This seemingly innocent scenario is all too familiar. You're out to eat with friends. You plan on ordering something sensible for your meal, but when the waiter suggests an appetizer for the table, everyone agrees a shared pre-dinner platter is the perfect excuse to indulge in a little bad-for-you food. After all, how bad could it be? Read on to find out, and learn the better-for-you bets HG found on those very same menus...
1. Chili's - Awesome Blossom
(1 appetizer: 2,710 calories, 203g fat, 6,360mg sodium, 194g carbs, 15g fiber, 24g protein)
If you think the fact that the base of this thing is a vegetable makes it an okay option, you couldn't be more OFF base. By the time this ginormous onion is battered, seasoned, fried and served with fatty sauce, it more than tips the scales -- it breaks 'em! That sauce alone is slingin' 90 calories and 9 grams of fat in each tiny tablespoon! You'd need to share this thing with an entire army of pals to make it work nutritionally -- and then you'd each be left with only a shred of breaded onion with a drop of dressing (how sad!).
Starter Barter: Instead of that freakish fried thing, think outside the box -- in this case, the box being the appetizer section of the menu. The Lettuce Wraps (complete with Asian-spiced chicken, assorted dipping sauces and more) may not be listed with the other apps, but with only 580 calories and 35g fat for the whole thing, it makes an ideal shared meal-starter.
2. Denny's - Mini Burgers
(1 appetizer including onion rings: 2,220 calories, 136g fat, 3,860mg sodium, 179g carbs, 5g fiber, 76g protein)
So maybe you figure these adorable mini burgers served with onion rings are a great way to feed a burger-craving before ordering up a giant healthy salad. They come 6 to a platter, how awful could 1 of those tiny things be? Brace yourself, because even if you split this dish with 5 friends, you'll still be swallowing more than 350 calories and 22 fat grams! That's miniature mayhem!
Starter Barter: A hefty 12-ounce portion of their meaty Vegetable Beef soup will only set you back 135 calories and 4.5g fat. Plus, it's got 3 grams of fiber to help fill you up.
3. Islands Restaurant - Island Fries
(1/5th of appetizer: 420 calories, 31g fat, 1,170mg sodium, 32g carbs)
The menu boasts that these babies now have "ZERO GRAMS of TRANS FAT per serving!" Um, we're not exactly impressed. This starter still has 155 FAT GRAMS in it!!! But the craziest thing of all is that these are just plain old fries! No chili, no cheese, no Island-inspired sauce... NADA! A very disappointing offering from the Caribbean kitchen.
Starter Barter: Once again, we got crafty and hit up another section of the menu. Islands' Northshore Tacos come with 3 hefty, over-6-ounce soft tacos stuffed with spicy chicken, cheddar cheese, salsa and more. Even if you ate an entire taco (although splitting 'em in half is recommended), you'd still only consume 260 calories and 10g fat. By the way, that's actually LESS than what you'd take in if you ordered their Garden Salad as a starter.
4. Ruby Tuesday - Point Reyes Blue Cheese Chips
(1/4th of appetizer: 510 calories, 37g fat, 29g net carbs, 2g fiber)
Yowza. The Ruby Tuesday team has outdone themselves with this one. Fried potato chips topped with cheesy cream sauce, blue cheese crumbles, AND bacon?!? Creative, sure, but worth the monstrous amounts of fat and calories it's carrying? Not a chance.
Starter Barter: Way to go, Ruby T! We were pleasantly surprised to find a guilt-free option on your app menu. A 1/4th serving of the Asian Dumplings has just 110 calories and 5 fat grams. And each one's chicken-filled, steam-grilled, and served with tasty peanut sauce! And if dumplings don't do it for you, pay a visit to their massive salad bar (just stick with the healthy options!).
5. Chili's - Texas Cheese Fries
(1 appetizer: 2,070 calories, 160g fat, 3,730mg sodium, 73g carbs, 8g fiber, 85g protein)
Ooh, Chili's, you've popped up TWICE on our list. For shame! Your fries are way outta line with their triple-digit fat grams and 2-grand-plus calorie count. Yeah, yeah, we know these are supposed to be shared. But even if we recruited a whole crew of cowgirls to help us chew 'em, these Texas taters would still spell trouble.
Starter Barter: Chili's has some awesome soup selections that we highly recommend. You could slurp your way through an entire bowl of their Chicken Noodle Soup for a mere 90 calories and 2 fat grams. Or order up a cup of their Southwestern Vegetable Soup for only 110 calories and 5 grams of fat. Not bad!
6. P.F. Chang's - Chang's Spare Ribs
(1 appetizer: 1,280 calories, 79g fat, 47g carbs, 92g protein)
Chang, spare us from this BBQ sauce slathered stuff. If we were to pig out on your hi-cal, fatty pork ribs, we'd have no room left for dinner.
Starter Barter: Yay... a delicious pre-meal platter that's completely guilt-free! The entire plate of Steamed Shrimp Dumplings -- complete with ginger chili pepper soy sauce -- has only 290 calories and 9 grams of fat. With stats that low, feel free to bogart these babies.
7. Romano's Macaroni Grill - Romano's Sampler (Calamari Fritti, Mozzarella Fritta, and Tomato Bruchetta)
(1 appetizer: 1,640 calories, 98g fat, 4,000mg sodium, 126g carbs, 7g fiber, 62g protein)
It may seem like the simple choice when a group can't decide, but this sampler's nutritionals are simply horrifying. And we typically don't throw fits over sodium counts, but the FOUR THOUSAND salty milligrams in this dish are STAGGERING!
Starter Barter: Aside from the 60-calorie garnish on the sampler plate, there simply aren't any low-cal appetizer options here. But, we don't give up that easily. If you order their Caesar della Casa (aka house Caesar salad) with the Low-Fat Caesar dressing, it'll only cost you 140 calories and 7 grams of fat. Guilt-free Caesar salad at a restaurant?!? Rock on!
8. Johnny Rockets - Chili Bowl
(1 appetizer: 872 calories, 69g fat, 1,629mg sodium, 24g carbs, 5g fiber, 5g sugars, 39g protein)
The name says it all. This appetizer is nothing more than a bowl of chili. No chips to dip, just a spoon on the side. And nearly 900 calories and close to 70 grams of fat for some glorified meaty soup is absurd.
Starter Barter: Believe it not, the regular-size Rocket Wings are actually an appetizer worth ordering. In fact, the whole plate of spicy boneless chicken wings has only 323 calories and 10g fat. Go halves with a buddy, and it's practically guilt-free!
For more shockers, swaps, tips, tricks and MORE, visit hungry-girl.com to sign up for FREE daily emails!
The new Food on Shine is coming soon! Learn more about what's new »
» Meet Hungry Girl
Quick Recipes from Y! Food
Simplify your life with these delicious,
no-sweat recipes.
what Yahoo! foodies are reading
TOP ATE Worst Restaurant Appetizers (and Better Bites, too!)
Posted Tue, Aug 14, 2007, 5:00 am PDTYahoo! Food Videos
Most Watched Food Videos
- Pumpkin Mousse Parfait : Food Network
- Caramelized Butternut Squash : Food Network
- Sausage and Herb Stuffing : Food Network
- Pressed Spiced Turkey Breast : Food Network
80 Comments
LEAVE YOUR COMMENT
You must sign in to leave a comment