Question about "bar food" (appetizers, ingredients, restaurant, burgers)

[Drake744]

Alright so it's not any secret that bar food/pub grub/ whatever you want to call it isn't exactly breaking any records for being healthy, but I was wondering about something the other day. Do you think that a national chain (Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili's, Applebee's, etc) has a tendency to be a BIT less unhealthy than a local neighborhood pub down the street? My thinking behind that is this day and age these big chains make their nutritional information available online or on a menu whereas your neighborhood bar, not so much. I don't really care one way or the other it just popped in my head the other day. What do you all think?

[Brian_M]

Yes/No/Maybe.



I've been in some VERY foodie bars, where I would put the quality (and health aspect) of the food against pretty much anything else out there. The money is there to support these kinds of places, and I've lived where one of these was the local neighborhood stop that was 3 blocks away.



Point is, it all depends on whose neighborhood, and which pub.

[mainebrokerman]

depends what you think is healthy.....

sugars and carbs I consider unhealthy ….meats and certain fats I consider healthy....

[DontH8Me]

Oh, I think I would go with a mom and pop over those chain places like Chili's and Applebee's - whenever friends talk me into meeting at one of these places it takes me a while to even order because everything looks and sounds like such dross.

Exception is Hennessy's Tavern - I love their potato-crusted salmon fillet dish.

[warren zee]

In my experience, there are healthier options at the local places. Let's face it, though. Bar food is bar food. It's made to go with drinking. Most of it is salty and fried.
Good once in a while.

[Charlie&Rose]

We don`t do chain`s. We like to support independent restaurants. They need all the help they can get, these days. All bar and restaurant food is going to be loaded with sodium. The food has to be tasty, otherwise it`s bland, like hospital food....which no one wants

[Mouser]

IMO,


Bar food's only intention is to get you to drink more


That is where the profit is as compared to the food side
if healthy food is a concern don't go to a place that serves liquor.


I have found that if a fine dining place has a bar and is open before
dining hours, they tend to have more unique bar food and appetizers.


I remember a place from years ago where they would on Monday's
and Thursday's cut up the Prime Rib bones and smother them in
the house BBQ sauce as a free bar appetizer along with the day
old table bread they would make garlic toast. it was a fine dining
place that shut down the food side from 2pm to 5pm while the

cooks set up for the evening menu.

[dijkstra]

I don't particularly like places like Applebee's, Chili's or the chains like them. Their menu items are all geared toward using prepackaged, easy to prepare, focused on profit items. It takes me forever to finally just settle on something when I order.....not because I can't decide between great choices but because I am having an internal battle to just go with something without ordering chicken fingers every single time. Their wings and ribs suck.

When I go out to eat, I could not give two rips less about the healthiness of the menu items. I don't go out to eat, especially to a bar; with dreams of eating healthy. I order what I like and what I want when I go out. The best food/best restaurants are the ones that prepare real food, the way it is supposed to be prepared with all of the good stuff. They don't have somebody in a lab analyzing the food and ingredients trying to find a way to cut a couple of calories by using a different oil or whatever but the food come out tasting "almost as good."

As far as bar food goes though, it is typically fried chicken fingers, fries, burgers from a flat grill all good and greasy, maybe some fried cheese sticks or fried pickles, and then your random salad to throw the health nuts a bone. If you are concerned about how healthy all your food is, eating at a bar probably isn't for you. lol

[steiconi]

I've only been to Applebees once in the last decade. We got an appetizer platter that included a tasty spinach dip, but they served it with corn chips. Not a good pairing, would have been much better with bread. But chips are cheap and can be stored much longer than bread, so they sacrifice flavor to save money.

If a local place did this, customers would complain. You go to a chain restaurant, you figure it's not worth trying to educate the corporation.

So I'd rather eat local.

As for being healthier because they publish nutrition info...I don't think so. Customers would have to read the information and make good choices. If you educate yourself about nutrition, you can tell the healthier options without a calorie count. And that's true whether you avoid sugar or fat or gluten.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by steiconi

As for being healthier because they publish nutrition info...I don't think so. Customers would have to read the information and make good choices. If you educate yourself about nutrition, you can tell the healthier options without a calorie count. And that's true whether you avoid sugar or fat or gluten.

It's probably a chicken and egg thing. Chain restaurants with a certain number of locations are required by Obamacare rules to make nutrition information available, but it doesn't mean that they're going to start making healthier food.

It is interesting to see what the numbers are, though. I have a friend who loves to go to Friday's. Not my favorite, but I humor her. In looking over the calorie counts on the website I was surprised to see how many more calories the salads had than some of the burgers, even.