Dining out places

My husband and I dine out a lot.  Perhaps too much both for our pocket book and our waistline.  But, it is one of our pleasures in life.

One thing I enjoy about this program is it allows you to eat just about anywhere and find stuff to eat.

Some restaurants are more friendly than others to the low carb way of life.

First an illustration of a place that just doesn't get it.  Today my hubby and I went to a popular chain that is famous for breakfast. 

I asked if I could substitute the high carb sides, (pancakes & hash-browns) for some vegetables or a salad. 

You would think I asked for a year of free meals. 

The waitress said she could tell them not to put those items on my plate and then she could bring me a side salad at my expense.   

This is an example of a place that doesn't get it.   I wasn't asking for a free steak and lobster, I was asking for a small side salad and in place of food of equal or higher value.   

I then decided to look at their lunch and dinner menu to see if there were choices there and almost everything was breaded or had a sweet (BBQ for example) sauce on it. 

Not my favorite dining out experience.  I ended up with a chicken Caesar salad hold the croutons.

On the other side of the coin there are many restaurants that do understand and provide wonderful options.

Red Robin for example offers any of their sandwiches "protein style".   Instead of a bun they use lettuce, it sounds weird but they actually sort of shape the lettuce like a bun and you can pick it up and eat it just like the rest of their sandwiches. 

Of course you may have to watch which sandwich you choose. Example one with onion straws and BBQ sauce can still be VERY high in carbs even without the bun.  

Red Robin also allows you to sub the fries for a salad.   Be sure to tell them to leave the tortilla chips off of it though.

Carls Jr also offers a lettuce wrapped sandwich.


Amante and Romios have low carb menu sections.

TGI Fridays has a few low carb choices on their right portion, right price menu.

Ruby Tuesday has their carb count on their smart eating choices menu and has many very low carb options.

Many fast food places will give you a salad instead of fries. Watch out for lite dressing though, it is full of sugar so high carb.

The good news is you can make anything work. You can always just leave the carb stuff on the plate and eat the rest, but how wonderful that some places cater to us.