Love/Hate Relationship: O'Charley's

Scenario:  My friend and I decided to run to a shoe store during lunch last week.  Unfortunately, it had been so long since either of us had been to the store that we didn't know that it had closed.  Two years ago.  Oh well...

I had a bright idea.  "Let's go to O'Charley's for lunch!"  It was close by and I hadn't been there in a while.  She agreed and I drove on over.  We entered, were seated and were given menus.  We both pulled out our phones and started checking calorie counts.  **Crickets**  

Their lunch menu, with items starting at $6.49, lets you choose an entree and a pairing (calories):

• Entrees include: 1/2 BLT (410), Cheese & Bacon Quesadilla (710), 1/2 Club Sandwich (480), Chicken Tacos (620), Chicken Fajita Sandwich (740) and Cajun Chicken Pasta (840).
• Pairing include: Soup of the Day, Overloaded Potato Soup (170 cup), House Salad w/o Dressing (130), Caesar Salad (280) and a Loaded Baked Potato (590)

Oh-kay... moving on to the more expensive options.

• Good Time Nachos (Not a real option, but they looked good!) - 1030 cal
• Bayou Tilapia - 880 cal (w/o the sauce and 1/2 the serving of the rice pilaf - 435 cal)
• Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken - 680 cal
• Cedar Planked Salmon - 530 cal
• Cedar Planked Tilapia - 280 cal
• Grilled Turkey Burger - 890 cal
• Sweet Potato Fries - 470 cal
• Yeast Roll - 130 cal

Le sigh.  The pickings were indeed slim.  Let's just say that our waitress had to come back to our table three times before we ordered.  I finally settled on the Bayou Tilapia with the sauce on the side (435) with rice pilaf (190) and a house salad (130) with Balsamic dressing.  Removing the sauce from the fish basically made it a nice blackened tilapia.  We couldn't resist the rolls, so we decided to split one.  But, hold on for a moment.  I ordered the Balsamic dressing because they didn't have Italian and I though it would be better than Ranch.  I was shocked that it had 240 calories!  Oil based salad dressings were supposed to be better than cream based, right?!?  Apparently not in every case, so I was glad I got that on the side as well.  I ended up dipping the fork in the dressing in order to eat the salad.  How they came up with 130 calories for a bowl of lettuce with ONE cucumber slice and an actual PINCH of shredded cheese is beyond me, but whatever.  I guess it was all of the croutons (which I removed).  The Bayou Tilapia "sauce" was really an oily Creole sauce that looked like a gravy of some kind with red and green peppers in it.  I was so glad that I asked that it be put on the side.  The seasoned fish was perfect all by itself.  The meal came with about two servings of rice pilaf so I left half of it uneaten.  Restaurant portions are so large that you have to be mindful of just how much you are eating or their nutritional info goes right out of the window.  All in all, it was a good lunch and a good day!  

You can find more of O'Charley's nutritional information here.  They have a few decent options, but not as many as I expected.  When you consider how restaurants are beginning to cater to those who want healthier options, O'Charley's seems to be a little behind the curve.

 Bayou Tilapia (Photo courtesy of O'Charley's)