Who Hates Chain Restaurants?

I am in Miramar, FL this week again. As some co-workers and I talked about my success in losing weight and the terrific plan I have in place thanks to my best friends at Hilton Head Health, I mentioned that I tend to eat mostly at chain restaurants. This co-worker reminded me about a past blog post that I could not find but definitely remember. She reminded me about how I used to rant about hotels referring me to 'great' places to eat only to find out it is a chain restaurant.

She is right. I used to go on and on about how stupid it was to eat at chain restaurants when you were in a new city. Certainly there are better places to eat than a chain! Think of the great BBQ I have had in Richmond or Memphis or numerous places in Texas. Think of the Southern Cooking I had the the Loveless in Nashville. Think about the special wings and fried tacos from Michael's on Main in Omaha. Yes, the mom & pop places certainly are tasty. That might have been part of the problem that brought me to H3 in the first place!

Before I shove the local joints completely under the bus, let's assume I could get away with ordering better food there. Still, it would be somewhat of a mystery if I actually could succeed and therefore avoid them. Now, I know if a place offers steak and fish that I can find something in the safe zone.

I have found the value in chain restaurants. Many now have nutrition information available on the menu or minimally on websites such as calorieking.com. Good luck finding out the number of calories in the buscuits and gravy or the catfish nuggets at The Loveless Cafe.

Yes, my position has changed. We have to change from time to time. We learn and grow with our maturity and knowledge. Even The Rube might suggest I have made some other funamental changes in the way I think about certain things.

With my travel schedule, I am now a junkie and a disciple of Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday or even Red Lobster. After being bashed in the 'worst places to eat out', The Cheesecake Factory has cried Uncle and announced their new Skinnylicious menu debuting in August and September chain wide. With 2 of 3 people in the USA being classified as obese, I think that this is a good thing. These places need to make this information known. The Rube may disagree with this but I am in full support of the new law requiring restaurants to have calorie information on all menus. People just have NO idea how bad the food they are eating really is. I do now and that makes my change of mind justified.