You work out. You watch what you eat. But you don’t want to have to prepare every meal at home for the sake of your health—nor should you have to. We surveyed chain restaurants and found 10 surprisingly healthy standouts. Hit our top 10 for whole foods, good-for-you fats, even green vegetables on—gasp!—the children’s menu. Read on for the winners, great fast-food options, plus, how to eat out without gaining a pound.
If you’re like us, you eat out more than ever—and, as nice as it is to not have to cook, those meals out can actually feel like work. How do you navigate the minefields of huge portions, hidden fats, and sky-high sodium levels?
You shouldn’t have to resign yourself to paying for restaurant meals with a future cardiac workup. You just need to know where to go to find healthy, fresh food. To that end, we went out into the world of sit-down restaurants, looking to separate the (whole) wheat from the chaff.
Backed by an advisory panel of experts in healthy dining (meet our experts), we sifted through 43 chains with more than 75 locations across the country and, frankly, were astonished by how many restaurants made no nutritional information available. But judge we did (see How We Ranked Them), those brave (and progressive) enough to share their numbers. What you hold in your hands are the 10 that stood at the top of the heap.
By Tracey Minkin with additional reporting by Brittani Tingle
Comments (106)
Hi, all. Nice site…I really like your site ! Good job man.n
You guys do a wonderful job! Keep up the good work!!!o
Hello people! Nice site!
Fascinating site and well worth the visit. I will be backo
This is very interesting site
Bravo for Sunset; one of my favorite magazines. Every little bit helps and this is a good step. Keep up the good work. bill j
Glad you have this site to go to.
Those chains might have relatively healthy food (relative to other chains anyway), but tastewise, they’re mediocre at best, wretched at worst. Why waste time on them?
Chipotle Mexican Grill is one of the best, tastiest, cleanest and well run “chain” restaurants I’ve ever enjoyed. Having moved from Los Angeles to the remote regions of the Pacific Northwest coast a little over a year ago I can truly say I miss it. Unfortunately, I miss In N Out Burgers, too. Excellent job Sunset – as usual.
I like this website. This website helped me with prayer learning. Good job. Thank you. Please provide more French prayers. Bye-bye.
Very cool design! Useful information. Go on!e
How about a list by ZIP Cades? I thought you have a list of the places in my area. : (
How about a list by ZIP Codes?
Stick to golf! This is a stupid article, and I would not go back to most of these places. Anyone can eat smartly anywhere, if they know what they are doing.
I wish some of these restaurants were in my area-only 3 were mentioned that had outlets within 50 miles of me.
Just opened you up! Looks good…but, the “Gals” want to go out! Will check back…honest! “Jolly” Jim ‘n “The Ladies!”
Ibelieve the OLIVE GARDEM is my faviorte a nice crsar salad and soup and then a faviote pasta.
collis ray
Restaurants are not “healthy.” The people who eat there may be healthy and the food served may be “healthful.” Find a better rubric.
I like the new health and food addition. Send more.
I like the new health and food information. Send more.
I like the site. Another site I like which utilizes zip codes is http://www.healthydiningfinder.com This site also give the nutritional breakdown of specific menu items that are “acceptable” choices when eating out.
Of course you can eat healthy anywhere, but some restaurants provide a larger variety of foods which are healthier, or more “organicly” minded, and this site gives you information on that sort of thing. And for anyone being picky about the phrase “America’s Healthiest Restaurants,” I dare you to come up with something better that gets the basic idea across while being short!
Are you kidding???
The worst thing that one can do to is eat out frequently: Fat…..Sodium…..Who knows that food additives are used….Increased food poisoning exposure…….?..Who knows what lives in the kitchen…..?..Who knows who is touching your food improperly in the kitchen…..?..Who knows if the cook is an illegal or teen with poor sanitation habits and/or disease?
Restaurants of all types are monuments to obesity, hypertension and disease. No way….no how.
i want you to share morelight on typhoid fever, the cause, how it affect people and the solution to it.
I eat out a lot and I am still at my goal weight all you have to do is find out which places offer smaller portions of the meal you want to eat. Most places have a tinier versions of the meal. Get the dressing on the side for your salad. Drink water instead of iced tea or soda. And for sure stay away from the bread of you have no control to cut yourself a small portion size. We are what we eat. if you choose to eat like a cow you will look like one. Eat like a bird and you will look like one. And you have to above all find the foods that work best for your lifestyle. Not just for that day. it is for the rest of your life. You can have dessert as well just have them bring you a child portion. And you still get that sweet treat without all the extra fat to go with it.
love the ALL YOU magazine it get’s no better than you guy’s keep up the hard work it shows each month.
Eat healthy and exercise it does wonder to your body.
hello, love this site. good health and food information. good job people
This was an excellent article. good job!
what kind on moron doesn’t by now know how or what to eat in order to stay
healthy ? your pabulum affirms s.o.p in popular “journalism”: get down to the
lowest common denominator . save it and if you want my attention again, give me something useful. cheers (or not) !
This is a total joke. None of these restaurants are even remotely healthy, and it is dangerous to people to tell them that they are. Actually, if you have health problems, and need to seriously watch things like fat intake and cholesterol, you’re best bet is to eat at home, fresh fruits and vegetables, organic if at all possible, and keeping animal fats and proteins to a minimum.
I came to this site as a response to an email inviting me to subscribe to the new health.com magazine. After reading the comments here, I am not interested in subscribing to your magazine or to your email newsletter. I like Real Simple and find it easy to take some of it “with a grain of salt,” if you will excuse the phrase. So far in that publication, I haven’t found what I can see here, which is a blatant bond to the bottom line, i.e., $$$$$$$, and lots of it. You lost me on these upgrades. If you will excuse the phrase.
Maggie
Are you embarassed to go to the pool? I know i’m not because I am wearing a one piece that hides my stretch marks. Now all the boys want a little piece of me! ;)
I came to this site by clicking on a link that says: Which restaurant near you is America’s Healthiest? I went over the page, still cannot find it. Does this means that I am stupid (Most likely), or that this site misrepresents, as so many other sites, its purpose & advertising? You will understand that this site has no value anymore
Thanks for nothing but false promises
Marc
You can eat out,at home etc. it’s all about your choices and most important is “PORTION CONTROL”. Almost every resturant gives “TOO MUCH” food. Sometimes I get enough for 3 meals. I never finish them, “Doggie box” for me. I know thats why some people frequent them, wrong reason!!
You can eat out,at home etc. it’s all about your choices and most important is “PORTION CONTROL”. Almost every resturant gives “TOO MUCH” food. Sometimes I get enough for 3 meals. I never finish them, “Doggie box” for me. I know thats why some people frequent them, wrong reason!! Come on folks read the article and use the common sense you should have!
Great suggestions!
Ditto – marc, looks like false advertising to me.
Your choices are still too high in calories and fat. A half pound cheeseburger in lettuce is way too much meat. For someone on a 1200 calorie plan with low fat and cholestorel intake, 680 calories for an entree is way out of line. Portions in many of these reaturants are way too big.
Could not find healthy restaurants in my area ,in any area. A big waste of my time
Eight ladies are going to Olive Garden. I intend to order the Venetian Apricot Chicken (from the Olive Branch icon). Thanks for the suggestion.
I love your magazine – wish you would put some of your great recipies on e mail!
I agree Bob, Marc, LaDonna– Still looking for a place to enter my zip-code to find that “healthy restaurant” in my area. What gives???????????!
I really like your new Health Site. It is so infomative about soo many health issues.
This article is a joke. Healthy eating ?
I have your site for its useful and funny content and simple design.
very nice and easy to use site. great job.
How do I signup for the FREE subcription?
How do I signup for the FREE subscription?
So where is this list of Healthy Restaurants? There is no link to it.
I expected to be able to enter a zip code and find a Healthy Restaurant…no such luck!
I would like to see a list of restaurants that consider themselves a total health conscious restaurant. Any restaurant I have ever known to be all natural, healthy, etc. never seem to stay in business very long.
I say educate yourself on healthy foods, monitor your eating, and make good choices from your food knowledge, at home and outside of home.
Jan
I’m waiting forever to find a restaurant that limits sodium.
Even when educated cooks serve low-sodium meals they ADD sodium to natural foods to bring it UP to the supposedly correct level of 400mg.
So silly. The way God made it IS correct.
I always look forward to the enlightning information you send my way!
How much did these restaurants pay to be included on your list. Considering the restaurants you choose to represent a healthy choice, if you told me water was good, I would stick to soda. What a complete waste of my time. You will forever be on my blocked list.
Great site, which I knew this before. People will enjoy what you have to ofter them with a site like this
I am quite skeptical that this list was written independently. I have eaten at most the places listed, and they are far from healthy. The only thing these places have in common is that they are all owned by large corporations with plenty of advertising money. Perhaps that is how you decided what restaurants would be on the list. If they spent advertising dollars with us then they get to be a healthy choice.
Also, it is obvious someone that works for the website has repeatedly posted, “great site, nice information, etc.” It is sad.
Olive Garden? There is not one self respecting Italian who would go to an Olive Garden. Even their ads, they so Americanize the pronunciations of anything Italian. Awful places! Denny’s, NO! The only good place you mention is Uno’s, but we’re not supposed to eat the Pizza??!!! There is no pizza better than Uno’s. There is this obsession in this country about not eating anything that has any fat.
The fat is not the problem. It is the American lifestyle. People eat their lunch while they are running down the street, yelling at someone over their cell phone. They find out that they lost everything they own in the stock market while they are swallowing their food and they drop dead from a heart attack. People in Italy and France eat food that is much richer in fat and calories than we do, but every day they sit down for several hours with their families and leisurely consume their dinners and enjoy each others’ company. They RELAX! Because of that they have no cholesterol problems.
WOW! Portion control, dangerous to tell people restaurants can be healthy, Relaxing helps with cholesterol, man people just get dumber with every new tidbit of information released!
Honestly the stupidity in this comment section is the highest of any single site I have come across.
It is amazing any of you have survived this long.
No wonder people want the government to set more rules, guidelines, and bans. You are all too stupid to use common sense.
I’m glad to see Bob Evans Restaurants on the list! I love their breakfast combos, esp. with the introduction of their new Fit from the Farm selection.
If these are the healthiest restaurants in america, i have a great deal of concern for the health of america.
Resturants can be healthy. I travel to Palm Beach often and eat out every day..you need to educate yourself about the foods that are best for you…. fish, chicken, and lots of vegetables.
Oh o ho! very nice site!n
I think many people are unwilling to make healthy selections when dining out. They view dining out as a “treat” so they are going to order whatever they want with no regard to how it will affect their bodies. The problem is lack of self-control and commonsense. It is easier to blame the restaurant for their obesity rather than taking responsibility for their own poor choices. I wonder how many people re-think their food selection or their children’s food selection when provided with nutrtional information? I am guessing not many, due to the continuing rise of obesity and childhood obesity in this country.
This website is useful for individuals who are searching prayers and novenas and all.
Fascinating site and well worth the visit. I will be backk
Are you serious ? even thou Chipotle is a great place to eat ..it shouldnt be one of the healthiest place to eat .if you idiots had any sense you would tell people to eat organics , fruits, veggies, use less sodium and thing like that but instead you tell a country that is full of overweight people and they spend more money @ mcdonald’s than they do on there kids education to eat at chipolte be serious and get a life ….it dont take a rocket scientist to figure out that eating out all the time is bad for you
Okay, I see the America’s Healthiest Restaurants article but where the f#@*! is the list?
Nice Information but where is the list of healthy Restaurants?
where is the list?
No list?
Where is your list of 43 restaurants? I don’t feel like looking for “Waldo”. What were you thinking?
Extremely difficult/frustrating site to navigate. Can’t find lists of restaurants, nor can we navigate back to the intro. Just keeps bringing up reader comments!
I also can’t view the list of the stores can someone provide the link or update the article so people could possibly stop asking the same question.
I haven’t been on MSN for a while and so i see this informative link that brings me back only to see no list? Sorry, I wont be coming back this time MSN
I wonder if the first seven work for the site?
first seven comments I mean
Great news for the Nutritionally challenged!
Yeah, I felt dumb at first, but after reading the comments and realizing that I’m not the only one who can’t find the list, now I’m just kind of peeved.
Fix it, please?
how can you have an article online about a list, but then dont have the list on the website? unless you have to get the magazine to read it. Somebody is slacking on their job.
Where is the ranking this is the worst website I’ve seen. I am on MSN trying to find the actual results and they are nowhere!!!
For all you folks that had trouble finding it…it was listed in the series of list (casual dining, fast food, etc) good luck and good eating
holy waste
this list is even harder to find than myself
I can’t find it!!!
PPL
Americas Healthiest Restaurants is more like a main topic or a heading…. inside that they have the following
Our List of the Best Casual Dining Spots
Shining Examples of Fast-Food Fare
How to Eat Out Without Gaining a Pound
6 Independents Leading the Way
And Now the Not-So-Healthiest
There is no single ultimate list claiming for healthiest Restaurants
There is no official list….? So WTF is the point of this stupid article? In fact, WTF is the point of compiling a list w/ mini lists and NOT telling the reader that??? Someone was slacking and I don’t think CERTAIN posters should be faulting us the readers for their stupid mistake.
Chipotle tastes great and is better than most. But, it should have been mentioned in the article to avoid the burritos. The tortilla used in their burritos is worse than a Mcdonald’s hamburger. 290 cal, 9g fat, and 670mg sodium just for the tortilla, that doesn’t include any of the fillings. Do yourself a favor and get the bowl.
just to let you know, ruby tuesday cooks everything in liquid butter. i worked there for three years and its no where near as healthy as they have made it seem. Broiled tilapia, salmon, “sauteed” or “grilled” or “broiled” shrimp, is put in a pan filled with butter and put through am impinger which cooks it. crabcakes are cooked in butter, broccoli, green beans, and asparagus are marinated in butter. Burger buns are slathered in butter then grilled. its so not as healthy as they make it seem. everything is cooked in butter.
Oh o ho! very nice site!s
LIke I said where the list are you hiding it Its not funny.
Very cool design! Useful information. Go on!e
I like it and the background and colors make it easy to read:
A lot of those places are in my area, and I enjoy them; its about what you order. A salad with dressing on the side (I’ve even brought my pwn dressing, no prob) Forget the bread and salt Order an appetizer size, or doggy bag half for lunch the next day. Wraps are better than sandwiches. Look for vegetarian eateries. Use common sense, people!
A troop of those places are fame my area, also I enjoy them; its about what you order. A salad with flavoring on the quota (Ive akin brought my pwn dressing, no prob) Forget the menu again ginger Order an appetizer size, or doggy scene half over lunch the coming day. Wraps are finer than sandwiches. Look over vegetarian eateries. Use monotonous sense, people! Gary Winnick
Fabuloua website. i love those soyjoys!
i think Panera Bread should be included(:
RaWr!
Nice post. I\’ll return.
Try Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe in Chicago..Yummy!
please actually list healthy resturants.
Thanks,
Sarah :):p
Excellent site, added to favorites!!
Nice post. I\’ll return.
I browse and saw you website and I found it very interesting.Thank you for the good work, greetings
Great Site – really useful information!
Thanks so very much for taking your time to create this very useful and informative site. I have learned a lot from your site. Thanks!!
This site is really superb!!! Thank you for you work! Good Luck
You said you were surprised to see how many restaurants don’t give you the nutrition facts? Well i would think here’s a fact. If they don’t give you that information it’s probably not a very healthy place to go eat to begin with. Angioplasty
Eat healthy food, i dont think any restaurant will provide u thatArticle
Great tips! Thanks! I keep a snack pack in my car for road trips with different things http://beshow.ru.