Maccaroni Grill, Chili's, On The Border, or Maggianio's

Got a gift card we decided we're gonna use tonite. (it's too cold to cook out on the grill lol) The card can be used at 1 of these 4 places and it gonna either be Italian or Mexican. I kinda narrowed it down to either On the Border (Mexican) or Maggianio's (Italian). Both places are kind of an Applebee's type place and not too fancy, but it's not fast food. Still all of them have an evil menu chock full of calories in all the wrong places.

Which restaurant would you choose? Any suggestions off the menu? I have a pretty good deficit saved up and earned for the nite, but I still want to be good too.

Thanks for your help.

Chili's has a "guilt free" menu.  They report the nutritional values for those items.  Check out their website.

I have never heard of Maggiano's, but I would say look online first. Even though casual dining restaurants do not have to list nutrition facts on their sites, if they have a "diet" menu, it will usually list the average fat/calories in the items on that part of the menu.

 

Examples - I know that Applebee's has the Weight Watchers menu that lists fat and cals for all items, and Friday's lists their lite menu which i believe every item has less than 500 or 600 cals per meal

well, don't get the fiesta lime chicken at applebee's. just ate it there and found out it's almost 1300 calories :(. damn. i should have just gotten from the ww menu. 

 

Chilis has an AWESOME chicken fajita pita, like 400 calories and DELISH:)

Ive seen Maggiano's on the card and not known of one.  My choice would be Mac Grill for there skinny chicken plate which is amazing considering the sad sounding name.  I would definitely check the online options to help with you personal preferences.

Original Post by nymo:

Got a gift card we decided we're gonna use tonite. (it's too cold to cook out on the grill lol) The card can be used at 1 of these 4 places and it gonna either be Italian or Mexican. I kinda narrowed it down to either On the Border (Mexican) or Maggianio's (Italian). Both places are kind of an Applebee's type place and not too fancy, but it's not fast food. Still all of them have an evil menu chock full of calories in all the wrong places.

Which restaurant would you choose? Any suggestions off the menu? I have a pretty good deficit saved up and earned for the nite, but I still want to be good too.

Thanks for your help.

 Maggianos if your going to cheat, which i would its worth it. Otherwise, Chili's.

Simply Salmon at Mac Grill!

=^..^= MOLLY

I LOVE Maggianos!  I don't know if I would compare it to Applebees, though, seems a lot "nicer" more upscale?  I go to the one at Old Orchard in Skokie, IL when I am traveling on business.  They do give HUGE portions and yes you can get in trouble with the traditional Italian meals.  When I last dined there, I had the Chicken Marsala and a side order of Broccoli.  I split it into two meals and at the second meal for breakfast.  I did not order any other side dishes or pasta, etc.

I'd only go to Maggiano's if you're comfortable with cheating for the day, as the portions are huge and, at least last time I was there, they didn't offer much in the way of a 'healthy choices' menu.  A lot of Applebee's stuff can be good, just order dressings on the side and whatnot.  That said, Maggiano's is AWESOME, and you'll have leftovers for weeks - the portions are massive.

They probably all have nutritional info on their web pages.  I know On the Boarder does.

Ended up going to Maggiano's little Italy for dinner last nite.  I had the appetiser crab cakes rather than the dinner size (2 crab cakes instead of 4).  They were buried in fried onion strings (which I didn't eat much of) and served with some garlic mayo to dip 100 of them in (aka way too much mayo). The crab cakes were not dripping in fry grease so I was really happy about that.  For sides I shared some broccoli and asparagus and still took home some veggies.  I think I did ok for food choices.

i know it's kind of late but for future reference, anyone wanting to go to On the Border... here are some good & bad choices... (from the book Eat This, Not That)

 

GOOD

Chicken Salsa Fresca: 510 calories, 11g fat, 4g sat. fat, 600mg sodium, 49g protein ..(and the picture of it looks amazing!)

Jalapeno-BBQ Salmon: 530 calories, 18g fat, 2.5 sat fat, 1600mg sodium

2 Crispy Chicken Tacos (with grilled vegetables and guacamole): 590 calories, 30g fat, 11g sat. fat, 1630mg sodium

2 Beef Enchiladas: 680 calories, 34g fat, 12g sat. fat, 1580mg sodium

 

BAD

Blackened Chicken Fiesta Salad (with Chipotle Honey Dressing): 1150 calories, 75g fat, 24g sat. fat, 3310mg sodium

Original-Mesquite Grilled Shrimp Fajitas (with rice, beans and all the fixings): 1820 calories, 107g fat!!!!!, 38 sat. fat, 5650mg sodium!!!

Spicy Chicken Border Chimichanga: 1160 calories, 85g fat, 27g sat. fat, 2290mg sodium

2 Fish Tacos: 1060 calories, 76g fat, 16g sat. fat, 1920mg sodium

Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans: 2100 calories, 130g fat, 35g sat. fat, 4760mg sodium

 

OTHER NOTES

Avoid the Stacked Border Nachos, the contain 72 grams of saturated fat (more than in an entire stick of butter)

On the Border's Guacamole Live! are made to order at your table. Choose the heart-healthy guac over the queso, which consists of meat, cream cheese sauce, and sour cream.

Six of the 12 entrees on the Kids Menu contain more than 30 grams of fat.

Opt for Grilled Vegetables and Black Bean & Corn Relish over the standard rice and refried beans that accompany nearly every meal here and you'll save 390 calories and 1520mg of sodium. 

 

Well, I hope this helps! 

 

2 Crispy Chicken Tacos (with grilled vegetables and guacamole): 590 calories, 30g fat, 11g sat. fat, 1630mg sodium

WHAT?  This is not a good choice, 11 grams of saturated fat for one meal is horrid, not to mention the sodium in this meal.  Ask for soft tacos instead of crispy and would be okay....eating healthy is not about picking items with lowest amount of calories.