the 20 worst restaurants foods in america

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.)