While nutritional information must be present on packaged food and beverages, until recently there were no laws requiring restaurant chains to disclose the same information. Most chains released information voluntarily but several did not.
Darden Restaurants, the holding company for Olive Garden and Red Lobster, gave out virtually no nutritional information. Quietly, it's finally changed that policy.
Now both restaurants' Web sites feature comprehensive nutritional
information. To Darden's credit these aren't in PDF form
or hidden away but featured one link off of the menu tab.
Most of Olive Garden's dishes
aren't exactly healthy. Three entrees -- Tour of Italy, chicken alfredo
and chicken and shrimp carbonara -- come in above 1,400 calories.
Another dozen entrees all have more than 1,000 calories. Throw in a couple of
breadsticks (150 calories each) and one meal is near the suggested daily calorie intake.
Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits
also have 150 calories apiece but more than three times the amount of
fat of in Olive Garden's breadsticks (8 grams versus 2.5 grams). Only four of Red Lobster's dishes have more than 1,000 calories, two of which are linguine-based. The majority of seafood dishes are healthy. The one-pound crab has 160
calories and only 1 gram of fat. The wood grilled salmon has 210 calories.
Broiled flounder, 280 calories. Blackened walleye, 300 calories. Remember though, that
is without any sides (a baked potato has 190 calories, mashed potatoes
180) and whatever the "Admiral's Feast" is, ignore it. It comes in at
1,510 calories, the most for any dish at either chain.
Another word of warning for calorie
counters. For sit-down places like Red Lobster and Olive Garden, it's
virtually impossible to make each dish the same size, so take the
numbers as guides not gospel.
It's
nice to see Darden embrace nutritional disclosure, even if New York
City might have forced its hand. That leaves other
chains like Outback Steakhouse, TGI Fridays and Fuddruckers to follow.
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