Thread: Why don't restaurants serve LC versions of their menu items?

Seems to me that it would be very simple to add low carb menu items at most restaurants. I get tired of making "special" requests when I go out to eat. (But I always will ask)

I love cheeseburgers, so I always order them with no bun and extra lettuce so I can use the lettuce as my "bun". Got the idea from In and Out Restaurant, they call it Protein Style.

The last time I ordered my cheeseburger this way at a popular restaurant, they brought me the cheeseburger, no bun, but the extra lettuce I ordered was just a big pile of shredded lettuce! What the heck did they expect me to do with that?

At a different restaurant, I ordered the cheeseburger, no bun, and asked to substitute salad for the french fries... They said salad would be an extra $1.25, or I could add a side salad for $1.00, but would have to take the fries too...Whatever! I actually paid the extra twenty five cents so they wouldn't the the fries on my plate.

Melinda B
240/232.5/150
Atkins 10/12/03

This is a good question. Maybe if people keep requesting LC fare, they will get the message.

Susan ( AKA Northwest)
207/171.5/160/
size 16/12/8
LC since 4/03

We have a local restaurateur here who owns 4 restaurants. They serve prime beef in all 4. He advertises in the local paper that they are "Atkins friendly" places and will gladly accommodate any requests.

It takes time, but more and more places ARE starting to cater to we LC folks, even if it's not printed on the menu.

Fast food or chain restaurants are usually a little tougher though because they do stuff in an assembly-line fashion. Even they have been pretty good at recognizing where to make their next $$ though and I see more and more salads with protein popping up at fast food joints.

Slowly but surely the tide will turn!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

Some restaurants are coming around. It's a money thing.

For example, Fuddruckers will gladly put their burger on a platter. I have heard that Ruby Tuesday is now coming out with low carb choices on their menu. In and Out has a "protein style" option. Some other fast food restaurants are also working on low carb menu items as well.

I have been dropping emails to restaurant suggestion/comment lines. I have made that exact case. That while I CAN order specials, it goes a long way towards showing customer commitment that they take the time to plan a low carb option. Especially things like choices in sides. Give me an option to fries written on the menu. Even if it is only celery slices and ranch dressing, I would appreciate it. Maybe it won't help, but...

Ramble mode off...

-jim

Great idea, Jim. We should all do the same thing when we visit restaurants who accommodate our LC lifestyles. Spread the word!

194/179/125 (5'4)

And I'm gonna make it this time!

I have found a great meal at The Cracker Barrel, grilled chicken on a salad. I ask them to hold the sides that came with it, and made sure the chicken wasn't 'breaded'. She took the liberty of also leaving off the croutons even though I hadn't ask. I thought this was very thoughtful. The salad comes with a wedge of cheese, and choice of dressing - quite a meal!

I have also found one at IHOP, it is also grilled chicken with steamed veggies as a side. (or a colorado omlette - nothin but meat and eggs)

Then my most recent find was at Fatz. Either steak or pork tips sauteed in onions and peppers (few). Hold the rice that it comes with and served with steam veggies on side.

There is something almost everywhere I have been, they seem very happy to make adjustments and even suggestions when you tell them what you need.

On another note: someone in Charlotte NC has just opened up a LC store. I haven't been yet but the news story said business was booming, maybe it is something that will catch on

Just Believe.

As a former restauranteur, I really feel I have to wade in here:

There are two types of restaurants, corporate businesses and independents. In a corporate setting (chains and most fast food), change is very difficult. Their menu items and the specs for each dish are handed down to them from some suits somewhere, and they are very limited as to what they can do. At an independent place, it's really up to the owner or chef, so your chances are better to get something custom-made. But in each case, yes, you do have to make yourself heard, and the more people speak up, the better.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Seems to me that it would be very simple to add low carb menu items at most restaurants. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, yes and no. We're just facing what vegetarians and vegans have had to deal with for a long time. If you are in the minority, it isn't as easy to find what you can eat. The restauranteur offers what appeals to the largest percentage of his clientele. Making changes to a menu is not as easy as you would think, and most are waiting to see, IMHO, if the lc thing is going to last. That's just good business sense. They want to please their customers, and so will make allowances for dietary needs, but can't always jump on the lastest thing. And, to them, that's exactly what lc may seem like. Giving menu room to something that will only sell occasionally, or for a very short time, just isn't smart.

Yeah, Jim, it is about money. Restaurants are businesses, and businesses with a huge overhead. Most have to be very careful how much product they keep around, and have to be able to utilize it in several different ways. And, let's face it, alot of restaurants really don't know what lc entails, and would be glad to offer alternatives if they knew how and could make a profit.

So I guess what I'm saying is, yes, you do have to speak up in alot of cases, and the more you do, the more likely it will be that they can and will cater to your needs. It is getting easier, but it will take time.

Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy.
And cooking done with care is an act of love.
- Craig Claiborne

FYI, I don't know if this is just a chain in Houston or not but Napoli's Flying Pizza offers an Atkins-esque menu.

194/179/125 (5'4)

And I'm gonna make it this time!

Cheftrina,

That was exactly my point (uhhh, I think...) Unless the places know that there is money to be made by changing (or, possibly just as important, money to be LOST by not changing), they won't do it. That's why I send in comments. In theory at least, they listen to them.

And, by the way... Negative comments, if made in a positive way, can be effective as well. For example, how about a polite note to the corporate comment line about how much trouble it was to get a simple substitution on that burger (to acommodate your Low carb lifestyle. And, that it makes you inclinded to take your business to a place that will make the effort.

As long as it is constructive and professional, my experience is that they listen. Do they always change? no, but they do listen.

And, as Cheftrina said, change can come slowly... We don't know what is cooking in the boardrooms and test kitchens of some of these corporate restaurant chains. As long as we represent the LC WOE as a viable potential market to tap into, we provide an incentive to make those changes...

I'm rambling again, aren't I...

--jim

I have never had a problem eating out...ever!
In fact I enjoy someone else making my salads or cooking my meat and veggies for me for a change! We went to Carls Jr the other day and ordered burgers without a bun and they put them on a plate on the side with the lettuce,pickle, onion and tomato and sauce in packets. Used the mayo but the ketchup went to my daughter for her fries. Very friendly and we knew we werent the first! Sizzler is my fav though!

209/203/140

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jetdad:
I have been dropping emails to restaurant suggestion/comment lines. I have made that exact case. That while I CAN order specials, it goes a long way towards showing customer commitment that they take the time to plan a low carb option. Especially things like choices in sides. Give me an option to fries written on the menu. Even if it is only celery slices and ranch dressing, I would appreciate it. Maybe it won't help, but...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Brilliant. I forget to make use of those comment cards and the online feedback options. It's so important to let folks who ARE doing the LC thing that we really appreciate it! And it's important to let the folks who don't YET do the LC thing know that we'd come spend money there more often if they'd look out for us too.

Great idea. I think I'm going to go visit some popular restaurants' websites tonight while I'm working and try to get some of that good feedback mojo going! Cool!

Bon
210/181/165
Atkins since 12/15/02

Willow Street Pizza (a small, local chain), also serves salads, sandwichs, pasta dishes, burgers, and a few "daily specials". Low carb choices were limited to a couple of salads with a chicken breast or shrimp. But lately, I've noticed they seem to make a point of making one of the daily specials low carb friendly.

I see that as progress.

~~~Teelbee

174 (Mar. 2002, highest weight), 164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
174/132/137-134
remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

I feel very comfortable ordering a non-low-carb meal and then low-carbifying it myself once I get it by, for instance, removing the bun from a sandwich or fishing the potatoes out of a bowl of soup or scraping the rice to one side. I've already psyched myself up to the concept that I can waste food, which was the onlt difficult hurdle. Special-ordering makes me a little uncomfortable because it makes me stand out and I usually have to explain low-carb to some dingus with a confused look on his face.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

Last night I went to Cafe Tu Tu Tango (small chain of "artsy" appetizer only restaurants) in Buckhead (part of Atlanta), and they had a couple of things on their menu that specifically said Atkins style. I see this more and more with each passing month. It will take time, but since that's the consumer trend, it will happen.

Beth (aka Fuelmanswife)
http://www.marykay.com/bethsimmons

Yeah, Jim, I think we are on the same page.

All I was trying to do is give the other side. The manager or chef in a chain restaurant sometimes can't offer lc dishes because his hands are tied as to what is offered, but almost every place will make changes to fit any dietary need. An independent restaurant can do whay they like, but most just don't "get" what lc is all about. That means we have to speak up.

Your idea, Jim, about filling in the little customer comment cards, and emailing to chain restaurants, is right on the money. Just telling your server isn't enough; you have to get to the people who make the decisions. Sometimes, it's not the poor "dingus's" fault.

Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy.
And cooking done with care is an act of love.
- Craig Claiborne