Red Lobster serves up the kind of soul-soothing comfort food that everyone needs from time to time. Most of Red Lobster's menu items are big hits, but even the relative failures are popular. The restaurant is certainly doing something right since it continues to thrive while other chains are struggling to keep their doors open during this tough year.
It’s just a shame that the ingredients which make people feel good include massive amounts of fat, carbs, and sodium. The occasional indulgence in this kind of food is fine, but it cannot be done on a regular basis. Red Lobster fans will be happy to know that not every dish is a health hazard. In this list, we'll discuss the nutrition facts of everyone's favorite dishes and cleaner options for health-conscious diners.
10 Cheddar Bay Biscuits Aren't As Bad As You Think
Cheddar Bay Biscuits are not healthy food. Let’s make that clear. Each biscuit has the same number of calories as a bottle of beer, and no one’s eating just one. However, they are far from the most unhealthy foods in the world. Nutritional information for Cracker Barrel's cornbread is much worse, and the same can be said for bread at Logan’s Roadhouse. So, things are not good, but they could be worse.
9 Smoothies Are A Step Up From Typical Desserts
Smoothies are an overlooked option on the Red Lobster menu. They can be drunken before a meal for a feeling of fullness. After the entree is eaten, smoothies can replace high-calorie desserts. A single smoothie won’t wipe away the sins of a bad meal, but it can help. It is important that they’re considered a dessert rather than a drink since they contain more calories, carbs, and sugars than the sodas on the menu.
8 Grilled Fish Is The Leanest Option
Fish is a low-fat source of protein and vitamin D. The fat that fish does possess is the kind bodies want. Unless that fish is fried. Then the sodium levels soar and the benefits disappear. Choose baked or grilled options at Red Lobster to preserve some of those nutrients. Cutting out that thick barrier of breading makes for a more flavorful meal too. Avoid offerings of creamy sauces for extra points.
7 Fried Foods Clog Up The Menu
Everything comes with a fried option: fried shrimp, fried fish, fried oysters. The instant a chunk of protein hits the fryer, the levels of sodium and calories skyrocket. For example, Red Lobster nutritional information for menu items states that wild-caught whitefish contains 210 calories and 250 mg of sodium if it’s oven broiled. When fried, the calories climb to 710 and the sodium levels increase to 1,490. The most valuable component of the fish, protein, decreases.
6 The Appetizers Have As Many Calories As The Entrees
The portion size for some appetizers is equal to that of entrées. Yet these appetizers usually consist of just one item, making their nutritional value worse. Compare a plate of fried mozzarella sticks to multi-ingredient garlic shrimp scampi. Mozzarella sticks contain 700 calories while shrimp scampi contains 430. In the shrimp scampi’s few allotted calories, it covers multiple food groups with different benefits. The dish also has 10 times fewer carbs.
5 You Can't Hide From The Calories With A Salad
The Caesar salad contains 520 calories and over 1000 mg of sodium, according to Red Lobster’s nutritional chart. The numbers get worse when any of the suggested seafood toppings such as grilled shrimp are added. Garden salads are the other option, but they’re limited to side-sized portions. Neither of these salads will fit into most strict diets regardless of portions. They are only suitable for balancing out meaty meals with vegetables.
4 Salt Is The Main Ingredient In Shellfish
One of the worst menu items for sodium content is the steamed clam appetizer. It contains 3440 mg of salt, a number that surpasses the recommended daily limit by more than 1000 mg. Red Lobster’s famous crab legs aren’t as sodium-rich, but they do account for more than half of the daily recommendation on their own. The nutritional chart Red Lobster provides shows sodium numbers in the thousands for almost every shellfish item.
3 The Dishes Are All Soaked In Butter
Cups of butter are served on the side of crab plates while grilled shrimp comes drenched in it. It’s also listed on the menu as a condiment which means it can be added to anything. Butter seems to be an integral part of the Red Lobster experience. Customers could choose to embrace the restaurant in all of its buttery, fatty glory. Or they could request dishes with lighter coats of butter to try and preserve their health.
2 Dishes Drenched In Heavy Sauces Are Loaded With Carbs
Of the many Italian dishes on the menu, those which contain Alfredo sauce are particularly carb-heavy. Dishes that look light such as the Cajun Chicken Linguini are unknown dangers. Creamy soups are a secondary culprit since their small portions make them seem harmless. Both items add unnecessary carbs to each meal. Fried foods are still worse than pasta and soup, but this is no surprise since they are also the worst in every other category.
1 The Calories Add Up During Happy Hour
Red Lobster‘s signature margarita, known as the Lobsterita, gets up to 500 calories depending on the flavor. Lower calorie options like wine are also available. Whether drinking becomes a bad diet decision depends on how many drinks are had. The number gets harder to control when happy hour hits and prices are sliced in half. It affects the prices of some dishes too. Stay away from the restaurant from 3 to 6 PM to avoid the temptation.