Tag Archives: restaurants

5 Things to Know About the New Food Labeling Laws

Late last week the Food and Drug Administration made a huge announcement that basically holds more businesses accountable for the calories in the food they choose to serve. The new food laws, which falls under the Affordable Care Act, will absolutely affect you; expect to know how many calories are in that tub of popcorn at the movie theater, for instance.

Let’s break down the most important changes you will notice next year.

1. All major businesses will need to display their calorie counts.

Some big cities are already held to this standard, like New York City. But the FDA’s new laws will require any establishment that sells prepared food (and also has more than 20 locations) to display its food’s calorie information. A one-stop independent bakery will not be affected, but your local and booming coffee purveyor that’s become a chain will not be exempt.

2. Calories will be on the menu.

Calorie content will appear on menus and menu boards in restaurants, though bakeries, coffee shops, pizza joints, movie theaters, and amusement parks will be affected, as well. The idea is to provide easy access to the caloric information of your food choices to help you realize exactly what you are ingesting. The FDA also hopes that it will inspire restaurants to make healthier food preparation choices. (more…)

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Jessica Tholmer

Pizza Hut Introduces 2 Billion Ordering Options! Do We Need That?

If variety is the spice of life, then Pizza Hut may just become over-seasoned. The pizza chain recently announced a complete overhaul of their menu, which according to Pizza Hut, can be combined in more than 2 billion ways.

With these changes, Pizza Hut becomes the newest member of a growing list of long-standing restaurant chains adjusting to cater to a new, younger taste. That new taste has some interesting demands, and it’s nice to know people are listening.

More customers, particularly millennials, are looking for more variety in their food choices, which include a selection of more exotic flavors and higher-quality food. They’re also looking for the ability to completely customize their order. We’re blaming Chipotle (in a good way) for that one.

To help customers get their customization on, Pizza Hut is introducing five new ingredients: Peruvian cherry peppers, classic meatballs, sliced banana peppers, premium salami, and fresh spinach. There are also six sauce options, which include old favorites and new flavors like honey sriracha and creamy garlic parmesan.

Pizza Hut Now Delivering a New Whole Wheat Pizza to Meet School Lunch Nutrition Guidelines

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Posted on November 19, 2023 by Elizabeth

Alton Brown Gains 7 Pounds Eating at Wichita’s Best Restaurants

Wichita is one of those places you wouldn’t expect to be a foodie town. Tucked in to one of the flattest spots on the prairie in the heart of beef country, with a blue collar populous that’s generally pretty laid back, Wichitans have an appetite for very good food.

I know this because I concluded a ten-year residency there last month. I also know this because Alton Brown just ate his way through the Air Capital and seemed pretty happy about it. He recently wrapped his wildly popular Good Eats on Food Network and took the show on the road. Alton Brown’s live Edible Inevitable made a stop in Wichita last night and there wasn’t a foodie in attendance who left disappointed. Fortunately, we don’t think Alton’s appetite left town disappointed either.

“I want to thank Wichita for the seven pounds I’ve gained in the last 24 hours,” he said, reported the Wichita Eagle. “I’ve eaten and eaten and eaten.”

Like I said, Wichita loves to eat, with 27 percent of the population being obese. The food’s just that delicious! We hope Alton’s seven-pound souvenir doesn’t hang around too long!

Alton Brown Shares His Diet Secret: Sardines

The celebrity chef stopped at nine Wichita restaurants, according to Denise Neil at the Eagle. And they were mostly a tour of my favorites, too. The only one he missed that I think was a huge disservice to his stomach was The Flying Stove, a nationally recognized food truck that we named a favorite vegetarian restaurant in 2024.

Alton’s favorite? The Nifty Nut House. It’s not even a restaurant; it is, however, the most epic candy and treat store in all the land ever of all time. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” the Eagle reports him saying. “That’s a national treasure.” (more…)

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Natalie K

Fast Food Makes Us Less Patient

On every family vacation I can remember, my mom and I have taken a picture of us literally stopping and smelling the roses, or whatever flower is available. “Stop and smell the roses” is something my grandpa always reminds us to do, and it’s a good thing to remember in the hustle and bustle of our lives.

However, it’s becoming more difficult for many of us to take the time to appreciate the small things in life. Many will say that’s because people are less patient. A new paper says that’s true, and it’s at least partially because of fast food restaurants.

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Posted on June 6, 2023 by Elizabeth

Yelp Helps Find Places to Eat and Avoid

“Oh, my friend said the last time she ate there she got sick.” If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, well, I’d have a few more dollars.

Hearsay is one way (if not the only way) I learn about potential food poisoning breakouts. It leaves me wondering if there’s a better way to get that information.

According to new research, there just might be.

It was found that restaurant review sites like Yelp can help health inspectors track down outbreaks of food poisoning that have not been reported. This means the problem can be solved faster, and you’ll likely know about it sooner.

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Posted on May 23, 2023 by Elizabeth

Are Your Friends and Family Making You Fat? Maybe, Say Top Docs

By Team Best Life

It’s a simple fact: Your family, friends, and coworkers can make or break your attempts to eat healthfully or lose weight. In fact, a recent review study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that participants who were told that others were making a low-calorie or high-calorie food choice were more likely to make a similar food choice.

You know how it is when one of your dining companions offers to split an order of potato skins or a slice of chocolate cake? You feel pressure to agree, even if you’re not in the mood for it. Likewise, when your tablemate orders a salad with grilled chicken, you’re less inclined to order the deluxe cheeseburger.

Ideally, you’d use your own internal cues to know when to put your fork down. But it can be easy to get distracted, especially when you’re dining out or with others. Use the tips below to eat well no matter where you eat or who’s at your table.

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Posted on February 18, 2024 by BestLifeDiet

Worst Burger of the Year: 3,000 Calorie “The Beast” in Kansas

If you’ve got $20+ to blow, and happen to be in Kansas, fast-food restaurant Spangles has a challenge for you.

Launched on Christmas Eve, the Beast is a limited-time offering by Spangles, though will continue to be sold while customer demand for it exists. The burger itself features six 1/3-pound steak burger patties, 12 slices of American cheese, mustard, ketchup, onion, and pickle.

We asked Mary Hartley, R.D., to break down the Beast nutritionally. While Spangles says the burger has 3,000 calories, she estimates that the number is closer to 3,570. “To put it in perspective, one burger provides almost two days worth of calories, sodium, and calcium; 3.5 days worth of fat, cholesterol and iron; 6 days worth of protein; and 16.5 days worth of saturated fat; but (oops!) no fiber.”

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Posted on January 6, 2024 by Elizabeth

Our Top Food Trend Predictions for 2024

2024 was a year full of food crazes. We’re still reeling from the Siracha excitement! Whether you craved sweet, spicy, natural or crazy food combinations, 2024 was the year to find it. But we’re guessing there’s even more food fun in store for the future.

The National Restaurant Association and restaurant-research firms have shared what they think we’ll all see on our plates this year. Now it’s DietInReview.com’s turn to predict the biggest food trends of the upcoming year.

Locally Sourced Food
Though there’s still no real standard for what makes something local, we expect that people will still place the origin of their food as a top priority in 2024. More restaurants are promoting local ingredients and more consumers are demanding local meat, fish, and vegetables.

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Posted on December 30, 2023 by Elizabeth

Seven Ways to Avoid Binging at a Buffet

Cooking over the holidays has most of us to closing our home kitchens for a few days to recuperate. If you’re still entertaining family and friends, hitting up the local buffet may seem like the best way to keep everyone fed without spending an arm and a leg. Buffets are also great for New Year’s hosts who want to set up a variety of food options for people to munch on as they count down the last hours of 2024.

Whatever your reasoning may be, buffets seem like an answer to many holiday eating conundrums. However, they can create more problems than they solve, especially when it comes to your waistline. We’ve got tips from Brian Wansink, PhD, of the Cornell Food and Brand lab, as well as ideas of our own to help you navigate buffet-style eating.

Choose a smart seat
Where you sit can have a big impact on how much you eat. By sitting with your back to the buffet, you are less tempted to go up and grab another dish. You also may want to consider choosing a booth over a table. Wansink found that slimmer individuals tend to go for booths. This creates a more comfortable seating arrangement like what you would find at a sit-down restaurant, and can discourage you from eating more than one plate of food.

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Posted on December 27, 2023 by Elizabeth

Our Favorite Vegetarian Restaurants in Albuquerque

When the state question is about your preference of chile, you know you’ve come to a good place to find great food. What you may not know is Albuquerque, New Mexico is one of the most vegetarian-friendly places you can eat in the entire country. Whether you’re looking for traditional New Mexican cuisine or something further outside your comfort zone, Albuquerque won’t leave you disappointed.

Most restaurants use the freshest ingredients they can find to ensure each dish, meatless or not, is full of signature ABQ flavor. With a host of nationally recognized vegetarian-friendly restaurants, the city is bound to leave meat eaters wanting to eat their veggies – and then some!

Enjoy our picks for coolest vegetarian restaurants in Albuquerque, New Mexico – and be sure to tell them we sent you!

Annapurna’s World Vegetarian Café

A local vegan restaurant specializing in Indian cuisine, Annapurna’s specializes in Ayurvedic vegan fresh food. It’s all organic and made from local ingredients. Each dish is meant to target six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and pungent, which means every vegan and vegetarian dish is bursting with flavor. Desserts abound, too, even featuring a vegan sweet potato pie. And if you need a more centered take on happy hour, join them for Chai Daily Happy Hour.

Yelp Rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars (more…)

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Elizabeth

Our Favorite Vegetarian Restaurants in New Orleans

Vegetarian eating in the Big Easy is easier than you might believe. In what other city could you find a restaurant with a vegetarian menu perfect for date night and a place where even veggie eaters can satiate their hot dog cravings? From fancy to fast, New Orleans offers some of the freshest vegetarian food on the Mississippi.

Each restaurant on our list has its own feel while remaining true to the heritage and personality of the city they call home. So next time you’re taking it slow in NOLA, check out some of the best vegetarian food the city has to offer. Whether you’re looking for lunch, dinner, or a mid-afternoon pastry, New Orleans is definitely the spot for vegetarians to indulge.

Enjoy our picks for the coolest vegetarian restaurants in New Orleans, Louisiana – and be sure to tell them we sent you!

City Greens

Serving up salads and wraps in a city known for its rich cuisine is daring, and it’s exactly what City Greens is doing. Customers create their own wrap or salad filled with pretty much anything they can think of. We’re especially fans of the Raw Shaved Salad with beets, Brussels Sprouts, and fennel. City Greens also posts where each of their ingredients comes from, so there are no surprises about what’s in your meal, proudly alternating the menu by seasonal availability.

Yelp Rating – 4 out of 5 stars (more…)

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Elizabeth

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