Hey guys!

I’m trying to make a point of eating more in Long Beach rather than venturing south-bound on the 405 to Fountain Valley or Irvine for my delicious vegan fare; but it’s tough. There aren’t a lot of straight-up veg-friendly restaurants in Long Beach – though there are plenty of places with suitable options for the health-minded in general. If any of you in Long Beach or the surrounding area know of restaurants, preferably not large chains, that have veg-friendly or simply healthy items on the menu, holla’!

These are the restaurants I know of:

In Long Beach

Cafe Ambrosia 1923 East Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802
The Scoop: Greek and American food w/ a nice perk: a menu with a separate section that lists the vegetarian and vegan options. Some of the vegan items include dolma, falafel, skordalia (a garlicy dip served with pita), homemade vegan burger, vegan mousaka (eggplant, auchini & potatoes in a creamy soy-based sauce), vegan loaf (veggie-based “meatloaf”), charbroiled veggies, tofu & avocado wrap, tofu burrito, tofu pita, tofu with roasted bell pepper sauce platter, and BEST of all…a vegan DESSERT! Apple Loukomades are a not-so-healthy-but-vegan-so-who-cares apple=pie like concoction: “Crispy Granny Smith Apples covered in fluffy Batter, lightly fried to crisp Perfection, topped with honey and chopped walnuts” <– hm make sure you ask for it w/o the honey if you are a honey-restricting vegan.

Fresh Foods Cafe* 340 Golden Shore Street, Long Beach, CA 90802 (Shoreline Village)
The scoop: Not much for vegetarians and vegans, but this place does offer plenty o’ sandwich, soup and salad options that are healthy enough if you opt for the right stuff. Try anything from the “Fresh and Fit” line-up. The sides are cool with seasoned black beans and brown rice, steamed broccoli, and grilled vegetables. If you’re vegan, opt for the salad bar and the “Hearty Vegan Vegetable Soup.” If you’re vegetarian, you can also have any of the burgers done with a veggie patty. Steer clear of the cheese and chipotle sauces — those are always ridiculously high in calories and fat. News: They’re opening a Fresh Foods Cafe Express at CSULB! [See here]

Kafe Neo 2800 East 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
The scoop: Plenty of salad and fresh-fish options on the menu. As long as you’re cautious of dressings and added sauces, this place is excellent for health-conscious eaters. There’s a specific section calling out the vegetarian dishes. According to Kafe Neo, their veggie burger is vegan (ask for the bun not to be buttered), so is the falafel, and plain pita with hummus.

Magic Lamp Lebanese Mediterranean Grill 5020 East 2nd Street, Long Beach, CA 90803
The Scoop: Symbols on the menu categorize dishes that are spicy, vegetarian and/or vegan, which is great! Some of the vegan dishes include fried cauliflower, garlic fries, fattoush salad, tabbouli salad, & falafel pita sandwich. The vegan dishes here are nearly identical to the dishes offered by Open Sesame (listed below & located across the street), another Lebanese restaurant across the street. In fact, the only vegan dish Magic Lamp offers that Open Sesame does not, is the garlic fries. And Open Sesame offers a raw veggie platter that Magic Lamp does not. Clearly, both restaurants offer vegans quite a few fried items (oy), but they are balanced out with some nice salads

Open Sesame 5215 East 2nd Street, Long Beach, CA 90803

My pre-vegetarian/pre-vegan favorite: Chicken Tawook w/ whole-wheat pita

The scoop: Healthy Lebanese food fit for omnivores and vegans alike. The menu has symbols that easily indicate which menu items are raw, vegetarian & vegan. You also have the option of whole-wheat pita. I personally think the vegetarian platter offers the least bang for your buck, so I opt instead for ordering the raw vegetable platter with an order of falafel patties. Falafel patties typically have about 55-100 calories each, which is quite a range, but considering most servings include only 3 (as does Open Sesame’s), you can’t do too much damage if you avoid the creamy dips accompanying them and opt for hummus instead. Also, portion sizes at Open Sesame are just right — you won’t be overwhelmed with too much on your plate.

Tantalum 6272 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA 90803

The miso soup, supposedly vegan, is full of ‘shrooms and has a dark base. I’m used to no ‘shrooms and a light broth, so this was different!

The scoop: Open only for dinner; a few vegetarian options including salads; vegan options include the miso soup (waiter said it was vegan), edamame, house salad, and wok-fired marinated tofu.

Roots Gourmet 6473 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA 90803
The Scoop: Roots Gourmet is a small cafe featuring vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options made with fresh, all-natural ingredients. The website boasts: “Nothing is ever frozen. Local, sustainable and organic farming practices are supported whenever possible. With recipes passed down from four generations in Mexico, and delectable influences from Spain, Cuba, Argentina, Columbia and Brazil, a viable menu spurred by heart, passion and good health is provided to hungry patrons.” Some cool things? Mayan Mocha Mondays: Receive 15% off Mayan mochas (made with real dark chocolate, a secret blend of spices & a nice kick of heat) all day; Whet You Palate Wednesdays: Free plantains with the purchase of any entree; and Thank Dog it’s Friday: Receive a free meal for your dog with the purchase of an entree. Some of the vegan options include: two sandwich options (use the sourdough bread — it’s vegan) such as “The Grilled Veggie” ((seasonal veggies topped with alfalfa sprouts and basil pesto) and “The Vegan” (filled with tofu, portabella mushrooms and caramelized onion jam) and vegan chili.

Viento y Agua 4007 East 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90814
The Scoop: This is an awesome coffee shop decorated in Dia de Los Muertos style. While you can’t technically get a meal here, I thought I’d point out that they have a lot of vegan and organic drink options and snacks (including some salads, bagels with Tofutti, vegan cookies & more). You gotta try the peanut butter oat smoothie – I’m sure it’s a caloriefest, but yummo! I’ve got a special place in my heart for this place since my band and I performed here recently

Zephyr 340 East 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90802
Daily special “Texas ‘Burger’”- my friend Ryan loved it

The scoop: The only officially mostly-vegan restaurant I know of in Long Beach. The coolest things about Zephyr are 1) the extensive menu (including salads, sandwiches with seitan, tofu, tempeh, or nut butter, “burgers,” (including a chicken-style one) & more! ), and 2) the daily specials (once there was a black bean tamale special, holyyumfactor!). If you’re watching your caloric intake, this place is the shizzle — get a salad, skip the dressing; get the spring rolls, skip dippage in the tahini sauce; get a veggie burger, skip the veg-mayo.

…And then there’s always the chain restaurants in LB that offer healthy options, such as:

Chipotle 1800 Ximeno Ave., Long Beach, CA 90815
The scoop: If you get a salad with romaine, black beans, fajita vegetables, guacamole, & salsa, you’ve only got 320 wholesome vegan calories on your hand. Add chicken and make it 510 calories. Not bad for a big and filling meal – the majority of the calories come from the guacamole (150 calories per 3.5-oz serving), so either use or ask for half or ditch all together if you’re sweatin’ it. If they would start serving brown rice instead of white cilantro rice, we’d have a total winner!

Claim Jumper 6501 E Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA 90803
The scoop: There’s the produce bar, a vegan vegetable soup, plenty of salad options (you’ll want to de-calorify), the vegetarian baked potato and plenty of healthy vegetable sides, assuming you order them without butter. See my previously-published guide to eating at the CJ here and avoid ordering the chocolate Motherload Cake at all costs…

The Yard House 401 West Shoreline Drive, Long Beach, CA 90802
The scoop: Check out their “Healthy Dining Options” menu section, which includes an ahi salad for 300 calories (if ordered w/o “crunchies” and dressing; use salsa instead), BBQ chicken pizza, 2 slices @315 calories (not bad!). Vegans, you can order a salad with Gardein meat substitute! Take off all the unnecessary junk from your salads (obvs. cheese & bacon, anything “crispy” and use salsa as dressing. If you “need” dressing, opt for the peanut thai peanut vinaigrette – it has the lowest cals at 45/tbsp, which still isn’t good. Eek.). Vegetarians, stay away from the appetizer menu unless you think over 1k calories is suitable for some lettuce wraps with mushroom. No joke!

Wahoo’s Fish Tacos 6449 E. Pacific Coast Highway C-1, Long Beach, CA 90803
Scoop: You can get any starter off their menu for under 417 calories — that’s pretty damn decent. With tons of burrito, taco and salad options – this place rocks. You can get the vegetarian chopped salad with banzai vegetables, black beans and brown rice (love this!) for only 378 calories and 4g fat! If you choose to use dressing here, use the roasted pepper cilantro – it’s got 39 calories per 3-0z serving in comparison to the 283-325-calories price-tag of the others.

My Surrounding-area Faves

Fortune Cookies 11151 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos, CA 90720
The scoop: Did you ever think you’d find a Chinese restaurant that cared to post the nutritional info. of their food right on the menu? This place does and they needn’t fear — their menu was designed with a registered dietitian. No MSG, plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, brown rice is available upon request. One thing to note is that nutritional info listed on the menu and site is per 1/2 serving — so, if you plan to eat the whole thing, multiply the numbers by two! You can eat an entire (that’s two servings) plate of Spicy Fortune Tofu for 42o calories or an entire plate of Buddha’s Delight for 200 calories, for example!

Kabuki 11431 South St., Cerritos, CA 90703 [my original review here]
The scoop: Obvs. if you’re not vegetarian or vegan, you can get loads of brown rice sushi as a healthy meal — just avoid anything with cream cheese, a sauce, mayo, the words “dynamite” or “explosion” and you should be good to go. Miso soup is always a low-cal option coming in around 40 calories per cup. My fave items on the menu are the avocado and cucumber rolls with brown rice (brown rice, add $1.00).

Vegi Wokery* 11329 183rd St., Cerritos, CA 90703
The scoop: Vegetarian Asian-style food with no eggs & no MSG; only one dish has dairy. You can try things as daring as “vegi eel” and “vegi squid” or choose something that actually sounds delectable, lol, like the yam ball with basil in brown sauce!

To my fellow LBers & So-Cal peeps, where are your fave places to eat that have healthy food options? Have any of you been to these places? What chain restaurants do you think have the most healthy options?

*Recommended by a friend

<3,

The Cranky One

I’ve received a response from my e-mail to Claim Jumper regarding their vegan options and the following are their suggestions:

“The following is a list of selected items that are/can be prepared Vegan with little or no alterations:

• Soft Pretzel — Comes brushed with butter, so ask for no butter
• Candied Walnut and Asian Pear Salad — Ask for no Blue Cheese Crumbles
• California Citrus Salad — Ask for no Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Crunchy Spinach Salad — Ask for no bacon, or feta cheese
• House Salad — Ask for no bacon, egg, cheese or croutons
• Our Citrus Dressing is the only Vegan salad dressing option, but it is delicious!
• Roasted Vegetable Soup
• Thai Cole Slaw
• Shoestring French Fries
• Fresh Charbroiled Asparagus
• Seasonal Roasted Vegetables or Steamed Vegetables
• Baked Potato
• All of our pizzas and calzones can be made without cheese.
• Our sourdough bread, French bread, wheat bread, and squaw bread are all made without eggs, milk or whey.

We are currently in the process of compiling nutritional data on our vegetarian items and that information will be posted as soon as it is available. I hope this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if you have any additional questions or need any clarification. Thank you for choosing to dine with us!” Thanks, Claim Jumper, for taking the time to respond!

My original post dated April 6th, 2010:

Hey guys!

Oh Claim Jumper. l love your big booths, your dim lighting and your chocolate cake the size of my large 5-head. But, you’ve got some issues. Like, maaaaaajor issues. Freud would call them attachment issues — you’re totally attached to high calories and perhaps this is a subconscious effort to remain childishly plump, but you’ve got to grow up sometime and grow a pair…of discriminating and fully-conscious eyes (all the better to see nutritional info. with! buhaha!)

Here are the vegetarian options at Claim Jumper and ways I think you can make them vegan. I’ve noted the nutritional info. for these items because, well, it’s shocking (but we knew that already!). They recently did something abominable…they got rid of their veggie burger (it was a Boca patty loaded with avocado and caramelized onions) and my go-to item! They’ve replaced it with a vegetable sandwich with goat cheese and portabello mushroom. Bleh. It tastes alright (though I get it without cheese and the huge mushroom, and change the bread lol), but it’s no veggie burger and it’s also harder to de-calorie-fy (<– yep, that’s a word

Vegetarian Options

Appetizers

Fire Roasted Artichoke (Seasonal)
Marinated and grilled artichokes served with garlic mayo 10.95
1165 calories, 13g sat. fat, 1986mg sodium, 35g fiber, 23g protein
Bottom line: Well stab my (artichoke) heart — run away from this “vegetable” dish that’s really fat with a side of artichoke! Presumably vegan if you don’t use the mayo,but who cares? Don’t eat it.

(Small Bite) California Quesadilla
Grilled corn tortillas filled with jack & cheddar cheese, fresh avocado, green onions, mild salsa & black beans. Served with salsa ranch 10.95
834 calories, 22g sat. fat, 1504mg sodium, 9g fiber, 31g protein
Bottom line: By “small bite” they must mean “feat in engineering”! How you can inject that many calories in something small is crazy sauce! Split this with 4 friends and you’ll be alright except you’ll probably each just get a crumb since it’s a “small bite.” To veganize you’d have to ask for it w/o cheese and verify the beans are not cooked in lard.

(Small Bite) Oven Roasted Tomato Flatbread
Baked in our stone hearth with alfredo sauce, mozzarella and smoked gouda cheese, roasted herb tomatoes, fresh oregano topped with fresh spinach 4.95
591 calories, 17g sat. fat, 970mg sodium, 3g fiber, 20g protein
Bottom line: What did you expect? It has alfredo sauce and cheese! Can’t veganize this one.

Avocado Rolls
Wrapped with crushed chilies, sweet red peppers and fried crisp with ponzu ginger dipping sauce 9.95
894 calories, 6g sat. fat, 1883mg sodium, 15g fiber, 14g protein
Bottom line: Sounds delicious, but if I’d like to keep a lid on the junk in the trunk I’d see if they could steam instead of fry, and then I’d split with 4. This is potentially vegan — but you’d have to ask your server for the deets.

Nacho Platter
Melted jack & cheddar cheese, black beans, diced tomatoes top crisp chips with fresh guacamole, sour cream & chives. Served with mild & roasted salsas 8.25
2246 calories, 41g sat. fat, 2243mg sodium, 24g fiber, 77g protein.
Bottom line: A misanthrope’s delight. I think I gained a pound just reading about this dish.

Pizzas

Tomato Basil Pizza
Fresh roma tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and chevre cheese 9.95
1163 calories, 27g sat. fat, 2357mg sodium, 6g fiber, 54g protein
Bottom line: I’m noticing a trend in these dishes and wondering why I’m even bothering…

Classic Cheese Pizza
With marinara sauce, mozzarella and fresh oregano 9.95
Nutritional info. unavailable, but I think we don’t really need to confirm what we already can surmise, ya know what I mean?

Entree Salads

BBQ Salad
With corn, black beans, jicama, tomato, green onions, cilantro & crisp corn tortilla strips. Topped with sweet BBQ sauce and tossed with homemade ranch dressing 12.50
(Info. includes the version with chicken) — 1009 calories, 12g sat. fat, 2120mg sodium, 10g fiber, 65g protein
Lighter portion 9.50 (info. includes the version with chicken) — 701 calories, 10g sat. fat, 1310mg sodium, 5g fiber, 47g protein
Bottom line: I’d get the lighter portion (sans chicken, of course) and order without BBQ sauce, dressing or tortilla strips. I’d then add salsa for dressing. I can’t give exact nutritionals, but I guarantee that would knock off a few hundred calories and most of the fat.

Vegetarian Cobb Salad

Danish bleu cheese crumbles, avocado, corn, black beans, diced egg, tomatoes with homemade Danish bleu cheese dressing 12.50
(Info. includes the version with chicken and bacon) — 1829 calories, 41g sat. fat, 3104mg sodium, 12g fiber, 110g protein
Lighter portion 9.50 — 1265 calories, 30g sat. fat, 2080mg sodium, 7g fiber, 74g protein.
Bottom line: Unless you’re trying to win a contest for eating the most calorie-filled and protein-injected salad, stray far away from this beast. You’d have to take so many things OFF this salad to make it healthy or vegan, that you might as well get the produce bar and make your own.

Chinese Salad

Crunchy noodles, almonds, sesame seeds, green onions, carrots, basil and cilantro tossed with sweet & spicy peanut dressing 12.50
(info. includes version with chicken) — 890 calories, 10g sat. fat, 1483mg sodium, 8g fiber, 66g protein
Lighter portion 9.50 — 673 calories, 10g sat. fat, 1146mg sodium, 4g fiber, 46g protein
Bottom line: Not sure how the lighter portion has the same amount of fat as the hefty portion. Take off the crunchy noodles and get the dressing on the side if you’re vegetarian and health-conscious. If you’re vegan, avoid the dressing as well.

Entrees

Vegetarian Stuffed Baker Idaho
Stuffed with seasonal veggies, melted jack & cheddar cheese and fire-roasted salsa 9.95
818 calories, 17g sat. fat, 5124mg sodium, 14g fiber, 34g protein
Bottom line: If you’re vegetarian and order this “as is,” this is actually one of the best options on the menu calorie-wise. But why order “as is” when if you ask for “light on the cheese,” “no butter on the veggies” and “light oil,” you could knock off at least a hundred calories and more likely a couple. To veganize, I ordered without cheese, asked for a sweet potato instead of an Idaho (sweet potatoes are more nutrient-rich and DELICIOUS) and requested that my veggies be steamed without butter and no oil. I’m guessing the calories came in around 300 calories.

Vegetarian & Goat Cheese Sandwich
Marinated eggplant, zucchini and Portobello mushroom in balsamic vinaigrette with onion, carrots, sliced avocado, oven roasted tomatoes and field greens. Served on grilled herb bread with fresh pesto sauce and goat cheese 8.95
1227 calories, 17g sat. fat, 2215mg sodium, 19g fiber, 52g protein
Bottom line: If you’re a calorie-conscious vegetarian, order w/o goat cheese and with the pesto on the side (that way you can just dab a tiny bit — pesto alone has around 230 calories per 1/4 cup (per Calorie King)). I’d also switch the bread to a rye, whole-wheat or squaw. I’m waiting to hear back from Claim Jumper, but it’s usually safe to assume pesto is vegan.

Vegetarian Bow Tie Pasta
With spinach tortellini tossed with homemade alfredo sauce 12.50
Nutritional info. unavailable, but alfredo sauce + tortellini = calorie catastrophe.

Lighter portion 9.50

Bottom BOTTOM Line: Get the produce bar and a bowl of vegetable soup (82 calories per cup! and it’s made in veggie broth), or the vegetarian baked potato (w/o cheese for the calorie-conscious or vegans).

If you’re feeling crazy and un-vegan (then you’re probably one of my friends — hi!), you can order a slice of the Chocolate Motherload Cake (see what I meant about maternal attachment issues, CJ?). Coming in at 2723 calories and 55g sat. fat, you’ll be sure to feel a dare-devil’s euphoria even if just for a second. Keep your doctor’s (& therapist’s) numbers handy, though, the physical and mental remorse is sure to kick in at some point. You could always split a slice with your 20 closest friends.

<3,

The Cranky One

p.s. I’ve sent an e-mail to CJ asking if the beans are vegan, if the herb bread is vegan and verifying a couple things (oh and also asking where I can find nutritional info. on the specifically “vegetarian options” like the BBQ salad w/o chicken). I’ll amend to this post when I get it.

p.p.s. Thanks to reader Sam for pointing me to this info.!

Whole Foods

First things first — I was charmed by all of you entering the Whole Foods give-away!  It was a chance for me to take my own non-scientific poll on what healthy foods and items you guys are lovin’ and also a way for me to, sneakily, learn about some new blogs out there! Buahah!  Ok, cross your fingers!  The winner is **drum roll**

Andrea at Andreas Wellness Notes! Yay!  Please e-mail me your address and I’ll send right away!

Fatty Foods

Remember when I revealed here that The Cheesecake Factory had released the nutritional information for its menu items? And we all gotta a little bit pissed, crabby and cranky?  (And check out Elina who wrote about it here, too).

Well…I don’t know if this is old news to you guys, but I’m going to run with it anyway.  The boyf and I went to the beach, he was hungry afterward, and so we headed to Claim Jumper. Even though CJ is one of my fave restaurants, I knew I had yummy food at home to devour, so I opted out of ordering anything.  While the boyf was choosing his meal, I perused a little guide called The Saloon Guide (NOT the menu) that was placed inside a little holder behind the drinks menu.  Lo and behold, the back had the NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION posted!  Claim Jumper has notoriously avoided posting calories. How did I not know this info. had been released?  How did it take serendipity (or doom) for me to find it?  There was no press release distributed (you’ll see why), no big televised announcement (ditto), so what gives?  Well, my friends, it’s even worse than The Cheesecake Factory.

Here are the ones that made my jaw drop and made the water works want to pour out (don’t worry, I didn’t actually cry, but I heard a voice inside my belly scream, “NOOOOoooooOOOOOOooooo”):

• Asian Pear & Glazed Pecan Salad (starter/appetizer size):  841 calories, 12 g sat. fat
• Citrus Chicken Salad (large): 2548 calories, 33 g sat. fat
• Citrus Chicken Salad (small): 1497 calories, 21 g sat. fat
• Cobb Salad (large): 1829 calories, 41 g sat. fat
• Both nacho appetizers and artichoke dip appetizers: All 3 are over 2200 calories each
  
• Appetizer combo: 3525 calories (however, says less on online menu), 58 g sat. fat
  
• Ham & Spinach Quiche: 3348 calories, 108 g sat. fat
• Beef Ribs (entree): Over 4200 calories

Tragic. I mean, obviously, you go to Claim Jumper and know you can’t bank on eating a meal for less than 500 calories.  And, obviously, if you’re health-conscious, you’re not going to order something that’s obviously fatty.  But here’s where obviousness becomes ominous.

Did you really think it’s possible to consume over 2k calories in a salad with chicken breast? I mean you can guess that if you order it without the dressing it will be a couple (even a few) hundred calories less; but that is still one insanely fatty salad!  How do they do it? Seriously – that is a feat of ingenuity.  They must covertly stick slabs of lard in between the lettuce leafs. Look, I get it.  Claim Jumper wants their salads to sell.  They want people to think they taste good.  But no one in her right mind would order this salad when she could get an entire cheeseburger for less calories (unless she was a vegetarian, in which case she might just order the 2k calories nacho platter!).

Another thing — do the stats for the burgers, etc., include the sides?  If you search online, you will not find stats for the fries, however, on the hard copy guide, they were listed as about 800 calories.

Any good options?  Few.  Here are three:

• The Halibut Fish Tacos (Small bites appetizer = 2 little tacos): 358 calories, 1 g sat. fat
• Chinese Chicken Salad (lunch-sized portion): 517 calories, 10 g sat. fat
• Vegetable soup (bowl): 147 calories, 2 g sat. fat

All menu items listed online here.  Pass it on.

If you remember from my post here, my favorite thing to order from CJ is the veggie burger with quite a few alterations.  Without alterations, the veggie burger comes in at over 1k calories (found exact facts on hard copy, but nothing is listed online).

Do you guys feel like we should just expect that unless we’re eating at a specialty restaurant the foods are going to be made with the least amount of health-consciousness in mind?  Is it the restaurant’s responsibility to take health concerns into account? To make the info. public and widely accessible? To offer healthy alternatives?  My boyf repeated what Gary Hirshberg, Founder of Stoneyfield Farm Organic Yogurt, said in the movie Food Inc., and that’s that whenever we purchase something we are voting for it.  I agree.  But I also ask…what if we don’t even know what we’re voting for?

How frequently do you guys eat out? Do you have “restaurant food phobia”? Do you check out calories before you eat at a place?

I hope you have a wonderful Friday!

- The Cranky One

p.s. Go check out the cool new site Healthy Yum where people post photos of their delectable and healthy eats (hey, who can really get enough food porn?!)

They may not have a meal named after me at the restaurants I frequent, but they might as well. More than twice, separate waiters have commented on having seen my personalized food order in the kitchen and thinking that the person ordering must be a bit…er…picky? But, come on, I happen to love Claim Jumper, which is pretty much the LAST restaurant you want to go to as a someone who “watches” what she eats (by the way, where does the phrase “watching” what you eat come from? If I spent more time watching what I ate instead of eating it, I wouldn’t be in this predicament, would I?!). But I have found the perfect meal and I will share it with you here:

The Veggie Burger minus the cheese, no mayo, no butter, and swap the wheat bread for squaw (I don’t think their version of wheat bread is “whole wheat” and squaw bread tends to have more whole wheat flour – plus it’s delicious!). Get fruit on the side instead of fries (or a green salad with light dressing and no croutons). They use Boca patties as their veggie patties, which I know happen to contain 70 calories. Apparently they cook the patty in a tablespoon of olive oil (110 calories and yes, I asked what they cooked it in). Squaw bread is typically 90 calories a slice (or less), total 180 calories for bread, cucumber, onion and lettuce total in at about 65 calories, and 260 for avocado (they put about half an avocado, I’d say), that comes to a grand total of 685 but that is a very generous estimate, and you can see that the majority of the calories come from the avocado which you can either eat less of or eye ball to see how much they gave you. It’s highly probable that they will only give you a quarter of an avocado’s worth on your sandwich and that would cut 130 off the total calories. Just so you know, I eat the whole darn thing! It’s my favorite meal and if I for some odd reason can’t finish it, I take it home and eat it cold later.

By the way, Claim Jumper is one of the few national restaurant chains that have still not posted their nutritional information online. This is why it’s really hard to know what to eat when you go there.

This is what the sandwich looks like:

This is what my boyfriend ate (just so you can see that I can indeed commiserate with you if you tend to have temptation at every reach!):

Alright…I’m getting cranky….

Anybody else have any tips on what to eat when they go to Claim Jumper? (Calorie estimates, too!)