18 Side Dishes You Should Avoid
I eat in restaurants only about once a week and I never eat fast food. When I go to a restaurant it is mainly for a social purpose like meeting with friends for celebrating something special. The main reason I avoid restaurants is that I like to cook, but I also like to control what goes into the foods I eat.
Restaurants are pretty good about hiding the nutritional information found in their foods and it’s easy to add a lot of calories, fat, or sodium just by adding a seemingly-innocent side dish. AOL Health has put together a list of 18 side dishes that you might want to reconsider ordering the next time around.
I haven’t personally eaten a single item from this list – mostly because none of these items look too appetizing to me (the Starbucks Apple Fritter does look pretty good I will admit). The surprising item from the list was the Caesar Side Salad from Boston Market with 40 grams of fat and a whopping 980mg of sodium. It’s a salad, that HAS to be good for you right? The White Castle Fish Nibblers Sack has 2980mg of sodium – if you want fish you might be better off with some tilapia.
Here is the list in its entirety:
- Boston Market Creamed Spinach
Calories: 280
Fat: 23g
Sodium: 580mg - Taco Bell Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
Calories: 290
Fat: 17g
Sodium: 830mg - Quizno’s Snickerdoodle Cookie
Calories: 400
Fat: 16g
Sodium: 280 mg - McDonald’s Cinnamon Melts
Calories: 460
Fat: 19g
Sodium: 370mg - Wendy’s Large French Fries
Calories: 550
Fat: 26 g
Sodium: 480 mg - Starbucks Apple Fritter
Calories: 490
Fat: 22g
Sodium: 290mg - White Castle Fish Nibblers Sack
Calories: 1090
Fat: 56g
Sodium: 2980mg - KFC Biscuit
Calories: 220
Fat: 11 g
Sodium: 640 mg - Au Bon Pain Rosemary Garlic Breadstick
Calories: 180
Fat: 5g
Sodium: 710mg - Au Bon Pain Macaroni and Cheese Stew
Calories: 440
Fat: 26g
Sodium: 1280mg - Burger King Onion Rings Large
Calories: 440
Fat: 15g
Sodium: 440 mg - KFC Potato Wedges
Calories: 260
Fat: 13 g
Sodium: 800 mg - Chipotle Chips & Guacamole
Calories: 710 Fat: 37 g
Sodium: 740 mg - Dunkin Donuts Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Calories: 540
Fat: 23 g
Sugar: 48 g
Sodium: 550 mg - Cosi Rustic Flatbread
Calories: 265
Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 740 mg - Boston Market Caesar Side Salad
Calories: 400
Fat: 40g
Sodium: 980mg - Domino’s Breadsticks
Calories: 110
Fat: 6 g
Sodium: 100 mg - Domino’s BBQ Buffalo Wings w/Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
Calories: 440
Fat: 36g
Sodium: 800mg
Last Updated on July 25th, 2008
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Goodness — look at those numbers! Totally agree on stealth calories in restaurant side dishes. Another culprit is salad where the dressing is full of hidden sugar.
Five Leafy Greens to Love You should eat.
NOOOO!!! Say it ain’t so! I love nibbling on a sack! Seeing those numbers makes me rethink how often I should get my favorite White Castle snack. Thank you for the tip.