Eating to Live on the Outside: Denny's
Alright, alright I know what you’re thinking, Denny’s? Denny’s! Why bother? Yes, I’ve heard all the stories about it too. Comedians all over the country make jokes about how unhealthy and terrible the food is. And its true, the food is by and large, not all that healthy, but surprisingly no worse than other standard American restaurants, like IHOP, Sizzler, Ground Round, and Houlihan’s; although it does have a couple redeeming qualities among all the bacon, cheese, and deep-fried crud. Let’s take a look.
Apparently Denny’s is known for breakfast, but certainly not any breakfast an Eat to Liver would make at home. The menu is a tough one; lots of meat, refined grains, dairy, and grease. So if you’re really hard up for breakfast, you’re going to have to lower your expectations. If it were me, I might order a few scrambled eggs, but the griddle would have to be free of oil, lard, butter, or what ever else they cook with. Another option would be to comprise a meal from the sides menu; applesauce, cinnamon apples, or just plain fruit might make do in a pinch.
To be honest, I’d just skip breakfast entirely. I’m not really thrilled with any of the offerings.
Now here’s one of Denny’s surprising redeeming qualities. If you check out the menu heading “Fit Fare” you’ll see they give you some nutritional information; carbohydrates, fat, calories, and fiber. I didn’t expect to see this from such a vilified restaurant. So, if you’re an egg-eating Eat to Liver, you might consider ordering the Veggie Omelette. “Might” is the important word here because, again, who knows what that griddle looks like, and it’s not exactly loaded with a lot of veggies any way; only mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. But if you do order it, at least you’ll know what’s in it: 38 g Carbohydrates, 332 Calories, 8g Fat, and 5g Fiber.
Okay, remember this week’s post Not All Salads are Health Foods, where I talked about how many restaurant salad offerings are totally sabotaged, and barely healthy dining alternatives? All four of Denny’s salads suffer from the same problem—prepare to punch the computer screen—you’ve got the Chef Salad (with turkey, ham, egg, and cheddar cheese), the Taco Salad (with beef, cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream), the Fried Chicken Strips Salad (with fried chicken and cheddar cheese), and finally the Grilled Chicken Breast Salad (with grilled chicken and cheddar cheese). If I were to order any of these as they are, I’d be making major concessions. I think they’re all salvageable if you remove the undesirable ingredients. The only one I might make a case for (and of course you’d have to be into eating meat) would be the grilled chicken. Although the Chef’s Salad seems the easiest to augment, but in the end between them there really isn’t a vast array of veggies, only mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions—might not be worth the trouble.
Outside of these makeshift salads the only other dishes I’d order are on the Fit Fare menu; the Boca Burger, the Grilled Tilapia, or Grilled Chicken. The Boca Burger is a solid option, especially for non-meat eating Eat to Livers, and it comes with fruit—nice! I’m not a cheese-eater, so I’m ditching that, making the bun my only concession. The Grilled Tilapia is cool too (click here for Dr. Fuhrman’s take on fish), it comes with green beans, tomato slices, and vegetable pilaf; clearly the pilaf would be the concession. The Grilled Chicken also comes with green beans and tomato slices—no refined grain concessions here, only animal ones. All and all these three dishes aren’t that different from comparable ones offered at other standard American eateries.
Finally, the other good quality about Denny’s is the nutrition information isn’t limited only to its Fit Fare, click here and you’ll see the nutrition facts for the entire menu. Does it make up for the extremely unhealthy food? No, of course not, but at least people can’t blame the restaurant. You have the opportunity to see just how fatty that food really is. (I’m not sure if the nutritional information is actually available at the restaurant.) But one thing is for sure, Denny’s is no Just Salads, Go Raw Café, Chipotle, or Baja Fresh!
As always we want your feedback! Tell us what you might have done differently or what you agree with. Check out Denny’s menu and let us know how you Eat to Live on the Outside? Leave a comment or email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.
Apparently Denny’s is known for breakfast, but certainly not any breakfast an Eat to Liver would make at home. The menu is a tough one; lots of meat, refined grains, dairy, and grease. So if you’re really hard up for breakfast, you’re going to have to lower your expectations. If it were me, I might order a few scrambled eggs, but the griddle would have to be free of oil, lard, butter, or what ever else they cook with. Another option would be to comprise a meal from the sides menu; applesauce, cinnamon apples, or just plain fruit might make do in a pinch.
To be honest, I’d just skip breakfast entirely. I’m not really thrilled with any of the offerings.
Now here’s one of Denny’s surprising redeeming qualities. If you check out the menu heading “Fit Fare” you’ll see they give you some nutritional information; carbohydrates, fat, calories, and fiber. I didn’t expect to see this from such a vilified restaurant. So, if you’re an egg-eating Eat to Liver, you might consider ordering the Veggie Omelette. “Might” is the important word here because, again, who knows what that griddle looks like, and it’s not exactly loaded with a lot of veggies any way; only mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. But if you do order it, at least you’ll know what’s in it: 38 g Carbohydrates, 332 Calories, 8g Fat, and 5g Fiber.
Okay, remember this week’s post Not All Salads are Health Foods, where I talked about how many restaurant salad offerings are totally sabotaged, and barely healthy dining alternatives? All four of Denny’s salads suffer from the same problem—prepare to punch the computer screen—you’ve got the Chef Salad (with turkey, ham, egg, and cheddar cheese), the Taco Salad (with beef, cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream), the Fried Chicken Strips Salad (with fried chicken and cheddar cheese), and finally the Grilled Chicken Breast Salad (with grilled chicken and cheddar cheese). If I were to order any of these as they are, I’d be making major concessions. I think they’re all salvageable if you remove the undesirable ingredients. The only one I might make a case for (and of course you’d have to be into eating meat) would be the grilled chicken. Although the Chef’s Salad seems the easiest to augment, but in the end between them there really isn’t a vast array of veggies, only mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions—might not be worth the trouble.
Outside of these makeshift salads the only other dishes I’d order are on the Fit Fare menu; the Boca Burger, the Grilled Tilapia, or Grilled Chicken. The Boca Burger is a solid option, especially for non-meat eating Eat to Livers, and it comes with fruit—nice! I’m not a cheese-eater, so I’m ditching that, making the bun my only concession. The Grilled Tilapia is cool too (click here for Dr. Fuhrman’s take on fish), it comes with green beans, tomato slices, and vegetable pilaf; clearly the pilaf would be the concession. The Grilled Chicken also comes with green beans and tomato slices—no refined grain concessions here, only animal ones. All and all these three dishes aren’t that different from comparable ones offered at other standard American eateries.
Finally, the other good quality about Denny’s is the nutrition information isn’t limited only to its Fit Fare, click here and you’ll see the nutrition facts for the entire menu. Does it make up for the extremely unhealthy food? No, of course not, but at least people can’t blame the restaurant. You have the opportunity to see just how fatty that food really is. (I’m not sure if the nutritional information is actually available at the restaurant.) But one thing is for sure, Denny’s is no Just Salads, Go Raw Café, Chipotle, or Baja Fresh!
As always we want your feedback! Tell us what you might have done differently or what you agree with. Check out Denny’s menu and let us know how you Eat to Live on the Outside? Leave a comment or email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.
