Earth.

Haha the irony is that saying "wallaby darned" with an aussie accent renders the joke completely incomprehensible :D

I don't know which makes me sadder: the descriptions or the photographs. All I know is that I'm sad right now, guys.

Lots of beige coloured floppy objects in those photos.

Lots of beige coloured floppy objects in those photos.

http://www.christophers.org/view.image?Id=880

http://planetsmilies.net/sport-smiley-5537.gif

http://media.avclub.com/images/articles/article/32804/kfc-doubledown_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg

Has this gone national yet?

The cheesecake factory as a "weight management salads" section and even those have like 700 calories each. It's ridiculous.

Coincidentally, "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under" also appears on the "20 worst euphemisms in America" list.

Near the top of the menu, they also feature a "Technicolor lightning, Very Very Frightening" section.

30 rock quote

x-post

<q>jack in the box (haven't been to one since the 70's! i remember that i loved to yell in the drive-in clown's mouth though. route 7 in my town back then had a jack in the box, hardees, kentucky fried, carvel, farm shoppe, and a pizza hut.) (farm shoppe turned into a friendly's eventually. same deal.)</q>

before i got to your second parenthetical, i was mentally going "what! no friendlee's?", then you got there. i was further down route 7 tho

chocolate thunder
from
down under

that's what she said

cold stone pb & c shake (gotta have it size)

why

Whaaaat is that fried chicken looking thing?

(xpost)

Because we're addicted to sugary dollops of fat?

Favorite gluttonous tagline ever, for Jay's potato chips: "Can't Stop Eating 'em!"

it's just so naked... we have sized this so that people that are hopelessly addicted to sugary dollops of fat will be forced to go for it

(xpost)

(And on a side note, it kinda cracks me up that someone would really hit that gerund hard and then wrap up the sentence with an "'em!". Like they decided midstream that they needed to sound like they were down with the youngsters.)

i feel p stupid but i could not figure out what the c was in pb&c then i read that slideshow

like maybe pb&c was some old tyme railroad and they used to serve this malt beverage

(xxxpost)

Well, yes. If you're making money off of the addiction of others, you really want to do everything in your power to intensify that addiction. I think the word you're looking for is 'evil', maybe.

hahaha i have eaten about 7 of these

heroin injection (gotta have it size)

I have had two of these - the Five Guys fries, and Sbarro stuffed pepperoni.

I will not be trying to complete this list. Ever.

p.f. chang's crispy honey shrimp

ftr these are awesome

Five Guys fries should really only be shared between five actual guys

Taco Town!

how do u even make a 2000 calorie omelette

how do u even make a 2000 calorie salad!

gotta have it size is brilliant. I really do gotta have it!

p.f. chang's crispy honey shrimp

ftr these are awesome

― Huckabee Jesus lifeline (HI DERE)

I second that.

I mean, they look awesome. I haven't tried them.

I heard that they look awesome. But I'm pretty sure I was just reading something that said that.

I'm surprised nothing from Claim Jumper is on that list.

I once dreamed of someone who may have read that they were awesome.

never had any of these things. had half a small 5 guys fries once, which was delicious, but huge. so that.

god this thread is making me hungry. wtf?!??!

The thing about Five Guys fries is, the first ten or twenty you eat are great; but once they're even the tiniest bit short of piping hot they're heavy masses of do not want. A size 1/4 as big as the current small would be perfect. Or the current small size would be OK if they brought it to you ten fries at a time.

i couldn't get through. by #11 i felt sick and wanted to cry just from looking at those items :(

Cheesecake Factory is so great. I imagine that NBA players love it for the gigantic portions (there's some guys in the NBA on daily 7k calorie diets).

They also have a new chain called the Grand Lux cafe that's even better. There's a couple in Vegas.

I like that decadent food like this exists, although some of the food on this list is obviously disgusting (the quesadilla burger looks like something from jack in the box). But as an occasional indulgence (like... once a year), I don't really mind if it's an insanely high calorie number.

Based on the pictures, the Thai salad thing looks the most delicious.

I can't believe that BBQ chicken wrap already filled with mayo and ranch comes with a bowl of ranch to dip it in

this wrap is not ranchy enough, is the problem

I'm only on the second item and already full of Tuomas levels of questions. Like, what is that unidentifiable shredded meat product in the Colorado omelette? And what the hell is in that dripping buttery/maple sauce for the French toast to add up to 1900 calories when the only other contents are apparently 6 half-slices of white bread (about 300 calories) and a couple of rashers of BACON! (200 calories)?

(disclaimer: I am a fat bastard and would probably happily eat any of these w/o realising how bad they were and then be hungry and back to eating stuff again 2 hours later. the Nutrition Nazi thread makes me weep tears of blood at my own inadequacy every time I open it and see that apparently every other ILXor is happily on the NN wagon)

cheesecake factory is FUCKED UP. i went once while visiting my sister in boston (only other experience is gawking at the amazing line of uh interesting-looking people waiting to get into the downtown seattle one) and it was friggin horrific.

first, it's this monstrous barn done up melting dale chihuly 90-year-old hooker trinkets, stuffed to the gills with screaming morons. then the food is grotesque. ordered some fish tacos cuz one of my dinner companions - a regular - recommended them and i typically can love some fish tacos. they tasted like old seaweed leather. otoh service was incredibly nice, amenable and prompt, so i give em points for that, especially under the hellish circumstances.

also went to chili's once, while waiting for inglourious basterds to start. again was unimaginably horrible, stuffed to the rafters, endless shrieking human stew. weirdest part was that fully half the patrons were under five years of age. baby city, and it's not like they have anything interesting to scream about at that age which doesn't stop them from screaming anyway at which their wretched parents bat their eyes and coo. had some sort of hamburger because that's what they "do" and it wasn't horrible, i guess, but it wasn't any better than what you can get at any lousy bar or diner for half the price. plus WEAK-ASS cocktails of which i didn't have one, but still.

i could also tell you about the time i went to olive garden, but you've suffered enough.

i kind of want to eat all of these. no, the fried fish looks like it came out of one plastic box in a freezer. and the steak where you can't actually see the 'steak' are losers. but the gross fish tacos look perversely appealing. likewise the burger patty that comes served in two quesadillas.

how do you work out your calorie requirements?

i don't think you do. you just eat the shit, feel regretful and gassy, and then go to the gym the next day. or maybe stay home and watch tv.

hey, mine are 3,000+ o_o — if only i lived in america and ate meat i could totally go for that disgusting yet appealing rack of ribs rite now

I am so glad that barely any of these chains exist in the UK that I know of.

omg yes. i thought mcdonalds was gross and indulgent and then you read teh blurbs and it is like 'this is the equiv of 7 big macs' for each one

I guess that the closest we get in the UK are those "restaurants" in the middle of theme parks that have menu items called "Pirate Burger" or "Pieces of Eight Milkshake" or whatever, simply because the park has a pirates theme. And then the burger is just a regular grey looking UK style limp and flacid burger that looks like it's been sat on.

Are the "eat this instead!" suggestions for other less bad things you can order at the same restaurant, or are they "hey dummy, cook for yourself instead of going out and eating some really fatty thing, but we're not going to tell you how, so even if you do make something up the nutritional information is meaningless"?

I think they're for other less bad things.

I do not think the UK would be made worse by the introduction of more of these chains.

http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2009/3/3/taybarns-pic-newsteam-878046930.jpg
http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2009/9/3/food-from-taybarns-pic-newsteam-853999190.jpg

that is what i imagine a chain smokers insides to look like on a plate

I do not think the UK would be made worse by the introduction of more of these chains.

― thomp, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 12:35 (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

really? we are obese enough as is, no need to add 20 different chains in every town where you can get yr weekly nutritional count in 1 sitting

I think they're for other less bad things.

That would make sense and be helpful, but it seems totally o_O to me that, say, one Cheesecake Factory kids' pasta main course would have 1800 calories and another would have only 500, or that ordering the shrimp taco instead of the fish taco at the same chain taqueria could save you 1800 calories (!).

Wd be terrified but fascinated to see something similar for Britisher chain restaurants + pubs - I'd love to hope they're better, but I'm not sure...
(plus, less surveyably, local takeaways - ever get the leftovers out of the fridge the next morning and find the sauce has set into a slab of congealed lard?)

Beefeater's highest-calorie item is a rather unpromising sounding plate of sausages and mash, with 1074 calories.

Harvester have a 'sharing' nachos which approaches 1700 calories; the 'plantation platter' (?) is 2,475 kcal; the 'personal plantation' is 1,402 kcal; their full rack of ribs is a disappointingly healthy 1,194 calories, although it does at least push you over your acceptable daily saturated fat.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7852168.stm

Study reveals 'shocking' kebabs

Researchers uncovered significant regional variations, with the average kebab in the north-west of England containing 1,101 calories, compared with 1,084 in Scotland, 1,055 in Wales and 1,066 in England's south-east.

The worst doners inspectors came across contained 1,990 calories before salad and sauces.

tbh 'kebabs r bad 4 u' not even one of the ten most shocking things i have heard today

something with 1k calories you have occasionally when drunk v. "Americans today eat out more than four times per week, and when it comes to gauging the nutrition of these meals, we are demonstrably ill equipped for the task. The point is that it’s easier to bite off more than you think you’re chewing. Some of the meals on this list can skyrocket your day’s caloric intake 1,500 calories beyond what you should be eating."

yeah ok

i meant 'importing these chains would probably not damage any of the actually half decent eating options we possess, and would likely replace some of the more gross options we do have'; not 'importing these chains would have a negligable dietary impact'

i dunno what the british equivalent really is. is there a u.s. chain with market share like giraffe or rainforest café? how about yo sushi? wagamama's are international, right?

Study reveals 'shocking' kebabs

lolled hard at this

"I guess that the closest we get in the UK..."

Isnt the UK the home of the deep-fried candy bar?

often forget scotland exists tbh

yes, we often walk into the chip shop and go "one deep-fried candy bar please my fine sir"

iirc queen victoria invented the deep-fried candy bar

Hey man, i would too.

xpost

The problwm with this list is it assumes we're all going to be eating the entirety of these 300-calorie monster portions. You think I can scarf down all that bistro shrimp pasta?? I'll just eat 1/4th of it and I'll be fine. What I want to see is a list of worst restaurant foods per calorie.

3000 calorie, I mean.

Well yeah, the pasta which comes in a giant bowl made of bread seemed a bit unfair in one way because the text said that the actual pasta+sauce was a reasonable-ish 600 calories but the bread would add another 800 calories - on the one hand, I figure most people only eat maybe a quarter of the bread, but on the other hand, uh, it is pretty wasteful and maybe irresponsible to serve up 3000 calories to people like "oh, we thought you'd only eat 700 calories of it and we'd throw the rest out, fattey"

(I don't know how many of these are takeout meals where you might split them w/ other people, eat some the next day, etc)

I think it's neat they can make bowls outta bread now, I am waiting for when they can do the same with my knife and fork, and the can my beer comes in too

spudware!

http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/forks.jpg

Well yeah, the pasta which comes in a giant bowl made of bread seemed a bit unfair in one way because the text said that the actual pasta+sauce was a reasonable-ish 600 calories but the bread would add another 800 calories - on the one hand, I figure most people only eat maybe a quarter of the bread, but on the other hand, uh, it is pretty wasteful and maybe irresponsible to serve up 3000 calories to people like "oh, we thought you'd only eat 700 calories of it and we'd throw the rest out, fattey"

hahahaha you think people don't eat the bread bowl? I would like to introduce you to my friend, fat-ass America

there's a rich italian pasta dish traditionally served in a hollowed-out parmesan rind

don't think you're supposed to eat the rind (unless you're american)

cheesecake factory is FUCKED UP. i went once while visiting my sister in boston (only other experience is gawking at the amazing line of uh interesting-looking people waiting to get into the downtown seattle one) and it was friggin horrific.

I live in the middle of nowhere and don't have a ton of restaurant options so when I visit places like Seattle one of my main goals is to eat at as many interesting or unique places that I can while I'm there. It actually kind of makes me angry to see people lined up waiting to get into places like Cheesecake Factory that they could go to in any city anywhere. You have thousands of places to eat here and you're willing to wait an hour for this?

I read an article about the place a few years ago about how they test out new things for the menu and work hard to eliminate any weird or scary foreign ingredients that might even slightly freak people out.

wow so how do they still serve vegatables on some of these

It actually kind of makes me angry to see people lined up waiting to get into places like Cheesecake Factory that they could go to in any city anywhere. You have thousands of places to eat here and you're willing to wait an hour for this?

I know, that pisses me off, too. Esp during past trips when I'm WITH those people who want to eat at chains. But I've come to grips with the fact that there are adventurous eaters and there's safety eaters who are terrified of the culinary unknown. Obv their mothers fucked them up in some irreparable way.

Those 'Don't Eat That, Eat This!!!' books, by the way, are totally realistic about the fact that the dude looking for an alternative to his usual Artery Plug Bacon Burger isn't going to be placated by a side order of celery sticks garnished with kisses. So they offer up a mildly less deadly alternative, like a double decker baloney sandwich with cigarattes snubbed out in it.

Australia is strewn with marsupials & bloomin' onions.

Those are all mind-boggling numbers, mostly gross pictures, and yet...I'm pretty hungry right now so a brownie ice cream sundae would be AWESOME. (What's in my bag, packed for dinner in between library & meetings? An apple and a turkey sandwich. Oh well.)

Also, I voted for the kid's pasta, because they're not even getting anything particularly tasty or interesting looking for all that anti-nutrition. How anticlimactic.

yeah the kid's pasta is just mean

my wife and I have been WTFing the breadbowl pasta every time we see the commercial

yo dogg I heard you like bread so I put some bread in your bread bowl

http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2009/9/3/food-from-taybarns-pic-newsteam-853999190.jpg

This pizza...Bunnicula got to it!

california pizza kitchen thai crunch salad with fresh avocado - voted for this b/c, if you're seeking most of the items on the list, you know what you're getting into. You might not have the stats, at least there are no illusions of nutritional health. But put "thai" & "salad" into a phrase (excepting "crunch" & "avocado" in this case) & you have something that might sound appealing to a health-conscious person - especially, say, someone scanning a delivery menu to pick out something relatively benign while their office places a collective order. You're disciplined enough to deny the pizza in lieu of the "thai salad" & then what you end up with is a deep-fried cheeseburger in a Trojan horse.

I guess that is why we should bring our purple broccoli and quinoa w/ side of unsalted cashews to work with us in tupperware containers.

I would have voted for the kid's pasta, because not only is it unhealthy, it doesn't even compensate the eater by being tasty. Also I think it's an example of one reason why adults are unadventurous when they eat out - because as children they were served kid's meal slop.
BUT I voted for the "Culver's North Atlantic Cod Filet Meal", because a) it looks like it's been thrown at the plate with some force, and b) it's justs fish fingers and chips with coleslaw and a bit of bread that looks like it's been attacked by a seagull.

california pizza kitchen thai crunch salad with fresh avocado - voted for this b/c, if you're seeking most of the items on the list, you know what you're getting into. You might not have the stats, at least there are no illusions of nutritional health. But put "thai" & "salad" into a phrase (excepting "crunch" & "avocado" in this case) & you have something that might sound appealing to a health-conscious person - especially, say, someone scanning a delivery menu to pick out something relatively benign while their office places a collective order. You're disciplined enough to deny the pizza in lieu of the "thai salad" & then what you end up with is a deep-fried cheeseburger in a Trojan horse.

see your first mistake is going to CPK in the first place, their entire menu is an exercise in gastronomic bait-and-switch mixed with someone taking the lesson learned by the creation of the peanut butter cup to its horrible extreme

see your first mistake is going to CPK in the first place - for the record, I have not eaten any of these & have only been to a few of these places. I'm not familiar w/ CPK at all. I'll admit to the occasional indulgence in bad food at bad chains, but I guess I run in different circles.

I had a pretty tasty vegetarian pizza from CPK once.

The juxtaposition of arugula, corn, okra and rhubarb really worked for you, huh?

Aka "the R.O.C.A."

I guess that is why we should bring our purple broccoli and quinoa w/ side of unsalted cashews to work with us in tupperware containers.

or just because we're too cheap to buy dinner on the run (but hey maybe that's not such a bad thing).

I will never forgive CPK for tricking me into thinking a tandoori chicken pizza would be a good idea

It might be a good thing at a better restaurant!

Zante's Indian Pizza, I heart you.

that sounds like it could be! (i am also a fan of the chicken tikka mozzarella pasty, though.)

(xxpost) I don't know how it's done in the US, but tandoori chicken pizza in the UK is incredible!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i dunno what the british equivalent really is. is there a u.s. chain with market share like giraffe or rainforest café? how about yo sushi? wagamama's are international, right?

Sadly, I think there's only one Wagamama in the US (Boston iirc, which seems to be the one place you'll find UK stuff. Like Topshop!?). I do kind of miss it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfan5MacmsI

had a lovely meal at friendly's the other night. rufus wanted to go for his birthday. had a cheeseburger and fries and a hot fudge sundae. very enjoyable. fries were great. and the toasted buttered hamburger bun always does it for me. yum.

http://www.adrants.com/images/friendlys_happy_ending.jpg

My favorite thing about Friendly's is the Wattamelon

Wow all of these look fucking disgusting.

Sadly, I think there's only one Wagamama in the US (Boston iirc, which seems to be the one place you'll find UK stuff. Like Topshop!?).

There are 3 in Boston and 1 in Washington DC. Weirdly, I have seen all of them (only eaten in 2 though).

Wattamelon? Is that just off brand watermelon? Is this like that episode of 30 rock where liz goes down south and gets freaked out by everything being a little bit different like peppy bismilk

it is an ice cream confectionery shaped and colored to resemble a watermelon iirc

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/95/212716744_d73091e8ec.jpg

I'm going to vote for TGI Fridays BBQ Chicken Wrap simply for its focus on ranch sauce (wrap also contains mayo for some reason) which I hate. Ranch sauce makes me murderously angry.

toasted buttered hamburger bun always does it for me. yum.

Yes! I worked at Friendly's when I was a teenager and this narrowly edged out experimental milkshakes ("Okay now, Doug, this one is a mix of Orange Sherbet and Peanut-Butter Chocolate, but can you guess the secret ingredient?" "Um...gummy bears?") as the best aspect of my employment.

i always asked for the wattamelon thing or ice cream sundaes for my birthday because i didn't like cake growing up. it was pretty good!

wtf is real fruit too scary so have an ice cr?m shaped like it instead?

Toasted 'n' buttered hamburger bun pretty much lifts any burger you'd care to make at home.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

shocked at lack of votes for "quesadilla burger"

quesadilla burger was possibly deemed too obvious: anyone putting that in their mouth knows what they're doing and why

whereas most of us would like to feel that if you took a child to a restaurant and offered them pasta, nothing quite so sinister could possibly be happening

agree but "quesadilla burger" still deserves votes--i mean it just SOUNDS wrong

i mean you can have a quesadilla, or you can have a burger, but come the fuck on.

nabisco otm

i really wanted to vote for the BBQ chicken wrap due to sup dawg we heard u like ranch so we put some ranch in ur ranch and mayo but the 1800 cal and 86g sat fat in that childsize alfredo is just diabolical.

like, your child could eat this, or go for something healthier LIKE A PINT OF BEN AND JERRY'S

a pint of chubby hubby is 30% lower in calories and 50% lower in sat fat irl btw

the more I think about it, the most sinister thing about that pasta is that it forces adults/parents who take their kids to common restaurants to turn into the kinds of bug-eyed freaks who are like NO NO precious you CAN'T EAT THAT because you DON'T KNOW WHAT'S IN IT, I'll order you some steamed vegetables and then maybe when we get home you can have some seitan and gluten-free wafers

most people do not want that for themselves and their kids, but if you are going to put ten billion calories in innocuous bowls of pasta you are really not leaving people a whole lot of choice

otoh i really like seitan irl too. tofu never saw it coming.

so like basically it erodes our comforting human assumption that we can chillax and not be psycho and let our children eat at restaurants without their having coronaries at age 12, which assumption I actually consider pretty vital to American quality of life, is what I'm saying

or this pivotal knowledge could usher in a new era of ice cream for dinner - the healthy choice!

there was a poorly-conceived article in my local paper recently about "the children's menu" and kids ordering out that did make a couple of ok points. essentially it seems like you should encourage your kids to order sensible shit off the real menu (lol coming from me who was THE pickiest eater as a child). like in addition to the amount of fat and calories in that pasta it provides nothing in the way of positive nutrition--where are the vegetables??

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/46018/americas-worst-french-fries-and-what-you-should-eat-instead/

arby's curly fries?? ;-;

http://www.yelp.com/biz/carvings-washington

This restaurant sells the most unhealthy fries I've ever had, and I highly recommend stopping in for some if you're in the neighborhood.

I don't think this person should get print time in national web media for saying that giant sacks of fries or fries with bacon, chili, and/or cheese on them contain more fat and calories than a small order of McDonald's fries. And according to the by-line, David Zinczenko needed help with this article, which does not exactly fill me with confidence that he is someone who knows anything about anything.

I suppose the Curly Fries Revelation is interesting.

Oh I don't think the article is incisive or surprising, really, I just think the descriptions of the various items and their calorie/fat contents are pretty amazing.

I mean:

Chili’s Texas Cheese Fries w/Jalapeno Ranch
1,920 calories
147 g fat (63 g saturated)
3,580 mg sodium

I bet they taste amazing :(

I would not bet too much that anything involving "Jalepeno Ranch" tasted amazing.

GIS results for "Jalepeno Ranch" are not as awesome as I was hoping they'd be.

oh man, not curly fries ;_;

chili's is the best & most american restaurant in the country

chillips

http://gawker.com/5610433/dennys-new-fried-cheese-sandwich-is-culinary-terrorism

you guys ... this is like a fried grilled cheese sandwich with mozzarella sticks in it

It's like something Elvis would come up with and then he'd say "nah, that's stupid".

It looks pretty awesome though. And only $4! Food really is cheap in the US. That would cost £20+ in the UK.

Of course then it would be covered in batter and then deep fried again.

That will be IHOP's response to this sandwich.

Food was always meticulously presented.

If only Sandra Lee had been on TV in 1974.

In all my years of photo trolling, that might be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen.

Lookit the onions and green beans swimming in a pool of grease!

"6 servings"

YES!.

^^^ real Sandra Lee cuisine

Needs tequila...

(because lately SL has been putting tequila in everything, for those not following the Sandra Lee thread)

http://woodbridgecafe.co.uk/