montefin's List of Low Carb Friendly, Health Conscious Restaurants

(This online resource is continuously being updated. Please feel free to this page and check back here often.)

For inclusion on this list a restaurant must offer either a huge selection of choices for people to compose satisfying, balanced, low carbohydrate and/or low fat meals, or at least one outstanding low-carb and or low-fat meal that's so huge a value we'd be remiss not to mention it. The perfect example of the latter is Armadillo Willy's Barbecue below.

For exclusion? That's easy: low carb/low fat lip-service, toe-in-the-water selection of low carb 'stuff', or charging a premium price. That last one is the mistake most manufacturers are making. It's like their CEO told management, "Our $#%*#@! customers are leaving us for low carb alternatives? Let's throw a couple of knock-off items at the ungrateful *^%$*&'s and charge them through the nose for the privelege."

Airlines that serve in flight meals will provide you with a diabetic meal if you request it at the time of booking, or put that in your regular flier profile. You'll find the meals tend to be more substantial and more interesting than the regular meals. At least I've so discerned from the avid reactions of my seatmates on many a flight. I don't have the heart to tell them I don't have diabetes.

Hometown Buffet These all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants not only have a well honed and well define low carb selection (they've been doing this for years mostly for their customers with diabetes) their quality is two or three notches above all the other buffet chains I've tried. Also, they offer customers a wallet-sized menu that pretty much details the main items they serve at Lunch and Dinner each day of the week (and Breakfast in place of Lunch on Saturdays and Sundays). There are a plethora of low carb choices. Maskes it easy to plan your week. There are 130 HomeTown Buffets serving up what comes darn close to home cooking at a great price (I had one large low carb meal a day for 4 months at about $7.00 per day losing over 50 lbs. Forgive me if I seem to give them such a strong recommendation. For locations and further information visit http://www.buffet.com/html/information.html

In 'n Out Burger Sit down, take out or drive through, ask for your favorite In 'n Out Burger as a Protein Burger. They will wrap replace the bun in your order with a generous wrapping of lettuce.

Carl's Junior Carl's makes one of the best burger's in the fast food industry under the name of the Six Dollar Burger which sells for $3.99. Ask for the Low Carb Six Dollar Burger and you will get the same burger without the bun, again generously wrapped in lettuce. Has 6 carbohydrate grams count on their low carb nutrition info at www.carlsjr.com. Carl's also offers a Low Carb Breakfast Bowl (5 grams), and a Low Carb Chicken Club Sandwich (no nutrition info on web site).

Northern California only! >>> Armadillo Willy's BBQ Monday from 4:00 PM to closing! All the smokey, succulent ribs you can eat with two sides which can include a garden salad and peanut coleslaw for $11.99 + tax. Works for me! For more informaton visit http://www.armadillowillys.com