Atkins Friendly Restaurants?
 

Hi, I'm sorry if there is already a topic about Atkins friendly restaurants......just dont have a lot of time to search all the threads.

Anyway i'm new to the site and was wondering if anyone could recommend any Atkins friendly restaurants.

Just really wondering if anyone had a good list low carb restaurants.
I've searched, and found a few places (mainly steak diners), but if anyone has a list of their favorites, or could drop a link, i would really appreciate it.

thanks again for any help :)

Boston Market...I love their chicken and they have side salads and green beans I think

Chain restaurants usually add sugars to their foods (meats & veg) so I keep that in mind whenever I go to one. Chain restaurants also usually use "pre fab" foods that don't need a chef to make the dishes so customizing beyond asking for no starches is difficult. I usually look at their website before I go to help make better suggestions.

I've had better luck with small, local restaurants that use fresh ingredients and have a real chef in the kitchen. They seem to have no problem making dishes Atkins-friendly.

red robin has any burger they carry with out the bun and a lettuce wrap...just ask for it when you order delish....substitute fries for side salad

Most places have dishes that can be de-carbed. For example, for Sunday brunch, we often go to this one local placy that has 18+ omelettes on the menu that are almost all low-carb-friendly if you skip the toast & hash browns....since the omelettes are so big, you won't miss them.

Swap out sides for veggies & salads, have sauces on the side, loose the rolls...

Now, I do expect that if I am eating out, there's going to be a couple extra carbs in there somewhere, either from ingredients I'm not sure about or sheer portion size. So when I eat out, I generally adjust the carbs down the rest of the day to compensate.

I have learned thru the years that you can just about eat lc at any restaurant. Sometimes you have to hope for a great waiter that wont mind you tweaking their menu but it can be done just about anywhere. We went to a mexican restaurant yesterday and i had sauteed shrimp over onions and peppers with salad and avacado slices. The dish usually came with beans and rice but they were happy to sub the salad instead. I always know there may be a few carbs somewhere but when going out just plan for that.

Cracker Barrel is one of the only restaurants that i know still has an actual lc menu. I think TGIFridays still has a few lc options as well.

Most restaurants will have something that will suit an Atkins menu. Salad is #1. The only type of restaurant I have not attempted is Asian (Chinese, Korean, etc.).

Someone mentioned Sizzler is a good low carb restaurant I guess for the salad bar and steaks. I like Ruby Tuesday's for the salad bar and they have burgers too. I LOVE The Cheesecake Factory for their omelettes and low carb cheesecake.

Carls' Junior (Hamburgers) also will serve their burgers simply wrapped in lettuce. Sloppy, but yummy!

-Steve

Also, just remembered Carls's Junior also has three good low-carb salads. Always fresh.

-Steve

In n out (protein style burgers)

I love going to Outback - just be careful to ask for the veggies unseasoned. The steaks don't have sugar added to them and are great.

I find myself eating chicken wings about once a week on this WOE - as long as they aren't breaded, they are safe nearly everywhere.

You can follow Atkins at any restaurant. In the now-9 years I've been on Atkins, I've never once had a mishap with my food. Simply communicate with your server about what you will not have on your entrées and substitute sides accordingly. :)

I've only been out to dinner once since I started this WOE. Went to Red Lobster and stayed on plan. I had shrimp scampi,crab legs,grilled lobster and grilled shrimp with butter. ( I later found out the butter sauce is not real butter so it has some carbs, but not that many to throw you off plan). I had broccoli and also asked for some pico de gallo. Plus a caesar salad without the croutons.


As others have said, you can make a lot of places "Atkins Friendly" - Make the best choices, however, I would eat really clean for the rest of the day to plan for hidden carbs.

Rumor has it that if you bring your Dreamfield's pasta to the Olive Garden, they'll prepare it for you. But I would definitely call and ask.

Cracker Barrel has a low carb menu
TGI Friday's has lowcarb dishes like sizzlin' chicken and shrimp. mmmm now I'm hungry! lol

I went to Cheeseburger in Paradise with my boyfriend last night. I am pretty sure it's a chain, even though there is only 1 in WI that I know of. I had the breakfast burger (a generous beef patty topped with cheese, ham, and an egg over easy) and a side salad with full-fat ranch dressing instead of fries. It was amazingly delicious and I didn't feel one bit deprived. Note: I pulled the bun off the burger and just left it on my plate. My bf actually wished that he would've gotten a salad instead of fries when he saw how good mine looked! :) I've found that ANY restaurant can be made low carb, with the exception of some asian places and my least favorite place on earth, Noodles and Company!!


I also think that this WOE is much, much easier to adhere to in restaurants than the traditional low-fat "diet". When I was on WW in the past, I would dread restaurants, because my only options were to throw caution to the wind and eat whatever, or get a small side salad with fat free dressing for my dinner, because every single other option, even the modest ones, were too high in "points". Now I can eat whatever I want, as long as I pick off the carbage!

Any restaurant. Literally. Its just up to you to order correctly!

I agree with the others. Just tell the waiter/waitress what you want.

my favorite thing to eat out is chicken wings, specifically buffalo wild wings medium traditional, hooters naked hot and chilis buffalo wings. like everyone said, you can LC pretty much anywhere with adjustments. I also like doing fajitas minus the shells, it's not as low as I'd like sometimes, but super filling and better than the alternatives!

I used to love Carl's Junior hamburgers, until I noticed that they kicked me out of ketosis every time :down:

Red Lobster has a Garlic Shrimp Scampi - 0 carbs and peppercorn grilled steak - 0 carbs. I have been there twice now and had that. I got a salad with blue cheese dressing which I think the blue cheese was one or two carbs. I picked out the croutons and ordered broccoli instead of potatoes or rice. You can also get any grilled fish there.

Wendy's burgers without the bun.

If you know ahead of time where you are going a lot of restaurants have nutritional information on their website. I always check it out ahead of time and find out what I can eat.

Friendly's has a no sugar frozen yogurt which is low if you want to splurge.

I have been afraid to to to Chinese food restaurants because, 1. I love it so much and 2. I can't imagine what I would order....anyone?

i think some of the soups are okay, plus you want to avoid most of the sauces.. i think i'd rather just make my own :)

I've been avoiding asian too! My family was eating asian last week and I just got chicken wings - no sauce. Hardly asian but it was the only thing I felt safe eating.

I've ordered Curried Shrimp and Broccoli without the rice and without corn starch.

I love going to houstons, outback, ken's wing house, hooters, cheesecake factory(for dessert).
Remember ALWAYS ask your waiter if your unsure about something.

Just make sure there's no pancake batter added if you order scrambled eggs or omelets!! This is the scariest "carb-sneak" I've ever heard of!!

I order egg foo young without the gravy

Yeah, if you go to IHOP, be sure to ask for shelled eggs

I just went to Outback last night. They have an option with their sirloin steak I think it is, where you can order it under 500 calories. If you do that, it will automatically come with veggies, and no breads/starches. You'll get just the steak and veggies. :cool: Plus, they keep Michelob Ultra on tap for $1.75. :up: Or at least they do at the one here in Atlanta.