Uno's is Healthy? Does Smoking Cure Cancer Now?

I know the news that Health magazine named Uno's Chicago Grill the healthiest chain restaurant is kind of old, but I just read an article about the article that made me laugh. Some friends and I were thinking about going to Uno's today and one of them mentioned the Health article. I checked out the Uno's menu and Health magazine must have been smoking crack.

They have a couple of okay-sounding salads, as long as you remove the tortilla chips and have the dressing on the side. Almost every dressing is something creamy so you may just want to have a dry salad.

They have a couple of okay-sounding sandwiches, as long as you remove the fatty spreads and at least one of the cheeses* and the bacon.

Other than that it's your standard burgers, ribs and, lest we forget, deep dish Chicago-style pizza. Have you guys eaten Chicago-style pizza? Having lived in Chicago for 3 years I have had my fair share of Chicago-style pizza, every single piece oozing with at least half a pound of cheese. And I think that's probably only a slight exaggeration. Yummy? Yes. Healthy? No way.

"In addition to healthful dining options, the restaurants offer discounts on salads when ordered with entrees because, as the menus state, 'We want you to get some greens in your diet.' Health called that 'a blue-ribbon commitment to health.'"

Seriously? So you can order the huge deep dish pizza or the giant burger and fries, but as long as you throw some lettuce on top of that, the restaurant earns "a blue-ribbon commitment to health." Um, no.

I suppose I have to look at the context: chain restaurants. Not a lot of healthy there, though one of my favorite places is The Cheesecake Factory because of their huge salads. OK, yes, dressing on the side, no tortilla chips or wonton strips, ease up on the cheese. But you still start with a giant pile of lettuce and veggies, which is a good thing.

You just have to know how to order at these places and I think that's the problem. Most people will order whatever sounds good, and, let's face it, deep fried and cheesey fatty mcfat fat always sounds good. I am shocked just talking with friends how things that are so obvious to me (don't order breaded things, always get the dressing on the side or your salad will be swimming) aren't common knowledge. I have made an effort to educate myself because it interests me, but it's too bad that basic nutrition education isn't, well, basic.

I'm not talking about the ever-changing food pyramid, I'm just talking about how NOT to eat as many saturated fats and pounds of sugar as you can cram into your mouth in one day, which seems to be the modus operandi of most people I know. And me when I'm not paying attention.

To sum up, Uno's is not healthy. Go home and bake yourself some chicken.

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My ellipticaling self is back. 40 minutes and 4.03 miles today.


* Is it necessary to have mozzarella AND feta on one sandwich? Really?