Whether you want to know what to avoid on the menu at your favorite restaurant, or you want to know the most decadent treats awaiting you, national chain restaurants offer the most fattening foods. It is worth taking a look at online menus before immersing yourself in the smells and atmosphere of your favorite restaurant. Many restaurants now publish the complete nutritional content of their dishes online to help diners make informed choices.
Breakfast
A fast food drive through window may look like appealing on a busy morning, but choose carefully. At Hardee's, the Loaded Breakfast Burrito contains 760 calories, and 440 of those calories come directly from fat. The breakfast burrito has a total fat content of 49 g and 445 mg of cholesterol. A better choice, though by no means low-fat, is Hardee's Frisco Breakfast Sandwich, with 420 calories and 18 g of fat.
Lunch
Red Robin, known for decadent burgers and chicken sandwiches, created the Royal Red Robin Burger. Loaded with bacon strips, a fried egg cheese and even margarine, this burger packs on 1,196 calories and 83 g of fat. Worse yet, it has 2,113 mg of sodium. Replacing the beef patty with a grilled chicken breast will save about 200 calories, but if you are hungry for a hamburger, try Red Robin's Natural Burger instead, which contains 596 calories and 24 g of fat.
Dinner
Pasta carbonara is a rich pasta dish made with spaghettini covered in a creamy garlic sauce with Parmesan, smoked bacon and green peas. Once dinner-sized entrée of Chicken Carbonara at the Cheesecake Factory weighs in with 2,130 calories. The lunch plate contains 1,590 calories.
Desserts
A dessert is an indulgence, but at 2,800 calories and 134 g of fat, the Mega-Sized Deep Dish Sundae at Uno Chicago Grill, is over-the-top. It is meant to be shared, but even if diners split this mammoth vanilla ice cream sundae four ways, an additional 700 calories will be added to a meal that was likely already high in calories.
Frozen Drinks
While not technically a food, liquid fat and calories are just as damaging to the waistline as those found in the most decadent of foods. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine lists Krispie Kreme's Berris & Kreme Chiller in its top five worst frozen drinks. One 20-oz. serving contains 960 calories, 40 g of fat and 115 g of sugar. Instead, the PCRM recommends fruit drinks made from real, frozen fruits.
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