Branson Restaurants (Ozark, Center, Rea: condo, home, buy)

[SmalltownKSgirl]

Is there anyplace that serves healthy and affordable meals in Branson? We'd like to spend more vacation time there and wonder if we just need to give up and cook our own meals. It seems like everything is fried fried fried or we can get huge steaks or racks of ribs. Where can we get grilled chicken and vegies or some nice light sandwiches not layered in cheese and mayo? Where can we feed a family of 4 for dinner for under $100?

Suggestions please!

[Lake Junkie]

Originally Posted by SmalltownKSgirl

Is there anyplace that serves healthy and affordable meals in Branson? We'd like to spend more vacation time there and wonder if we just need to give up and cook our own meals. It seems like everything is fried fried fried or we can get huge steaks or racks of ribs. Where can we get grilled chicken and vegies or some nice light sandwiches not layered in cheese and mayo? Where can we feed a family of 4 for dinner for under $100?

Suggestions please!

There are plenty of places that serve healthy & affordable meals in Branson...although you might have to look past the fried fare to get there!

If you're not a snob, Golden Corral has a wonderful salad bar, and the entree section has a good selection of non-fried meats & seafood. You might need to put blinders on when you get to the dessert section!

I love the Rocky's salad at Rocky's Italian Restaurant in old Branson, my fave is the Rocky's salad with blackened chicken. Mmmmmmm.............

Keeter Center, at College of the Ozarks, has plenty of good AND healthy selections.

Really, most restaurants that come to mind have healthy choices...even the chinese buffets have some dishes that are only chicken & veggies...

And the sandwich places usually will cook to order...just tell them to hold off on the mayo & cheese!

You can do it, but it takes more will power than a lot of us have.


Have fun, and eat healthy in Branson (or anywhere)...

[cisman]

Of course there are several lodges or cabins that have kitchenettes, so you could buy grocery's and do your own cooking.

Who wants to cook on their vacation though, unless under a budget.

We've done it before to save money.

[Ciaerin]

The Hong Kong Inn on 76 has great healthy food, cooked quite well and extremely cheap. A family of four can eat for under 50 bucks.

[SmalltownKSgirl]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

There are plenty of places that serve healthy & affordable meals in Branson...although you might have to look past the fried fare to get there!

If you're not a snob, Golden Corral has a wonderful salad bar, and the entree section has a good selection of non-fried meats & seafood. You might need to put blinders on when you get to the dessert section!

I love the Rocky's salad at Rocky's Italian Restaurant in old Branson, my fave is the Rocky's salad with blackened chicken. Mmmmmmm.............

Keeter Center, at College of the Ozarks, has plenty of good AND healthy selections.

Really, most restaurants that come to mind have healthy choices...even the chinese buffets have some dishes that are only chicken & veggies...

And the sandwich places usually will cook to order...just tell them to hold off on the mayo & cheese!

You can do it, but it takes more will power than a lot of us have.


Have fun, and eat healthy in Branson (or anywhere)...

We don't eat at Golden Corral here at home because it is yucky, but I'm guessing with the competition in Branson, it can't afford to be yucky. We'll try it next visit.

We saw Rocky's but Italian can be iffy (heavy sauces, cheeses, etc.) so we weren't sure about it. I'll be glad to try it, since it looked pretty interesting from the outside.

I've been wanting to try the Keeter Center, but wondered how affordable it was?

We haven't been to any of the Chinese restaurants - good tip!

I think I saw a Jimmy John's and a Subway. Are there any other sandwich places?

It is kind of disappointing to eat at the chains while on vacation - we always like to eat "local" but then again, it's Branson - is anything really "local"?

But, I appreciate the great suggestions, thanks!

[SmalltownKSgirl]

Originally Posted by cisman

Of course there are several lodges or cabins that have kitchenettes, so you could buy grocery's and do your own cooking.

Who wants to cook on their vacation though, unless under a budget.

We've done it before to save money.

True, we stayed in a condo and fixed our own breakfast everyday. We'll likely do more of our own cooking on longer stays. But you are right, who wants to cook a lot on vacation? LOL

[SmalltownKSgirl]

Originally Posted by Ciaerin

The Hong Kong Inn on 76 has great healthy food, cooked quite well and extremely cheap. A family of four can eat for under 50 bucks.

Thanks for the tip! We'll give them a go next visit!

[SmalltownKSgirl]

A couple more questions - I thought I saw an Indian restaurant? Was I imagining that?

Also, I saw several Mexican restaurants. They can be killers - fried stuff with lots of cheese and sauces, but are there any with a lighter menu? I've been to a TexMex place near home that had nice light tacos (granted the shells were fried but they weren't greasy at all) with lean meat, lots of crispy lettuce, and tomatoes with a light sprinkle of cheese. Is there anyplace that serves Mexican food in that style?

[mrschilicook]

Originally Posted by SmalltownKSgirl

Is there anyplace that serves healthy and affordable meals in Branson? We'd like to spend more vacation time there and wonder if we just need to give up and cook our own meals. It seems like everything is fried fried fried or we can get huge steaks or racks of ribs. Where can we get grilled chicken and vegies or some nice light sandwiches not layered in cheese and mayo? Where can we feed a family of 4 for dinner for under $100?

Suggestions please!

I've lived here three years and find that most restaurants have a few healthy choices (depending on your definition of healthy). Bleu Olive has a wonderful salmon dinner that includes steamed veggies...about $20. Tijuana Willies
has good fresh Mexican food that you order as you want it...they don't have a microwave nor do they fry much. You can fill it up with healthy choices. About 8-10$. Ronna's out at Ledgestone (Stonebridge) has some nice sandwhiches and salads....and will put the dressing on the side.
For the most part, I don't eat fried food and I haven't had any problem finding someplace that full-fills my needs. Even Italian restaurants usually have simple pastas that are healthy with fresh tomato, basil, and garlic......and if the servings are too large one can always split.

But let's face it....restaurants aren't catering to healthy eating...they are catering to those that want lots of food for a little money....somehow we havve come to equate value with quantity. We just have to be smart in our ordering.

Good luck...and enjoy.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by SmalltownKSgirl

We don't eat at Golden Corral here at home because it is yucky, but I'm guessing with the competition in Branson, it can't afford to be yucky. We'll try it next visit.

Golden Corral is a lot more yucky than it used to be. Management changes have not improved the quality of the service nor the cleanliness of the restaurant, that is for sure.

The smart thing to do is to go early. Before the floor becomes a sticky, seething mass of goo from people (mostly kids) spilling stuff and it not being cleaned up. I swear, I almost lost a flip-flop the last time I walked by the ice cream machine. It stuck to the floor so badly, I nearly walked right out of it. LOL I am NOT exaggerating nor kidding here.

I do have to admit the food is consistently better than average there. I am not one to eat at chain restaurants but Golden Corral is one exception.

For salads, thought, I almost would rather go to Ruby Tuesday's there isn't as much choice, but the food seems much fresher. And if you are eating "just" salad, it's actually less expensive than Golden Corral by a couple of dollars. (No hot food, just salad).

20yrsinBranson