Order This

At

a few things should be noted about this place.
A - It's DELICIOUS
B - It's Dangerous (long waits + bread basket + entree + cheesecake = a plethora of calories)
C - It's menu resembles that of a small novel. (As if it wasn't hard enough to try and find something healthy to eat when your list of choices doesn't span 20 some pages.)

So, what's a famished calorie counter to do?
Let me just give you my two cents. Do with it what you will.

1. Avoid the bread bowl if possible. If you can't manage to wait. Limit yourself to one piece and go for the rye bread.

2. Avoid anything with the words "fried, crispy, creamy, cheesy, etc." you get the point.

3. Skip the appetizer and go straight for the main course. One order of six Avocado Egg Rolls has 1123 calories and 65 grams of fat. That rounds out to about 187 calories per roll. WOW!

4. Luckily there ARE options, and good ones too! The Cheesecake Factory has three "weight management" salads that they offer on the menu.

-The Spicy Chicken Salad has 490 calories, 14 grams of fat, 61 grams of carbs, and 33 grams of protein.
-The Pear and Endive Salad has 590 calories 25 grams of fat, 50 grams of carbs, and 23 grams of protein. If you take out the blue cheese on this salad you'll save about 86 calories taking it down to about 500.
-The California Salad has 560 calories, 28 grams of fat, 43 grams carbs, and 38 grams of protein. Again, I'd order it without the blue cheese taking it down to about 490 calories and lowering that fat content as well.

With all of these salads order the dressing on the side, and if they come with a lot of "extras" on top (nuts, cheese, chow mein noodles, guacamole, etc.) ask for those on the side so you can determine how many extra calories you're putting on top. This will save you calories as well.

STAY AWAY...here's some scary entree options you may want to STEER CLEAR of.
-Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta: 1750 calories
-Stuffed Chicken Tortillas: 1797 calories
-Old Fashioned Hamburger 958 calories
-Hawaiian Pizza 1444 calories
-Pasta Da Vinci 1524 calories (and a mere 80 grams of fat!)
-Miso Salman 1983 calories
...just to name a few.

5. Skip dessert, or share with a LOT of people.
many people see the "low carb" cheese cake option and think they are good to go. False.
One slice of low carb cheesecake has 610 calories 57 grams of fat! GOOO! I don't think that his helping any dieter out. You'd actually be better off just ordering a slice of thier normal cheesecake. FYI, one slice of the chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake has 1080 calories and 71 grams of fat! And if you think you're doing better by getting the carrot cake...1560 calories and 84 grams of fat later...you're incorrect.

Just remember to be smart about your options. Cream/Cheese/Butter at a resturaunt mean loads of unwanted calories. Once you find those deliciously healthy options you'll be glad you're not throwing away loads of calories on one meal, and you're consistant healthy eating patterns will show!