Consumerist
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free stuff
Free Pancakes Today At IHOP
Just a quick reminder that today is National Pancake Day and IHOP is giving away a free short stack from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Yum. [IHOP] (Thanks, Jonathan!) -
fast food
Which Restaurants Are Making Your Kids Fat?
Unless your kid is named Hansel, he probably doesn't need to be fattened up like a juicy Christmas goose every time you go out to eat. That's not what some of the biggest restaurants think, though: Chili's has a kids' meal that comes in at 1,020 calories, while Burger King and KFC both offer meals that are over 900 calories. Your healthiest option, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is Subway. Here are what some other restaurants are offering, as well as tips on how to make the best of a bad meal when your kid is eating out. For children between 4 and 8 years of age, the recommended amount of calories per meal, assuming three meals a day, is 430. If the child is active, the amount goes up to 565. Using these numbers as a guide, the CSPI looked at the biggest restaurant chains in the country, then whittled their list down to the ones that offer dedicated kids' menus and provide nutritional info. This meant the following were left out of the study because they won't provide nutritional info:- We don't need no stinkin' nutrition
- Applebee's
- T.G.I. Friday's
- Outback Steakhouse
- Olive Garden
- Red Lobster
- IHOP
Chili's has 700 possible kids' meal combinations, but 658, or 94 percent, of those are too high in calories, including one comprised of country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples, and chocolate milk (1,020 calories) and another comprised of cheese pizza, homestyle fries, and lemonade (1,000 calories). Burger King has a "Big Kids" meal with a double cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milk (910 calories) Sonic has a "Wacky Pack" with 830 calories worth of grilled cheese, fries, and a slushie. KFC has a wide variety of side items, but there are few meal combinations that keep a reasonable ceiling on calories, according to the study. One example of a high-cal combo KFC kid's meal (the chain calls them "Laptop Meals") has popcorn chicken, baked beans, biscuit, Teddy Grahams, and fruit punch, which has 940 calories. (KFC has since dropped Baked Cheetos from its kids' meals, and some outlets vary the number of chicken strips or sides.) Most of the kids'meals (93 percent) at McDonald's and Wendy's are too high in calories, as are the possibilities at Burger King (92 percent), Dairy Queen (89 percent), Arby's (69 percent), and Denny's (60 percent-though its kids' meals don't include drinks). (Since CSPI's study was completed, Burger King has introduced one new children's meal with macaroni and cheese, apple "fries," and 1 percent milk, which has a reasonable 420 calories.) Subway's kids' meals came out on top. Only a third of its Fresh Fit for Kids meals, which include a mini-sub, juice box, and one of several healthful side items (apple slices, raisins, or yogurt), exceed the 430-calorie threshold. Subway is the only chain that doesn't offer soft drinks with kids' meals.
So how do you improve the nutrition of your kid's meal the next time you eat at a restaurant? A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association gave the following advice:"Don't be too alarmed even when [studies] come out and seem hopeless," said Dawn Jackson Blatner, an American Dietetic Ass>ociation spokeswoman. "With a few swaps and switches, people really can make healthier choices at these fast-food joints, especially when the decisions are made before going in. "Many of these restaurants have the nutrition information online that you can print out and go over with your kids even before you go, so that everybody is on the same page before they pull up to the drive-through or [head] to the counter," Blatner said. She also suggested that "instead of getting the fries, go with the apple slices. Many [restaurants] offer carrot sticks or apple slices or no-sugar-added applesauce or oranges, which make a big difference over deep-fried fries." And pay attention to how food is cooked. "Instead of the deep-fried nuggets, go for something like the grilled chicken, and you will save fat grams and calories," Blatner said. You'll also save calories by switching the soda, she added: "You can't go wrong with unsweetened iced tea, water or a skim milk."
As for the restaurants that refuse to provide nutritional info, maybe you should just eat elsewhere. Click here for some specific replacement suggestions from the Chicago Tribune. You can download a copy of the full CSPI report here. (Photo: Getty) -
disgusting breakfast
IHOP Serves You Nasty-Tasting Blueberry Pancakes
Reader Loren decided to get her midnight breakfast on with some pancakes at IHOP, but when she got home something tasted a bit off. She looked down and to her disgust, discovered what she thought to be a large area of mold engulfing the blueberries on the pancakes. Her letter and the not-safe-for-breakfast pictures, inside... More » -
rude
IHOP Threatens To Call The Police Because You Refuse To Show ID With Credit Card
Reader Jered says that IHOP refused to accept his credit card without seeing ID and threatened to call the police and report him for dine-and-dashing if he didn't show it to them. Here's his story:
More »
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unacceptable food
IHOP Agrees That Workers Shouldn't Scrub Ceiling Tiles Directly Over Your Food
We get fewer gross food stories than you might imagine here at Consumerist, and this one made us cringe. Reader Richard saw a maintenance person scrubbing down some ceiling tiles while standing on a food prep counter... that was in use. Yeah. Ew. More » -
free stuff
National Pancake Day! Free Pancakes Today Only At IHOP
Hey there hungry, broke people: A free short stack of pancakes can be yours today from 7am to 10pm at IHOP.
They're suggesting you to donate what you would have paid for the pancakes to the Children's Miracle Network, and are hoping to raise $750,000. More »
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food
IHOP To Abandon Trans-Fats By Year End
IHOP has announced that they will be going trans-fat free by the end of the year. The chain said they've found a replacement oil that tastes the same as the old heart-killing trans-fat oil. More » -
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mergers and acquisitions
IHOP Buys Applebee's for $2.2 Billion
The International House of Pancakes has purchased chain restaurant leader Applebee's for $2.2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. So, what did they get for their money? And does this mean Applebee's is going to start having sticky tables? More » -
ihop
IHOP Diners Sprayed With Syrup, Tear Gas
We clicked on the "Dozens Fall Ill at IHOP in Arkansas" story almost as a lark. I mean, no kidding, right? The real story at 11 might be "Dozens eat at IHOP, leave with stomachs full, throbbing with robust vigor." More » -
starbucks
Starbucks Soon To Equal Coffee?
Over at Branding Post, we saw this quote about a grim dystopian future in which the word coffee no longer exists: when you pendulously breasted IHOP waitress emerges in a puff of brown cigarette smoke from the kitchens to demand your order, you won't ask for a cup of coffee. You'll ask for a Starbucks. More » -
complaints
Bite-Size Kvetches & Kudos
We received several complaints and consumer stories in the past few days that, while heartfelt, weren't epic. Ergo, we put them all together into one package and post them after the jump. More » -
food photography
IHOP Menu's Money-Shot Maker
A peek through the keyhole into the dark, cloak-and-dagger, roller-disco world of food photography. More » -
aaron brown
Eating 'Unpaid' Pancakes Ends in Fatal IHOP Shooting
Don't dine and dash at IHOP unless you want the cops to drill a bullet through your skull in the parking lot, your blood splattering on the plaid flannel shirts of your drunk and high teenage friends and the interior of your SUV in suburban Virginia. More »
Get your torches and pitchforks ready, the next meeting of - 1
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