The Ultimate Chain Restaurant Nutrition Guide: Who Is Hiding Information About The Food, And Who Isn't.

Image courtesy of What does IHOP have to hide that Denny's doesn't? And what's so mysterious about Krispy Kreme? Why is their info so difficult to find, while competitor Dunkin' Donuts has extensive, easy to locate information on their website? These are the questions we found ourselves asking after evaluating 51 chain restaurants websites and their nutritional information pages. Or lack of them.


What does IHOP have to hide that Denny’s doesn’t? And what’s so mysterious about Krispy Kreme? Why is their info so difficult to find, while competitor Dunkin’ Donuts has extensive, easy to locate information on their website? These are the questions we found ourselves asking after evaluating 51 chain restaurants websites and their nutritional information pages. Or lack of them.

We rated the restaurants on the availability/completeness of information, how easy it was to locate and retrieve the information, and whether or not there was additional information such as allergy info.

The best sites had it all. We saw nutrition calculators, tips for healthy eating, gluten info, allergy info, and special information for diabetics. The worst sites had nothing at all. We were surprised to find that it wasn’t simply small restaurant chains that were failing to provide nutritional information. There were several major restaurants that completely failed to provide even basic information about their food.

IHOP, California Pizza Kitchen, Olive Garden, Bennigan’s and TGIF were among the biggest names that failed to provide any nutritional information. Applebee’s made excuses in their FAQ about “distributors,” but similar restaurants like Chili’s seem to have no problem providing information for their entire menu. Red Lobster provided allergy info and nothing more. Quiznos provided nutritional information on only two of its menu items, while competitor Subway had some of the most extensive information around. What are these restaurants hiding?

We challenge the restaurants who received ratings of “Nonexistent” or “Poor” to address the way in which they provide nutritional information to their customers. Because if a restaurant is hiding something in their website, goodness knows what’s in the food. —MEGHANN MARCO

Restaurant Nutritional Information Provided For All Items? Nutritional Info Easy To Locate? Allergen Info? Rating? Is there a nutrition page?
Applebee’s No No No Nonexistent No, Just some Weight Watchers stuff
Arby’s Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
A&W Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Baskin Robin’s Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Bennigan’s No No No Nonexistent No
Boudin’s No No No Nonexistent No
Burger King Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
California Pizza Kitchen No No No Nonexistent No
Chipotle Yes No No Poor PDF only
Chili’s Yes No Yes Average PDF only
Chic-Fil-A Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Dairy Queen Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Denny’s Yes Yes Yes Average PDF only
Domino’s Pizza Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
Dunkin’ Donuts Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Fat Burger No No No Nonexistent No
Friendly’s No No No Nonexistent No
Fudrucker’s No No No Nonexistent No
Hardee’s Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
Hooter’s No No No Nonexistent No
In-N-Out Burger Yes No No Average Yes
International House of Pancakes No No No Nonexistent No
Jack In The Box Yes No Yes Average–the Nutrition & Allergy info is hidden away on the “Our Food” page. No
Jamba Juice Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
KFC Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Krispy Kreme Yes No No Poor PDF only
Little Caesar’s Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
Lone Star S
teak House
Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
Long John Silver’s Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
McDonald’s Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Olive Garden No No No Nonexistent No
Outback Steak House No Yes Yes Poor-No specific information on menu items, but plenty of suggestions on eating. healthier Yes
Papa John’s Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Panda Express Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Perkin’s No No No Nonexistent No
Pizza Hut Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
Quiznos No No No Poor–only two items listed on “nutrition” page. Yes
Red Lobster No No Yes Poor–no nutrition page, only brief allergy page. No
Red Robin No No No Nonexistent No
Ruby Tuesday’s Yes No No Poor–hard to find. pdfs suck PDF only
Sbarro Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
Sonic Yes No No Poor–nutrition guide is extensive, but it’s only available by 9-page pdf PDF only
Starbucks Yes Yes No Above average (they have no allergy info, but give a customer care phone number) Yes
Steak ‘N Shake Yes Yes No Above Average Yes
Subway Yes Yes Yes Excellent–extensive info, as one would expect. Yes
TGIF No No No Nonexistent No
Taco Bell Yes No Yes Above Average– the nutrition calculator is great, but not super-easy to find. Yes
Taco John’s No Yes (though it’s “under construction”) No Poor–they tease you with a Nutrition link on the home page, but then it’s “under construction” and they give you phone number. No
Uno’s Chicago Grill Yes Yes Yes Excellent–nice presentation Yes
Wendy’s Yes Yes Yes Excellent Yes
White Castle Yes Yes No Above Average Yes

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