A List of Safe Restaurants

[ETeSelle]

Yeah, the Chipotle rice is VERY oily. Ick. I went there w/ work folks for someone's b-day and was happy to see the brown rice but NOT happy to see the oil. It is kind of necessary, however--without it, it would clump up in no time in the big vats out of which they dish it.

One more reason to avoid most restaurants!

[Starchyme]

I haven't been to QDoba in a long time. But their rice, beans, etc. didn't taste all that oily to me. I used to get the Naked Burrito (same thing without the tortilla) and asked just for the rice, black beans, a dollop of guacomole, salsa, onions on a bed of greens. Yummy! Hmmm may have to go there soon.

[ETeSelle]

I haven't been to QDoba in a long time. But their rice, beans, etc. didn't taste all that oily to me. I used to get the Naked Burrito (same thing without the tortilla) and asked just for the rice, black beans, a dollop of guacomole, salsa, onions on a bed of greens. Yummy! Hmmm may have to go there soon.

Yup--all rice that sits in a bin has oil in it so it doesn't stick into huge clumps. Qdoba's tastes less oily than Chipotle's, but yeah, there's oil in there. Ditto the fajitas veggies. The guacamole is, of course, very high in fat as well (and probably not 100% avocado).

[brec]

See my post re: Ghengis Grill back on p. 2 of this thread--I included the website link, where you can look up the nutritional info in the sauces. MANY have no added fat. Most are pretty high in sodium but are otherwise pretty blameless. I have them cook w/ water instead of oil and use the ginger-citrus sauce--YUM!

This weekend will be the first time I have to choose a restaurant on my new food regimen (Esselstyn). There's a Ghenghis Grill near me, so based on the news in this thread I checked out their nutrition brochure at http://www.genghisgrill.com/files/InsideBrochure.pdf

The Ginger Citrus sauce, like many of their sauces, is high in sugar -- 10g per ounce (35% by weight), and a total of 69 calories per ounce.

Looking among the sauces for short ingredient lists, I might try the Szechuan, which has 0.1g fat, 4.5g sugar, and 28 calories per ounce despite its second-listed ingredient being HFCS.

[pundit999]

Yeah, the Chipotle rice is VERY oily. Ick. I went there w/ work folks for someone's b-day and was happy to see the brown rice but NOT happy to see the oil. It is kind of necessary, however--without it, it would clump up in no time in the big vats out of which they dish it.

One more reason to avoid most restaurants!

You can ask Chipotle to use plain brown rice instead of the lime rice they typically use. I have done that a few times.

Avoid Fajita veggies also: just brown rice, black beans, mild and medium salsa, lettuce and you are good to go. Not bad at all.

[ETeSelle]

Yeah, the Chipotle rice is VERY oily. Ick. I went there w/ work folks for someone's b-day and was happy to see the brown rice but NOT happy to see the oil. It is kind of necessary, however--without it, it would clump up in no time in the big vats out of which they dish it.

One more reason to avoid most restaurants!

You can ask Chipotle to use plain brown rice instead of the lime rice they typically use. I have done that a few times.

Avoid Fajita veggies also: just brown rice, black beans, mild and medium salsa, lettuce and you are good to go. Not bad at all.

My post above clearly said that the BROWN rice had oil in it. So no, it's not "good to go" by Jeff's metric at all.

[pundit999]

My post above clearly said that the BROWN rice had oil in it. So no, it's not "good to go" by Jeff's metric at all.

I was not talking about the brown rice they typically serve: it has added oil and spices. I was talking about asking them to give you plain brown rice before they added anything to it.

You can ask them for plain brown rice, may be plain white rice too. It could be that the plain brown rice also has oil in it. It did not look like on the occasions I tried. It will be good to ask them.

[ETeSelle]

You can ask them for plain brown rice, may be plain white rice too. It could be that the plain brown rice also has oil in it. It did not look like on the occasions I tried. It will be good to ask them.

I'll bet it does--you cannot put rice in a big vat and leave it w/out adding oil or it sticks. Period.

The veggies are also very oily. This is not a place that would be Jeff-approved is my point.

[JohnLarson]

One place I like going to is Golden Coral Buffet. They have a salad bar and steamed broccoli and cauliflower, plus baked and sweet potatoes. Most of the other items have oil in them. I normally get some white rice and corn on the cob.

This is a good place to go with SAD eaters.

[lvixie]

Chipotle adds the oil to the rice AFTER it is cooked. If you get there at the right time, or wait, you CAN ask them for rice, either white or brown, that does not have oil in it. I've asked upper management about this several times and they've assured me the staff have been asked to do this.

That being said, sometimes I don't want to wait for the rice to be done (although they say they have rice coming out every 20 minutes.) And sometimes the staff plays ignorant.

And yes, I have gotten rice at Chipotle from the vat before the oil has been added. (And I've seen them do the adding.)

Linda

[ETeSelle]

Chipotle adds the oil to the rice AFTER it is cooked. If you get there at the right time, or wait, you CAN ask them for rice, either white or brown, that does not have oil in it. I've asked upper management about this several times and they've assured me the staff have been asked to do this.

Most people are not going to be able to accomplish this. Since the point of this thread is to talk about places where eating this way is relatively easy, Chipotle, again, seems a very poor choice.

Personally, I'd much rather eat my own cooking than have to worry about whether I make it to Chipotle before they add the oil LOL.

[Langeranger]

Has Jeff posted a "final" list of safe restaurants yet?

[JeffN]

No.

Hopefully, in 2013.

It's on my list

In Health
Jeff

[TerriT]

Bamboo Garden Vegetarian Restaurant in Seattle.
http://www.bamboogarden.net/specialties.html

I have only eaten there pre-McDougall. They will prepare with no oil, salt etc. if asked. All "meat" dishes use tofu and similar, no animal products are used in the restaurant except eggs in the fortune cookies. They are also certified kosher.

All "meat", "poultry", and "seafood", menu items are made from vegetable protein products and 100% vegetable oil. All dishes have no cholesterol. Ask your server for special dietary needs requiring special preparation, including no salt, no oil, no sugar, or other restrictions. Only the fortune cookies contain eggs.

I went to Bamboo Garden last summer while visiting family in Seattle. I ordered one of the noodle dishes without oil and it was delicious.

[Starchyme]

WFM also has oil in the rice on the hot bar.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that QDoba's wasn't all that oily. Well, I was there a couple months ago and ordered exactly the same foods as before. I couldn't even eat it because it was laden with oil. Perhaps it always was; but now my taste buds have changed so much that I can't stand to even get oil on my lips.