I have heard many stories about how people recovered five to ten kilograms after moving to the USA.
This prospect did not please me at all. Before moving to Los Angeles, I didn’t understand what I was going to eat there. Already in the States, she was wary of local establishments. But it turned out that there are normal restaurants in the USA, including healthy food.
Tender Greens
Tender Greens restaurants were my favorite place to have lunch in the USA. Even my friend, who was zealous about nutrition and preferred homemade food, had a snack there.
The main dish in Tender Greens is assembled according to the principle of the designer: choose meat or fish, salad, for example arugula or spinach, and for garnish — rice, mashed potatoes or vegetables. A piece of toasted bread is served with all sets. The result is a healthy lunch for $ 15.
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There are also sandwiches, bowls, salads. I advise you to try tomato soup: it has a pleasant rich taste that goes well with dishes from the main menu. A small portion costs $ 5 , a large one costs $ 9 . Tender Greens is a healthy food cafe, but you can take beer or wine in it, by glasses or a whole bottle. I don’t know who it’s designed for, I didn’t take alcohol there.
Inside, the restaurants look simple — minimalistic design with an emphasis on natural materials. At some points there are large tables for companies and small ones for one. The audience is very different: office workers at lunch, tourists, couples on a date. Tender Greens, which I went to most often, was located above the fitness club, so there were a lot of people in sportswear.
A similar Sweetgreen chain operates on the East Coast of the USA with a similar concept of a healthy lunch-constructor.
Pret A Manger
Pret A Manger in French means “ready to eat”. Previously, the chain specialized in sandwiches, but now the menu also has healthy salad bowls, soups and sliced fruits – all in convenient takeaway cups. You can take with you a traditional American dish mac and cheese — macaroni and cheese.
Here it is convenient to buy food for a snack on the go or a picnic in the park. During a trip to Chicago, I ate a chicken and bacon sandwich in front of the mirrored sculpture of Cloud Gate, or Beans, in Millennium Park. For the first time I tried this sandwich in 2008 in London and for the next ten years I remembered the unusual crispy bacon, which was added in the form of crumbs. However, it was not possible to repeat the experiment: bacon was put in a Chicago sandwich just with a strip, and it turned out to be not so crispy. But it was still delicious.
The interior of the restaurants resembles a Starbucks: the establishments have dim lights, dark colors and a lot of wood. Tables are not available at all points: still, they mostly take takeaway food there. But there are large open refrigerators everywhere, like in a supermarket, from where you can take food and drinks yourself.
The prices in the restaurant chain are quite high: about $ 5 for a sandwich, $8 for soup. I think this cost is due to the fact that most of the Pret A Manger outlets are located in Manhattan.
Olive Garden
Olive Garden is more of an attraction “to see how Americans eat” than an institution where you can have a delicious dinner. This is a huge chain of family restaurants where locals celebrate birthdays, meet with relatives and friends.
The menu is Italian in the American manner: the traditional portions are larger, the dishes are fatter and sweeter than in Italy and Italian restaurants in Russia. For example, they serve deep-fried lasagna and a giant portion of Italian dumplings with cheese in Alfredo sauce made of cream, butter and parmesan for 2000 calories. They also bring breadsticks with garlic for free. Most prices are in the range of 10-20 $.
On my first visit, I decided to try a classic dish for the place — chicken parm, chicken fillet with parmesan cheese for $ 20 . . It is served with spaghetti and marinara sauce. The dish was not impressed — ordinary chicken. But the portion was so large that I took some of it with me and ate it for two more days. The waiter brought the container to the table, and I myself shifted the food from the plate.
There are always a lot of people in Olive Garden restaurants, so they try to optimize everything they can. For example, I did not order from a waiter, but on a tablet. While waiting for food, you play mini-games. The interior is stylized as an Italian house: inside there are heavy wooden chairs, plants in painted pots, and photographs of Italian landscapes hang on the walls.
The Cheesecake Factory
Another restaurant attraction. Fans of the TV series “The Big Bang Theory” should look here: these are the very “Cheesecakes of Aunt Glasha”, where, in the translation of the voice-over studio “Courage-Bambey”, Penny worked.
The menu is American: a little bit from all the cuisines of the world, only fatter and less spicy than in the original. They cook Italian pasta and pizza, deep—fried Korean cauliflower, Chinese wontons — a kind of dumplings – with crab, Mexican quesadilla.
Some dishes contain more than 2500 calories, and on average, according to my feelings, about 1000 calories. It seems to me that this is a lot: the UK National Health Service recommends that women consume 2,000 calories a day. There is a separate Skinny Licious menu with dishes up to 600 calories.
But I advise you not to limit yourself and try American cuisine in its entirety: order a huge salad, a mountain of fried snacks and a signature cheesecake. Such a feast will cost about $ 92 . For this money, you can take a large Caesar salad for $ 20, a set of egg rolls – fried tortillas with vegetables — for $ 16, nachos for $ 15.5, spicy wings for $ 16 and a classic cheesecake with strawberries for $ 10. Salad and snacks are better to take on the company. I also ordered a Margarita cocktail for about $10. Everything was delicious, but I can’t say that I miss this place.
The interior of restaurants has always seemed strange to me. There are a lot of oriental motifs: paintings on columns, arches in Arabic style and golden-burgundy tones. Although there is no emphasis on oriental cuisine in the menu.
The Cheesecake Factory restaurants are popular in the USA: every time I had to wait 20-30 minutes for a table. On my last visit, the waitress herself brought the bill with the words: “Whenever you’re ready” — “When you’re ready, pay off.” In the local language it means: “We have a queue. If you’re done, leave.”
Eataly
Establishments of this chain are usually located in shopping centers, so a hike can be combined with shopping.
Eataly is a food center consisting of restaurants, bars, cafes and a market under one roof. Inside there are serious establishments where you need to book a table in advance, and more democratic pizzerias, and ice cream parlors. Real Italian products are used and sold everywhere: cheeses, sausages, prosciutto, pasta and sauces.
Everything is incredibly delicious. Eataly position themselves as a piece of Italy away from Italy — this is not only marketing, but also the pure truth. The pizzas and pastas I tried were no worse than in Milan. I ate pizza “Caprichosa” with artichoke for $21 at La Pizza restaurant & La Pasta and spaghetti with dried tomatoes for $19 at Terra restaurant. Gelato is also fine, there was always a queue behind it, although the price is high — 10-12 $ per serving.
Chipotle
I didn’t get to Chipotle, but I know people who think that they cook the best food there — not among fast food, but in principle. Mexican dishes are served here: burritos, quesadillas, tacos. There are also salads and burritos in an expanded form.
Dishes are collected at the customer, as in “Subway”. You need to choose a base — chicken, beef or vegetarian meat — the price depends on it. Meat options cost about $ 11 , vegetarian options cost about $ 9 . Additionally, you can add rice, beans, sauces and cheese for free, guacamole is paid $ 2.5 extra. The result is a juicy and satisfying dish. It is impossible to eat it carefully.
Chipotle restaurants pay great attention to the quality of food: they do not use frozen ingredients and buy products from local farmers. Therefore, many consider their fast food less harmful than in McDonald’s and other burger joints.
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A is the second largest fast food chain in the United States by revenue after McDonald’s. In 2022, Americans spent almost $17 trillion in Chick-fil-A, and 46 trillion in McDonald’s.
The customer satisfaction index shows that this is the most beloved fast food chain of Americans for seven years in a row. I cannot confirm or refute this opinion: I didn’t eat there. When I lived in America, it seemed to me that this was some kind of imitation of the CFS. I found out about the cult status of the network later.
If you, like me, did not immediately understand: Chick-fil-A is chicken filet, chicken fillet. Chicken dishes are served here, mostly breast sandwiches. There are also potatoes, salads, macaroni and cheese, and breakfasts on the menu. The prices are standard: from $ 4 for a burger, from $ 7 for a combo of burger, potatoes and cola.
The interior of the restaurants is not particularly remarkable: you will not want to sit here for a long time, but it is convenient to have a quick snack. A big plus is cleanliness. In a Technomics survey, Americans named Chick-fil-A the cleanest fast food chain in the States.
In-N-Out
In-N-Out is a chain of traditional American burgers. Most of the outlets operate on the West Coast — in California and Arizona. There are restaurants in Texas, Nevada, Utah, and Oregon.
Conversations about this network began to reach me after a year of living in Los Angeles. I heard that legendary burgers are being prepared there, supposedly the best and only of their kind. According to rumors, In-N-Out even specially opened a restaurant near Los Angeles International Airport, because the first thing arriving wanted to taste this magical fast food. And according to Wikipedia, chefs Gordon Ramsay and Julia Child are among the fans of the network.
There are only three types of burgers on the menu: hamburger, cheeseburger and double-double — with two cutlets and two plates of cheese. There are also potatoes, soda and milkshakes. The restaurant deliberately restricts the menu in order to focus on the quality of the food. Also, thanks to a small assortment, it turns out to serve customers quickly.
When I came to In-N-Out, there were about seven people in front of me in line for burgers, although it was a normal Thursday evening. But I received the order in ten minutes. I took a cheeseburger combo with potatoes and a drink. I paid about $ 5 . The food was delicious, but not impressed: a good but fairly standard burger. Judging by the reviews on Tripadvisor, there are a lot of people like me.
I still advise you to look into In-N-Out if possible: at least to feel the atmosphere of an American eatery where potatoes are served in small red mesh baskets. The interior here is more stylish than in other fast foods: in red and white, there is usually a neon sign above the cash register, and on the walls there are drawings depicting the In-N—Out itself.
Ihop
Ihop stands for International House of Pancakes — the International House of pancakes. The restaurant specializes in food that is associated with breakfast in the USA: pancakes, waffles, French toast and scrambled eggs with bacon. Many points work around the clock, the rest — at least from 07:00 to 22:00.
A stack of three pancakes costs $ 6.3, out of five — $ 9.9 .. A Belgian waffle will cost $ 9.3, six slices of French toast — $ 10.3, and scrambled eggs with bacon and toast — $ 11.
In addition to the traditional breakfast food, burgers, snacks and salads are served here. Prices for burgers start from $ 11.6, for snacks and salads — from $ 8.3. There are gluten-free items and menus for children. From 16:00 to 22:00, one dish from it can be obtained for free when ordering from the main menu. After 15:00 there is a special menu with dishes from $ 6.
You can try a little bit of everything in a set: for $ 13 they will bring scrambled eggs from two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages, two slices of ham, two pancakes and hashbrown — something like a dranik. Breakfast is washed down with unlimited coffee — the additive is poured as much as you like, as in the movies.
For my taste, restaurants are uncomfortable. From the outside it’s just a concrete box, and inside it’s a cross between a dining room and a conference room with office sofas and strange lighting. That’s why I haven’t eaten here.
Jamba
It’s great to go to Jamba restaurants when it’s hot outside and you want something refreshing and low-fat. They prepare smoothies and smoothie bowls, freshly squeezed juices, and sell pastries. In California, Jamba points are at every turn. There are also a lot of them in Arizona, Texas, Washington and Hawaii.
Not all drinks and smoothies are useful here: some are made with fresh vegetables and fruits at the customer, and ready-made juice mixes are added to others. On the website healthline.com it is advised to pay attention to such positions: Greens ‘n Ginger — with cale and ginger, Smooth Talkin’ Mango — with oat milk and mango, Pb + Banana Protein — with peanut butter and protein, Purely Carrot — carrot juice without additives. All drinks cost about $7 for 650 milliliters. Bowls will cost $ 10 . I liked the option with strawberries, acai berries, blueberries, banana and granola.
This place is unlikely to impress with a special gastronomic experience, but it is perfect for a quick snack. The shops themselves used to be unremarkable — a counter and a couple of tables. But in the middle of 2019, the company rebranded, and now, judging by the photos, the dots are decorated brightly, with images of fresh fruit.
Wendy’s
Wendy’s is the second largest burger chain in the United States by revenue after McDonald’s. The menu is standard: burgers are served for $ 2-10, fries for $ 3-4 and milkshakes for $2-3. You can take a combo of a burger, potatoes and a drink for $ 10..
The peculiarity of Wendy’s is that only fresh meat is used here, not frozen. At least, that’s what they say in advertising.
It is also the only fast food chain where you can order baked potatoes. The option with sour cream will cost $ 3, with bacon or cheese — $ 4 . This is a healthier alternative to French fries: baked potatoes with sour cream have only 5 grams of fat, whereas the smallest portion of French fries has 8 grams.
Many people love the local frosty — a frozen dessert drink made of milk and sugar. An average serving of 450 grams costs $2.8. This dessert has not left the menu since the company was founded in 1969.