We all break down and get some fast food or pull into a diner from time to time, but some restaurant fare is better than others.
And since it's the new year, many people are also trying to cut down their unhealthy habits. So, here to turn you off chains like Denny's and Johnny Rockets forever, is the list of the worst restaurant foods out there.
The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest has released their annual "Xtreme Eating Awards" list for 2013. It calls out the craziest, most unhealthy dishes being served at big restaurant chains across America.
This year, stalwarts of indulgence like Cheesecake Factory and Maggiano's made the list for their calorie-laden concoctions, along with a massive smoothie from Smoothie King. Here's the info from the report.
A Cheddar Bacon Double, Sweet Potato Fries and Big Apple Shake at Johnny Rockets (3,500 calories, 88 grams of saturated fat, 3,720 mg sodium and 15 teaspoons of sugar).
Bacon Cheddar Double: 1,770 calories, 50 grams of saturated fat, and 2,380 milligrams of sodium. (Three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with Cheese have "only" 1,570 calories.)
Johnny’s Sweet Potato Fries add another 590 calories—110 more than his regular “American Fries” and 90 more than a large McDonald’s Fries—and 800 mg of sodium.
Surely, you have room for the extra 1,140 calories, 37 grams of sat fat, and estimated 13 teaspoons of added sugar in a Big Apple Shake.
Country Fried Steak & Eggs from IHOP (1,760 calories, 23 grams saturated fat, 3,720 milligrams sodium and 11 teaspoons of sugar).
IHOP’s Country Fried Steak & Eggs isn’t one thing. It’s “8 oz. fried beef steak smothered in country gravy. Served with two eggs, hash browns and two buttermilk pancakes.”
It may just be breakfast, but there's more than enough for at least a day of eating: all the calories (1,760—almost a day’s worth), all the saturated fat (23 grams—your full quota until this time tomorrow), all the sodium (3,720 milligrams—2½ days’ worth), and all the sugar (11 teaspoons—close to two days’ worth), if you use a typical quarter cup of syrup.
The report says: "Think of it as five McDonald’s Egg McMuffins sprinkled with 10 packets of sugar."
The 18 oz. Veal Porterhouse at Maggiano’s Little Italy (2,710 calories, 45 grams of sat fat, and 3,700 mg of sodium).
Take the 18 oz. Veal Porterhouse, which is drizzled with butter sauce and comes with half a pound of roasted, fried, and garlic-buttered Crispy Red Potatoes. Even without the spuds, you’re talking 1,900 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat, and 2,860 milligrams of sodium.
The potatoes bring the total to 2,710 calories (almost 1½ days’ worth), 45 grams of sat fat (a two-day supply), and 3,700 mg of sodium (2½ days’ limit). And those numbers don’t include the Ciabatta Roll that comes with the meal. You’d be better off eating four Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizzas.
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