Health Magazine's Healthiest Restaurants

Americans go to chain restaurants, not healthy ones. There are salad bars, and pricey little gourmet restaurants, and even a wannabe chain like Rochester's Tasteology, which is trying to figure out a way to serve tasty 500-calorie meals.

But when most Americans dine out they wind up choosing heart-attack-on-a-plate glop like Chili’s Crispy Honey Chipotle Crispers, which manages to load 1,890 calories on you before adding dressing, or O’Charley’s Onion Rings with Cajun Horseradish Sauce, whose 139 grams of fat is two full days of normal fats in one side dish.

Health Magazine surveyed 43 sit-down and 53 take-out chains to find which had the healthiest dishes alongside the glop.

The winners have plenty of dishes with calories galore. Apparently, they have better choices that you can decide to concentrate on the next time you're out. And many of the best aren't heavy on the dairy products, making them good choices for the lactose-intolerant community.

Here's a very brief summary.

Noodles & Company
noodles.com

We love: The Trio—soup, noodles, or salad paired with your favorite protein, plus a side salad or a cup of soup.

Chipotle Mexican Grill
chipotle.com

We love: Anything with the chipotle-adobo-marinated grilled steak.

Cosi
getcosi.com

We love: The delicious, healthy fruit smoothies in a green tea base.

Panera
panerabread.com

We love: “You Pick Two” combos. You can get half a sandwich paired with a vegetarian soup

Au Bon Pain
aubonpain.com

We love: The restaurant’s recent move to using preservative-free chicken, for better flavor and less sodium.