Diet Friendly Restaurants in Houston

I'd love for everyone to post low-calorie items from local restaurants, places that have diet friendly menus or make substitutions, stuff like that!

I'll start with the really obvious ones:

Jason's Deli has nutrition info on the menu and some really low cal items.

Da Capo's on 11th has many good-for-you things, like an incredibly yummy vegetarian sandwich.

Fast food menu items that aren't so bad: Jack in the Box seems to be the best for a diet; the Chicken Pita is pretty filling at 300 calories; a fruit cup or apple sauce is 90-100 calories; one eggroll is 130 cal, one regular size taco is 160 cal; an order of grilled chicken strips, while not all that appealing without sauce, is only 180 calories.

Please add to the list; I'll add more later!

Rockfish has a healthy section on their menu where they list the calories right on the menu and offer subs. (with the calories listed as well).  Of course, they say that restaurants generally don't follow the portions that the calories are based on, so i don't know if you can really rely on the nutritional info you find online or on the menu.

Hope this helps.

I've been eating at both jason's deli and jack in the box in the recent months. The food is good and exceptionally priced...

Chick-fil-a Chargrilled chicken sandwich clocks in at 260 calories. Add on the Honey BBQ sauce for 45 calories, and you've got yourself a really filling, absolutely delicious sandwich for about 305 calories.

I think it is pretty cool that Long John Silvers has meals under 350 calories.  I haven't tried them yet since I try to steer clear of fast food, but LJS is a weakness of mine. 

Also, Panera Bread has really good soups that are low cal.  The French Onion is good without the cheese and bread.

Original Post by sauvignon:

Chick-fil-a Chargrilled chicken sandwich clocks in at 260 calories. Add on the Honey BBQ sauce for 45 calories, and you've got yourself a really filling, absolutely delicious sandwich for about 305 calories.

 #2 with a sprite! haha. my faveeee. Sometimes Sweet tea when Im craving one.

mmm.

The nearest chick-fil-a  is about 20 mins away..but theyre building one literally 2 seconds away from my house.

I dont see this ending well at all =D

&& about the Long John Silvers...I had the grilled salmon and veggies one night.

Im a big salmon eater...and it was rather good for fastfood.

and was only like 5 or 6 bucks for the meal.

Beats the $22 I paid at pappas seafood. =x

Mo Mong in Montrose has some GREAT healthy stuff... they have a Pho Ga soup that is sooooo yummy and filling and not hi-calorie. They also have the spring-roll-wrappy thingies that are tastey and not bad for you. 

As for the JIB people... I would LOVE to go there... but I can't walk out without an order of french fries... the smell is my downfall. 

Ziggy's Healthy Grill (in Montrose area)  - food is okay.  but it's healthy!

The Hobbit Cafe (also Montrose) - yummy food and lots of healthy things to choose from

Benjy's (Rice Village) - well priced with a classier feel, lots of healthy choices.

Souper Salad - I'm sure you've seen 'em.

Sweet Tomatoes - vegetarian buffet chain.  there are a couple around here.

great thread, more suggestions please!

Applebee's has the weight watcher menu

Subway

Note: I would be careful of looking only at calories. It is best to try and eat mostly items with a low amount of fat and calories. I try to find items that have no more than 6-7 grams of fat. If you are a large person this is going to matter.

Since I find that no matter where I TRY to go, living in Houston means I end up eating Mexican, I thought I'd share info that I found:

I thought I was doing a good job ordering grilled chicken with corn tortillas, but there is always so much butter/lard that it's still not great for me. I discovered the BEST, LOWEST CAL thing on most Mexican menus is really the Shrimp Cocktail. Delicious, and only about 300 calories. A tablespoon of guacamole and ten saltines to eat it on, and I'm still around 500 calories for my whole entree -- which means those two handfuls of chips and salsa that I couldn't actually resist didn't set my diet back too far. ;)

Places where the shrimp cocktail is especially great: Teotihuacan and Tampico, both on Airline Drive. (Beware of Teotihuacan's homemade flour/corn tortillas -- they are massive and not diet-friendly.)

Anyone know if BerryHill's grilled fish tacos are bad for you? I usually get one on a flour tortilla and a side salad and pray that it's not a million calories

I use CC to check out Baja Fresh's grilled fish taco and it says they have 250 calories each... think BerryHill's are the same? 

sweatpantssunday mentioned Ziggy's Healthy grill in their post, I thought, since we went there Saturday night for dinner, I would give a full review.  The food was sometimes just ok, sometimes pretty darn good.  I got a roasted acorn squash, and, even with the pecan and apple topping, it was still incredibly bland but I also got a chicken breast (boneless, skinless) stuffed with spinach, pine nuts, low fat sour cream and feta that was fabulous.  I've never been to a restaurant that used low cal/fat anything before.  All of their meat is organic and hormone free and portions are @6-8oz.  There are a ton of choices on the menu (including Mexican and brunch), which is great.  It's a little spendy, but not really.  My chicken entree was $11 (It came w/2 veggies but the acorn squash was $1.50 extra), burgers were I think @$8. 

It's great that there is a local place that celebrates healthy choices.

Enjoy,

Karen