20 Worst Restaurant Foods in America

I saw this today- courtesy of "Eat This Not That", and found it highly frightening, and incredibly scary! The book, "Eat This Not That", released what it considers to be 20 of the worst restaurant foods in america, and the caloric count in some of these meals is staggering! Whether you've indulged in these specific meals or not, or even considered it, the one thing this list will do is open your eyes to the caloric hell that is still ravaging the restaurant system. Further proof that eating a nice meal at home may just be the way to go!

1. IHOP COLORADO OMELETTE: Colorado is the leanest state in America, so it seems unlikely that its citizens are eating many of these omelets. Nevertheless, IHOP claims the Centennial State as the source of inspiration for this egregious egg envelope. The state’s Attorney General might consider pursuing libel charges against the restaurant—after all, their namesake dish packs more calories than six Egg McMuffins. 1,890 calories, 47 g saturated fat, 4,200 mg sodium, 130 g carbohydrates
2. CHEESECAKE FACTORY FRENCH TOAST WITH BACON: What is going on in the kitchen at the Cheesecake Factory? With the number of staggering offenders on their menu, we could have created an entire 20 Worst list just for them. The breakfast menu alone plays to more than a dozen items with more than 1,000 calories. About a third of those carry more than 2,000. Is that really what you want for your first meal of the day? 2,494 calories, 71 g saturated fat, 3,542 mg sodium, 182 g carbohydrates
3. APPLEBEES APPETIZER SAMPLER: Nothing spells nutritional doom more decidedly than a “sampler” platter. The idea is that by eating only a little bit of a bad thing, you won’t suffer severe caloric consequences. That’s true in theory, but not when you’re eating a little bit of several bad things—in this case mozzarella sticks, spinach and artichoke dip with chips, cheese quesadilla, and Buffalo wings. Truth is, the traditional sampler is actually little more than a roundup of all the worst appetizers, and ordering it will almost certainly saddle you with more calories than any one of those appetizers would have on its own. 2,510 calories, 168 g fat (49 g saturated, 2.5 g trans), 6,660 mg sodium
4. SBARRO STUFFED PIZZA (one slice): Recently Pizza Hut decided to stretch its stuffed-crust pizza shtick by applying it to the deep-dish pan pizzas. The new pie is predictably horrendous, but even with sausage on top, it doesn’t break the 500-calorie slice mark. That’s by no means a defense of the Stuffed Crust Pan Pizza, but rather an indictment of Sbarro’s Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza, which has more calories, fat, and sodium than any slice in America. 960 calories, 42 g fat, 3,200 mg sodium
5. FRIDAY'S BBQ CHICKEN WRAP: This wrap seems to have been engineered with the goal of packing in extra calories. It employs a one-two punch of the two fattiest sauces known to man: ranch dressing and mayonnaise. And if that’s not enough, it’s served with even more ranch on the side to satisfy all your dipping fancies. You’d be better off housing three Big Macs than tussling with this felonious fowl. 1,720 calories
6. CHEESECAKE FACTORY GRILLED CHICKEN AND AVOCADO CLUB: Who would have guessed that a dish with a name like this could pack more calories than 11 scoops of Breyers All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip? Skip sandwiches entirely when dining at the Factory. The "lightest" on the menu is the 1,052-calorie Grilled Cheese. Instead (and this might surprise you), you'd be much better off ordering a burger. The Factory Burger is one of the best burgers offered at any sit-down restaurant in America, and so long as you swap out the fries for something healthier, it's also one of the safest entrees you'll find on Cheesecake Factory's misguided menu. 1,752 calories, 28 g saturated fat, 2,309 mg sodium, 85 g carbs
7. ON THE BORDER DOS XX FISH TACOS WITH CREAMY RED CHILI SAUCE: How many Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos could you eat for this many calories? Ten. Plus one Steak Baja Gordita Supreme. Basically, it’s a perversion of Mexican cuisine that adds up to more food than you’d ever dream of wolfing down in one sitting, and On the Border achieves it through a heavy load of greasy beer-battered fish and a fat-riddled cream sauce to boot.2,240 calories, 152 g fat (32 g saturated), 4,000 mg sodium
8. APPLEBEES QUESADILLA BURGER: Nobody orders a burger thinking it’s healthy eating, and as an occasional treat, that’s not a problem. But if you knew for a fact that said burger had 2 days’ worth of sodium and more than 2 days’ worth of saturated fat stuffed between those two soggy pieces of bread, would you even consider it? Probably not. Blame it on the massive patty, the Mexi-ranch sauce, and, oh, the cheese- and bacon-crusted quesadilla “bun” that holds this hybrid hellraiser together. 1,420 calories, 104 g fat (43 g saturated, 3 g trans), 4,000 mg sodium
9. CHEESECAKE FACTORY KIDS PASTA WITH ALFREDO SAUCE: It’s bad enough to stick this much fat into an adult-size meal, but for a child? That ought to be deemed criminally negligent. This cream- and cheese-infused pasta bowl is bloated with more saturated fat than a full-grown adult should eat in 4 days, and more calories than you’d find in 40 Chicken McNuggets 1,803 calories, 86 g saturated fat, 876 mg sodium, 70 g carbohydrates
10. CHILI'S BUFFALO CHICKEN CRISPER BITES: Last year, before Chili’s hopped on the slider bandwagon, we dubbed Blimpie’s 12-inch Pastrami Super Stacked Sub as the Saltiest Sandwich in America. But with 20 percent more sodium, we now have our new biggest loser. Even if you split an order of these Buffalo Chicken Crisper Bites, you’ll still overshoot your sodium allotment for the day.1,620 calories, 100 g fat (21 g saturated), 5,380 mg sodium
11. DOMINOS CHICKEN CARBONARA BREADBOWL PASTA: Here’s the breakdown: The noodles here contribute 200 calories, the sauce and toppings another 440. And finally, the bread bowl itself contributes a staggering 840 calories and 138 grams of carbohydrates. It’s like eating 12 slices of Pepperidge Farm White Sandwich Bread alongside your pasta dish, and all of those calories are the kind that spike your blood sugar and force your body to store away more fat. We used to harp on Panera’s Sourdough Soup Bowl, but it looks tame next to the Domino’s disaster. 1,480 calories, 56 g fat , (24 g saturated, 1 g trans), 2,280 mg sodium, 188 g carbs
12. PC CHANGS CRISPY HONEY SHRIMP: Chang’s menu sounds innocent enough: “Lightly battered and tossed in a flavorful sauce.” But with it being one of the most calorie-laden meals in the entire country, it seems fair to call this description a mild understatement. More accurate might be something like, “cooked with a day’s worth of fat and served with more carbohydrates than you’d find in an entire box of Triscuit crackers!” Okay, so maybe they won’t follow our lead on that one, but it would be nice to see a little more transparency. 2,110 calories, 70 g fat (10 g saturated), 1,815 mg sodium, 290 g carbs
13. CULVER'S NORTH ATLANTIC COD FILET MEAL: This trend of frying all seafood is particularly concerning at Culver’s, since it’s not balanced by a single grilled fillet. If you want a piece of fish at Culver’s, you have to take it fried. What’s worse, though, is that when you order a dinner, Culver’s buries your plate under a mess of sides that are equally as harmful as the fish. By the time they’re done loading on the fries, dinner roll, coleslaw, tarter sauce, and butter, you’re facing a full day’s worth of calories, sodium, and saturated fat crammed into one meal. 2,121 calories, 135 g fat, (21 g saturated, 2 g trans), 2,568 mg sodium
14. OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE BABYBACK RIBS: One of the scary things about these ribs is that they're typically served with a heaping serving of Aussie Fries, which adds another 350 calories to the already overflowing mix. What's even scarier is that these ribs used to pack in over 3,000 calories - meaning that this giant mega-meal, which accounts for an entire day's worth of calories, is actually a downgrade.2,012 calories, 160 g fat (59 g saturated), 2,599 mg sodium
15. CHEESECAKE FACTORY BISTRO SHRIMP PASTA: How would you feel if someone asked you to eat three full orders of Fettuccine Alfredo and three bread sticks from Fazoli’s? Or how about three Big Macs and three medium orders of fries from McDonald’s? Or 14 Original Doughnuts from Krispy Kreme? Like the rest of the sane world, you’d balk at the idea. It’s ludicrous, for sure, but the truth is that any of these options would actually save you calories over this horrendous glut of oil and cream from the Cheesecake Factory.2,819 calories, 77 g saturated fat, 1,008 mg sodium, 184 g carbohydrates
16. IHOP TOP SIRLOIN STEAK: In the world of beef, sirloin is one of the good guys. Unless it’s not, which is the case at IHOP. But don’t blame the beef. Here, as is so often the case with commercially prepared steaks, the meat suffers by association. IHOP adds an inexplicable blanket of provolone cheese and a heaping scoop of fried potatoes and buttered toast to the party. The result of these add-ons is six Milky Ways’ worth of saturated fat and five full Pringles cans’ worth of sodium. 2,380 calories, 42 g saturated fat, 5,220 mg sodium
17. FIVE GUYS FRIES (LARGE): Unfortunately, Five Guys doesn’t offer anything but fries in the side department. Your safest bet, of course, is to skip the fries altogether (you’d be better off adding a second patty to your burger), but if you can’t bring yourself to eat a burger sans fries, then split a regular order. That will still add 310 calories to your meal, but it beats surrendering more than 75% of your day’s calories to a greasy paper bag. 1,464 calories, 71 g fat (14 g saturated), 213 mg sodium
18. JACK IN THE BOX CHEDDAR BACON WEDGES: It doesn’t take a nutritionist to identify the hazards of a grease-soaked, cheese-slathered sack of deep-fried potatoes, but by appearance alone, nobody could guess what’s really at stake when you order this side from Jack’s. The American Heart Association recommends that people cap their trans fat intake at 1 percent of total calories. For people on a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s about 2 grams per day. See the problem? This sack crushes that number with six times your daily intake—not to mention nearly half your day’s calories. 760 calories, 53 g fat , (17 g saturated, 13 g trans), 963 mg sodium
19. COLDSTONE PB&C SHAKE: There were dozens of contenders in line for this dishonorable distinction, but Cold Stone’s PB&C is the only drink in America to stretch across the 2,000-calorie mark. The combination of peanut butter—good in small amounts, horrendous when liquefied in bathtub-size quantities—and chocolate ice cream outpaces even the worst cookie- and candy-strewn shakes that clutter Cold Stone’s embarrassing shake menu. Suck this thing down and you’ve just blasted away a day’s worth of calories, more than 3 days’ worth of saturated fat, and almost as much sugar as an entire 15-ounce box of Chewy Chips Ahoy! Cookies. 2,010 calories, 131 g fat (68 g saturated, 2.5 g trans), 880 mg sodium, 153 g sugars
20. OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE CHOCOLATE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER: We’ll concede that desserts are intended to be decadent, but there’s a dramatic difference between indulgence and recklessness. Add one of these ice-cream–covered chocolate cinder blocks onto the end of one meal per week and you’re looking at more than 2 extra pounds of body fat each month. Think that extra flab is just inconvenient? Actually, according to numerous studies, it increases your risk of developing a host of conditions from diabetes and high blood pressure to esophageal cancer. Some of those risks are magnified when you factor in the 4½ days’ worth of saturated fat gluing this thing together like toxic cement. Technically this dessert is intended to be split four ways, but the last we checked, it doesn't indicate that on the menu. And even if you were to split it with three friends, you'd still each consume an extra 477 calories after your meal - about as much as if you'd eaten one and a half McDonald's cheeseburgers for dessert! Split the cheesecake with two friends for a better option. 1,911 calories, 88 g saturated fat, 135 g carbohydrates