WLS Friendly Restaurants - Let's make a list!

I generally have good luck finding something no matter where I go. But here are a list of specific things I get at restaurants, in no particular order.

• Red Robin: order any burger without the bun, sub broccoli for fries
• Five Guys: order a "burger bowl," they'll put the meat and toppings in a foil tray for you
• IHOP, Denny's, other breakfast joints: eggs and breakfast meat, hold the pancakes/toast/etc.
• Applebee's, Chili's, and similar: baked fish, grilled chicken, or steak, sub broccoli or veg for carby side dishes
• Panda Express: mushroom chicken, veggies instead of rice/noodles
• Steak places: beef of any sort, sub steamed veggies for potato
• Dickey's BBQ or other BBQ places: small order of any meat, green beans on the side
• Chick-fil-a: grilled nuggets
• Buffalo Wild Wings/Wingstop/other wing joints: "naked tenders" or regular wings, easy on the sauce
• Taco Bell: "power bowl," no rice or sour cream. (Black beans, lettuce, shredded cheese, grilled chicken, guacamole)
• Chiptotle: taco bowl, no rice, no sour cream. (Be prepared to have leftovers for DAYS!)
• Subway: breakfast sandwich with egg patty, no bun; they'll toast the egg and meat on paper for you! Also meatballs in a cup, no bun.
• Sit-down Asian places (Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.): something with stir-fry chicken, no breading, steamed veggies on the side. Soup without noodles.
• Jack in the Box: grilled chicken tenders, no breading on those
• Olive Garden: chicken margherita (with cheese and tomato), salmon piccata. Ask nicely and they'll often let you order from the lunch menu!
• Mexican restaurants: fajitas are a good choice, just eat the guts and skip the tortillas
• Red Lobster: any fresh fish, ask for it baked, tell them NO BISCUITS AT YOUR TABLE BECAUSE THEY ARE EVIL, veggies for the side. Crab legs and lobster tail are great too!

I don't really eat at chains (life's too short for terrible food), with the exception of Chipotle (good choices), Panda Express (fair choices), and Red Robin (Whiskey River Chicken Wrap, skip the tortilla just eat the guts, sub a salad for the side).

Great suggestions! I had to eat out several times this weekend as we were running our son all over the state lol. But I got grilled chicken at Wendy's. Ordered a baked potato too (I'm only 5 weeks out so still not eating at all stages yet). Ate the chicken and was too full for the potato, and went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered a grilled chicken quesadilla and ate the chicken out of the inside with salsa on it. And bojangles has roasted chicken bites. Those suckers were tasty. So I had that too. Big mistake with those tho. I was super hungry and ate too fast. Thought I was going to DIE. First time that has happened so far.

You are still very early out, be careful I lived on Wendy's chili for the longest time, LOVED IT Keep us posted on how you are doing!

Thanks! Yes I'm being super careful. Hence just chicken 90% of the time lol. My surgeon moves you to soft solids at 4 weeks. Soft/tender cooked proteins and cooked veggies such as zucchini/squash/tomatoes. I haven't ventured out much from those yet.

Sous vide egg bites from Starbucks are yummy.

I learned a new taco bell order. Thanks Julie.

Ditto to all of the above. A couple of other tips I don't recall seeing so far

* Order an appetizer as the meal (i.e. scallops, shrimp, or some other protein that is not fried)

* Some restaurants offer the option of adding shrimp, scallops or another protein to the main entree - DH will then order his regular entree with the add-on for me and if I'm really hungry I'll order a side salad or some other side.

Thanks pr31 for the suggestions

I've only eaten out twice in the past year; Swiss Chalet for Chicken and salad, and a local family owned Italian place where I ordered a side order of meatballs and some mozzarella sticks. I ended up getting full on the mozzarella sticks and took the meatballs home for lunch the next day, lol.

There's another local place in town that is known for it's Broasted Chicken and i plan to go there next.

NY Diners have ridiculously large salads. One time there was a salad with Steak, blue cheese, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and I forget what else. So I ordered it and asked them to 'hold the salad' The toppings were still more than enough.

Wraps are often easy and cheaper than a dinner and just order without the wrap. A favorite at one of the local diners is grilled chicken, with grilled peppers and onions and melted cheese.

Really early out I might order a cup of soup or a side salad.