LOVE Cracker Barrel. Their catfish is awesome, tons of choices for us.
I really like how most, if not all, fast food restaurants and chains have their nutrition info widely available. In this way, I think that having info on carb counts is the most helpful thing any restaurant can do to be diabetic friendly. This way, we know exactly what we’re eating (good or bad) and can take the necessary steps to keep our blood sugars in check.
I have the calorie king app on my phone and can search nearly every restaurant. It definitely comes in handy and heavily influences my decisions as to what to order. Sometimes if I’m eating at a restaurant that doesn’t have nutrition info available I’ll match up what I’m ordering to a similar item on a menu from a national chain… I’ve done this for buffalo chicken salads and burgers and it’s worked out well for me.
“Sugar-free” sweets are the worst items imaginable… they destroy many people’s stomachs and usually do not taste very good at all. I would rather have a bite of something sweet than a heaping portion of most sugar-free items. Not to mention the fact that many sugar free ice creams and candies are still loaded with carbs. I have also found the sugar alcohols they often contain to be very unpredictable when it comes to blood sugars afterwards.
Sugar free ice cream is never carb free. I’ve NEVER found carb free ice cream. (Does this even exist?)
I find quite a bit that is friendly when I go out. Most places have salads. Almost all places will give you a sandwich without the bread. Sauces can be kept on the side. You can get burritos at Qdoba and Chipotle that are ‘naked’ or in bowls…without the tortilla. (Heck ask for more meat or veggies and less rice too…they’ll do it). Jimmy John’s has the ‘JJ Unwich’ (sandwich wrapped in giant romaine lettuce leaves…very low carb). Most sit-down restaurants have fish and veggies or chicken and veggies or steak and veggies…you can sub another veggie for the rice or potato.
I’ve honestly never gone into a restaurant and not been able to find at least several options that would work for me.
Me either. The thing is you have to know what you can eat and have to order it the way u need it to be.
What I’d love to see on restaurant menus everywhere:
Lightly steamed, farm-fresh organic low-glycemic vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, kale, spinach, mushrooms, etc. All served with REAL condiments on the side, like a little minced garlic, a few tablespoons of olive oil, a pat of real butter, some fresh-ground pepper, a bit of salt – so you can season your own perfectly cooked veggies. The veggies should be cooked to order: barely heated, al dente, fork tender or a bit mushy please, depending on the customers preferences and ability to digest.
Modest cuts of organically grown and/or free-range meat roasted or pan fried or grilled with minimum seasoning, also cooked to order.
Beautiful salads made of fresh, organic ingredients, the kind of salad you or I would make after a trip to an organic farmer’s market or Whole Foods.
A choice of REAL sauces or dressings (not packaged, powdered crap) made of herbs, olive oil, real butter, spices, real broth or wine, minced garlic or shallots or green onion, etc. served on the side and absent fillers such as HFCS, powdered modified starches, chemical flavorings, etc.
REAL yogurt with fresh, organic fruit served in weighed-and-measured quantities so we’d know exactly how to bolus for them, again served with REAL seasonings like nutmeg, cinnamon, a bit of powdered cocoa, a few sprinkles of home-made granola on the side, etc.
Hey, a girl can dream. Meanwhile, I eat this way at home and bless the cook. ;0)
I don’t think it is necessary to provide sugar free items, I don’t really see food as a “diabetically friendly”. I review food for carbs and fat and make dose the necessary amount of insulin.
My biggest concern with resturants is the portions. They are huge and one meal can be 1200 calories.
Consumers have no idea what they are consuming. I do believe that it is the responsiblity of the resturant to provide some sort of estimate or food break down on their menu.
Food that we eat every day have lables with ingredients, food calculations. It tells us valuable info to live our lifes.
I would dredddd… having to go back to the old “food exchange” progam when preparing a meal, and no idea as to carb count, fat counts and portions size. It is a big guessing game.
The food labeling process has been around for maybe 20 years at this point.
If I sat down in a resturant and open a menu and saw that the dietary calculations were on the menu, i would appreciate it and may possibly, if the food is good return to the establishment.
Maybe you’re a T1 or a T2 with a metabolism very different from mine but snack size fruit, apple and orange juice, and/or oatmeal would spike me all to hell. Lactose intolerant too so forget the milk. Salads can be suspect if they don’t give the information for the dressing. At a restaurant near me some waitresses are kind enough to give me dressing in a packet with the info on the side so I can decide for myself. If those choices work for you whoo hoo. I am envious. Me, I’d have to walk five miles.
That is a clever trick. With nuts I’ve realized any choice other than raw almonds or hazelnuts is an increase in salt and/or carbs. I probably shouldn’t but I eat lots of roasted, unsalted peanuts too.
Sometimes when out with family and with no other decent choice I get a Taco Bell combo burrito minus the beans. Doesn’t spike me too bad. The only problem is they’ve only actually left out the beans once. Seriously, they need to have one plain beef burrito on the menu just so ordering isn’t an unpredictable nightmare…it shouldn’t be that hard to do and it means the difference of whether I and my family will be customers or not. Diabetics are one of the fastest growing demographics and to me at least it makes business sense.
I don’t expect restaurants to be “diabetic friendly” and for this reason, "What is diabetic friendly to one person may not be to another person. For example one person may find corn spikes them and another may find that they can’t drink milk for the same reason. I am allergic to corn but I don’t expect a restaurant not to serve corn. I do however ask about the ingredients to see what food has no corn and the go from there. Most restaurants are willing to let me know what has corn or some form of corn in it and then I can make a food choice that doesn’t have corn in it… Most restaurants are very willing to help out in that regard but I don’t expect them to change their foods to meet my needs. I just need the information to make the proper choices.