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Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food Joints

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:30:55 -0800

When you're out and about, sometimes your only dining option is to pick up some food to go. So if you're faced with a few food chains to choose from, here are the top 10 healthiest fast food restaurants recommended by Health magazine.

Panera Bread
Jason's Deli
Au Bon Pain
Noodles and Company
Corner Bakery Cafe

To see the last five, read more.

Chipotle
Atlanta Bread
McDonald's (yes, this one really did make the list)
Einstein Bros. Bagels
Taco Del Mar

For more details on why these restaurants scored high, check out Health.com.

Tell me, which of these 10 food chains would you most likely grab a quick meal from?

Got the Travel Bug? Check Out Food & Wine's Go Lists

YumSugar — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:23:11 -0700

Every year, Food & Wine magazine puts out their Go List. It's actually a series of lists containing the best places for food-crazed travelers to check out. If you're planning a trip soon - or need an excuse to do so - you should definitely check out their recommendations.

This year, in addition to listing the World's 10 Best Restaurant Cities they've also included lists for the next world superstar chefs, up-and-coming cities, best new restaurants, restaurants for sightseers, and more. If you're planning on being jet set, these lists are a must read. To find out which cities topped their lists, read more.

Food & Wine's Best Restaurant Cities

Tokyo, Japan
Paris, France
New York, United States
London, England
Barcelona, Spain
Sydney, Australia
Madrid, Spain
Chicago, United States
Stockholm, Sweden
Vancouver, Canada

Other noteworthy mentions include Beijing as the top of the restaurant cities to watch list, and although it made the best city list, none of the best new restaurants are in New York.

I don't know about you, but I've definitely got the travel bug! How long do you think it would take to visit all of the travel-worthy recommendations on their Go List?

Burger King Gets a Makeover

YumSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:15:47 -0700

While one fast food chain is temporarily closing stores, another has begun remodeling them. Hoping a facelift will invigorate sales, Burger King announced a major effort to redesign its 12,000 worldwide locations.

Burger King is betting that rotating red flame chandeliers, LCD menus, and corrugated metal and brick walls will encourage customers to sit down and enjoy a meal rather than simply passing through.According to Chairman and CEO John Chidsey, who describes the overhaul as "contemporary, edgy, futuristic . . . like an upscale restaurant," the 60 outlets that have already been revamped have generated 12 to 15 percent more sales.

The "20/20" design transformation, as it's called, is a huge risk for Burger King. The overhaul will take several years to complete worldwide, and will cost franchisees a whopping $300,000 to $600,000 per restaurant. Check out new store pictures. Could a redesign coax you into buying more BK?

Five Free Foodie Apps For iPhone

GeekSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:05:16 -0700

What do you want to eat? It's an easy question, but sometimes finding the answer is tough. Check out five of my favorite free apps for finding recipes and restaurants, shopping for food, scoring a reservation, and more!

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Morimoto to Bring Yakatori to the Traveling Masses

partysugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:50:26 -0700

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's got a new project in the works. Yesterday the hospitality company Delaware North Cos announced a partnership with the sushi master, with plans to launch Skewers, a new fast-casual airport restaurant chain.

Although no sushi will be on the menu, the concept will offer travelers easily portable meals like soups and salads, as well as a variety of skewered meats and vegetables.

Known as yakitori in Japan, skewers are an incredibly popular street food and Morimoto hopes to introduce the world to his interpretation of it. "Yakitori is the next big wave, I think," Morimoto said, adding confidently, "It will be very popular."

While the rollout dates and details concerning the locations have not been released, I think the idea sounds interesting. I've yet to experience yakitori and am curious to see how Morimoto translates it to the masses. How about you? Have you had yakitori? Will Morimoto's latest endeavor be a success?

Are You a High-Maintenance Menu Orderer?

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:47:05 -0800

The more concerned I get about healthy eating, the more I start to sound like Sally Albright in When Harry Met Sally. The charming neurotic played by Meg Ryan makes endless substitutions when ordering off menus; as Harry points out, "'on the side' is a very big thing for you."

I confess, I'm also a big "on the side" person. I'm also a fan of sharing entrees and enjoying starters as a main course. Are you high maintenance when it comes to ordering off of restaurant menus?

7 Small Ways to Save Big When You Eat Out

SavvySugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:30:19 -0700

People are definitely eating differently thanks to the recession. But cutting food costs doesn't mean you still can't enjoy eating out. Tough times for consumers means empty tables at restaurants - and to fill them, restaurants are making menu changes and slashing prices, or offering discounts. Just take a look at how you can save on your next meal out.

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Uno Is America's Healthiest Chain?

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:30:00 -0700

Health magazine just unveiled a big feature on the healthiest restaurants in the US, which breaks down eateries by category, including sit-down chains, fast food, and independent restaurants. The magazine studied 43 chains (each with at least 75 locations) and ranked them based on the nutritional information provided.

It sounded intriguing, until I started perusing the list and found many of the choices downright puzzling: Uno Chicago Grill, known for its deep-dish pizza, is the first restaurant on the list of sit-down chains. Health lays out its reasons, but I'm still not sure I agree. To see the reasons and the rest of the list, read more
Like Au Bon Pain, Uno Chicago Grill has added nutrition kiosks to its lobbies, where customers can look up the ingredients and nutritional content of its foods. Here's more on why Health chose Uno:

Sure, its famous deep-dish (read high-fat) pizzas still hold court, but nutrition has become the word of the day with a completely trans fat–free menu and plenty of grilled entrees (including antibiotic-free chicken). Adding to the healthy variety: whole-grain pasta and brown rice, organic coffee and tea, and flatbread pizzas that have half the calories of deep-dish ones. Plus, you can add a salad to your pizza for half-price because, according to the menu, “We want you to get some greens in your diet.” Now that’s a blue-ribbon commitment to health.

Can we really award a "blue ribbon" for health to a restaurant known for its deep-dish fat explosions? While I appreciate the low-fat menu options and the transparency about ingredients, there's something that just seems wrong about Uno now being able to proclaim that it's the healthiest chain in America on its website. I think it would be better to reward individual dishes, or just make smart choices when you're eating out), rather than deeming a pretty unhealthy chain "healthy."

Check out the healthiest fast food joints here. Here's the full list of the top 10 sit-down chains.

Uno Chicago Grill
Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes
Mimi's Cafe
P.F. Chang's China Bistro
Bob Evans
Ruby Tuesday
Romano's Macaroni Grill
Chevy's Fresh Mex
Olive Garden
Denny's

What do you guys think? Does this list bother you?

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Geek Tip: Avoid Extra Holiday Pounds With Lose It

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:50:45 -0800

For me, part of gearing up for the holiday season is the realization that I'm going to overindulge in holiday goodies from time to time. While this time of year isn't the best for trying to shed extra pounds, there's still benefit in watching what I'm eating - even if I allow myself a few "cheat" days here and there. Lose It! is an iPhone app that tracks caloric and nutritional intake as well as calories burned by exercise, giving you a calorie budget for the day.

First, enter your starting weight, your goal weight (if you want to lose, that is), height, and birth date, and the app figures how many calories you need to lose a few pounds or maintain your current weight. Then, enter exactly what you've eaten that day (you can search by meal, favorite foods, previous meals, even brand name foods from supermarkets and restaurants) and any exercise you've done. The app tracks your daily, weekly, and monthly caloric intake, factoring any exercise into the equation.

I'm certainly not shooting for any serious weight loss before January (hello pumpkin pie!), but it will be nice to know how many calories I'm consuming during non"cheat" days.

Getting to Know Anne Burrell

partysugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:00:08 -0700

Let me introduce you to Anne Burrell. Anne's a multi-tasker with many roles in the food industry. First and foremost, she's the executive chef of a restaurant, Centro Vinoteca, in New York City. She works at the restaurant six days a week and isn't much of a home cook. In her downtime Anne competes as Mario Batali's sous chef on Iron Chef America. However, her latest role is as a hostess of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, a new show on Food Network. This Sunday (at 9:30 a.m.) Anne's coming to a kitchen near you and she's teaching you how to cook like she does in her Centro Vinoteca. Earlier this week I chatted with the former Culinary Institute of America instructor, to see what she had to say, read more.

PartySugar: With your show, what are you hoping to teach the American people?
Anne Burrell: I want to help people understand that they can do restaurant food at home. I want to take the fear factor out of cooking. Cooking is such a daunting task to a lot of people and it doesn't have to be. It's not really rocket science. Once you know the techniques, like how to understand high heat, you can do it. When you cook, you have to be entirely comfortable. Cooking is like a dog when you're nervous, it knows your nervous. A lot of people think that cooking is genetic, and they say, oh I cook because my mom cooked. But cooking isn't genetic, you have to learn how to do it first before it becomes common sense. In the restaurant, we are always looking for ways to maximize flavor and minimize effort and that's what I'm going to teach you to do.
PS: Tell me about working with Mario Batali on Iron Chef.
AB: Well this season we are not doing it, due to conflicts in Mario's schedule during filming, but we are still very much a viable team. Being on Iron Chef is every bit as stressful as it seems. I just do my best and tell myself, I'm not going to be the reason Mario loses.

PS: What's your advice to the every day, home cook?
AB: My advice, sadly it doesn't seem that exciting, is to read the recipe! Read the recipe from start to finish before you begin to cook. When I was learning how to cook, I never wanted to read the recipe, but now I see how important it is because you can start doing what I call "crap detecting" where you filter out steps. Basically, you modify the recipe to get rid of the crap. Sometimes you'll read a recipe that says, saute the onions in one pan and the mushrooms in another and later you will combine the two in the same pan, so why not eliminate those first steps? Saute them both in the same pan, and save time while making the dish more flavorful.

PS: What's your favorite kitchen tip?
AB: Use salt! Generously use salt. Taste everything as you go along. Really sitting and tasting the food is something the home cook is reluctant to do. Food should taste good, you have to control that quality.

PS: What did you have for lunch today?
AB: I had a turkey sandwich on rye toast with mayo, lettuce, and potato chips. I always put potato chips in my sandwiches because I like that crunch.

Now that you know a little bit more about Anne, will you watch her show?

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