Rate Your Restaurant Diet.

How healthy is your diet? You can't answer that question just by checking your shopping list for low-fat milk and whole-wheat bread.

If you're a typical American, you eat a third of your calories away from home--at restaurants, snack bars, cafeterias, shopping malls, movie theaters, and else. where. The meals or snacks that used to be an occasional splurge have now become part of our daily diets. And that means trouble.

It's tough to know--much less control--what others cook for us. "Rate Your Restaurant Diet" can help you navigate uncharted menus without a personal nutritionist at your side. Don't think of it as a test, but as a "cheat sheet" that can help you remember that shrimp with garlic sauce is better than kung pao chicken or that a roast beef sandwich is better than grilled cheese.

Who knows what you get when you eat out? At home, you may use only lower-fat cheese, ham, mayonnaise, and tub margarine, but your usual sandwich shop may not bother. At home, you may saute your vegetables, potatoes, or fish in olive or canola oil, but your favorite restaurant may use a slab of hydrogenated shortening. At home, you can check the label on a frozen lasagna, but the lasagna served by your local Italian trattoria comes with none.

"Rate Your Restaurant Diet" can help you size up what you eat away from home. Our scoring system subtracts points for saturated and trans fat, sugar, and excess calories. And it adds points for vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. That's not perfect, but neither is any attempt to measure what people get from restaurant food. Here are a few pitfalls to watch out for:

* Don't expect precision. Our scores aren't precise because they don't take into account how often you eat individual foods. Also, they rank the choices within a given question, not across questions. For example, you can't assume that the -3 score for a BLT is equivalent to the -3 you get for ordering a slice of cheese on your sandwich or chocolate coating on your ice cream.

What's more, even a +5 item may have flaws compared to what you cook at home For example, chicken fajitas and shrimp with garlic sauce may trounce other meals at Mexican or Chinese restaurants, but they're still loaded with salt.

* Your restaurant may not be typical. The scores are based on analyses of restaurant foods and information from restaurant chains. That can tell you what's in a typical dish. But let's say your local restaurant douses its vegetable or chicken fajitas with butter. Or maybe it uses only a smattering of the leanest meat in its moo shu pork. If you're sure that your restaurant has healthier dishes--or if you insist on them--simply give yourself another point or two.

* You may have no favorites. Most of these questions ask what you typically order at a given restaurant. If you usually choose among two (or three or more) dishes, pick a score somewhere in the middle for that question.

* You may not eat out much. What if a question asks about appetizers, desserts, or Greek or some other food that you never eat? Just give yourself a +5 for that question. (Why should you be penalized for never eating at McDonald's, for example?)

BREAKFAST

1. Which are you most likely to get on your bagel or English muffin?

a) nothing or hummus      +5
b) jam or jelly           +2
c) light cream cheese     -1
d) margarine              -1
e) butter                 -2
f) regular cream cheese   -3

Tip: Restaurants typically use a tablespoon of margarine or butter and four tablespoons of cream cheese. If you use half as much, add 1 point.

2. Which breakfast pastry do you order most often?

a) low-fat muffin              +1
b) regular muffin               0
c) doughnut                    -1
d) cake doughnut               -2
e) chocolate-coated doughnut   -3
f) croissant or scone          -4
g) pecan roll or Danish        -5

Tip: Cake doughnuts are more dense--and fatty--than yeast doughnuts. If the menu doesn't say you're getting a cake doughnut, assume it's made with yeast.

3. Which is closest to the breakfast you typically order? (Subtract 1 point if you add ham, 2 points if you add bacon or hash browns, and 3 points if you add sausage to your meal. Add 2 points if you order egg whites, egg substitute, or whole-grain cereal or toast, or if you ask for no margarine on your pancakes or French toast.)

a) hot or cold cereal         +3
b) eggs and toast             -1
c) pancakes or French toast   -3
d) Belgian waffle             -5
e) ham-and-cheese omelette    -5

Tip: A serving of pancakes, French toast, or waffles has about 900 calories--including 250 from the quarter-cup of syrup and 100 from the margarine or butter.

4. Which beverage are you most likely to order at Starbucks? (Add 3 points if you get it with skim milk. Add 1 point if you order a tall cappuccino, caffe latte, or caffe mocha instead of a grande or venti size.)

a) coffee, regular       0
b) coffee frappuccino   -1
c) cappuccino           -2
d) caffe latte          -3
e) caffe mocha          -4

Tip: The venti coffee frappuccino is low in fat, but--thanks to the sugar--it has 360 calories. Milk fat supplies most of the calories in the cappuccino (200), caffe latte (350), and caffe mocha (510). Those numbers are for a venti (20-ounce) size, but a grande (16 ounces) isn't much better.

LUNCH

5. Which sandwich do you most often order? (Subtract 2 points if you order overstuffed or large sandwiches.)

a) turkey             +4
b) roast beef         +3
c) chicken salad      +1
d) tuna salad          0
e) corned beef        -1
f) ham or egg salad   -2
g) BLT                -3
h) grilled cheese     -4

Tip: The tuna salad sandwich has about 700 calories, thanks to its quarter, cup of mayo. The chicken salad sandwich has about 550 calories.

6. What do you usually order on your sandwiches? (Add 2 points if you get them on whole-wheat bread. If you get more than one condiment, pick a number in the middle.)

a) lettuce, tomato, or onion   +3
b) mustard                      0
c) mayonnaise                  -1
d) cheese                      -3

Tip: Get your sandwich with mustard instead of mayonnaise and save 100 calories. Skip the cheese and save another 100.

7. What do you get to go with your sandwich?

a) fruit or garden salad   +5
b) cole slaw               +1
c) potato salad             0
d) potato chips            -1
e) french fries            -3

Tip: Fries are worse than chips because fries are usually cooked in hydrogenated oils and served in bigger portions.

8. Which are you most likely to order at McDonald's? (Subtract 1 point if you get 9 McNuggets, not 6.)

a) Chicken McGrill               +4
b) Hamburger                     +2
c) Chicken McNuggets (6)         -1
d) Quarter Pounder               -2
e) Big Mac                       -3
f) Quarter Pounder with Cheese   -3

Tip: To cut calories, ask for no mayo on your Chicken McGrill sandwich, and add your own from a packet of light mayo you can ask for at the counter.

9. What do you get with--or instead of--a burger, order of nuggets, etc., at McDonald's?

a) Salad Shaker              +5
b) Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait   +4
c) Baked Apple Pie           -2
d) French Fries (large)      -3
e) Shake (medium)            -4
f) Shake (large)             -5
g) McFlurry (16 oz.)         -6

Tip: A large fries has 540 calories, about as many as a Quarter Pounder with Cheese (530) and almost as many as a Big Mac (590). Subtract 1 point if you super-size your fries. A McFlurry or large shake has at least 1,000 calories.

10. Which kind of pizza comes closest to what you usually order? (Subtract 2 points for each slice you eat over two.)

a) cheeseless with grilled
   vegetables, chicken, or shrimp   +5
b) half the cheese                  +1
c) cheese                           -2
d) pepperoni                        -3
e) beef or sausage                  -4

Tip: Each slice of a large cheese pizza has about a third of a day's saturated fat. If the crust is stuffed with cheese, you'll get more. And few people stop at one slice.

SNACKS

11. Which are you most likely to snack on at the mall? If your snack (ice cream, for example) is included in another question (like #2, 4, or 13), use that score for this question (and for that one).

a) fruit shake                       +3
b) soft pretzel, no butter
   or cheese                         +1
c) soft pretzel with butter
   or cheese                         -1
d) Mrs. Fields or other gourmet
   cookie                            -3
e) Cinnabon or similar roll          -4
f) Mrs. Fields Double
   Fudge Brownie                     -4

Tip: A Cinnabon has 670 calories. A single gourmet cookie or plain pretzel has about 300 to 350.

12. Which snack do you typically get at a movie theater? (Subtract 2 points if you add butter to your popcorn and another 2 point's if you eat more than the half-portions listed below.)

a) nothing                        +5
b) Twizzlers                      -1
c) Junior Mints (1/2 box)         -2
d) Raisinets or Milk Duds (1/2)   -2
e) Whoppers (1/2)                 -2
f) M&M's (1/2)                    -3
g) Reese's Pieces (1/2)           -4
h) small popcorn                  -4
i) medium popcorn (1/2)           -5
j) large popcorn (1/2)            -6

Tip: A small popcorn without butter has 400 calories, If (as usual) it's been popped in coconut oil, it also has a day's worth of saturated fat. An entire large popcorn without butter has about 1,150 calories. With butter, it has about 1,650 calories and more than three days' saturated fat.

13. Which is closest to what you typically order at an ice cream shop? (Subtract 1 point if you get two scoops or a medium cone, cup, or shake. Subtract 2 points if you get a large, if you get a "kiddie" size, add 1 point.)

a) low-fat frozen yogurt      +3
b) low-fat ice cream          +3
c) sorbet, sherbet, or ices   +2
d) regular ice cream          -2
e) gourmet ice cream          -3
f) hot fudge sundae           -5
g) milk shake                 -5

Tip: Ask for low-fat or fat-flee ice cream in your milk shake. A Baskin-Robbins Chocolate Shake has 660 calories.

14. What do you typically get on your ice cream?

a) nothing                    +5
b) fruit                      +4
c) nuts                       +2
d) chocolate chips or candy   -1
e) crumbled cookies           -1
f) syrup or sprinkles         -1
g) hot fudge                  -2
h) chocolate dip or coating   -3

Tip: The unsaturated fat in nuts is okay for your heart, but it does add calories. Chocolate coatings are brimming with saturated palm kernel or coconut oil.

DINNER

15. Which is closest to what you typically order as an appetizer? (Subtract 3 points if you eat more than the half-portions listed below.)

a) salad                          +5
b) unbuttered bread               +2
c) garlic bread                   -1
d) Buffalo wings                  -2
e) fried calamari (1/2 portion)   -2
f) cheese nachos (1/2)            -3
g) fried mozzarella sticks (1/2)  -3
h) deep-fried onion (1/2)         -5
i) stuffed potato skins (1/2)     -5
j) cheese fries (1/2)             -7

Tip: An entire order of a fried appetizer will run you 700 to 2,400 calories. And that's without the dipping sauces or dressings.

16. Which is closest to what you typically order at a Chinese restaurant?

a) Hunan tofu                 +5
b) shrimp with garlic sauce   +5
c) stir-fried vegetables      +5
d) Szechuan shrimp            +5
e) chicken chow mein          +3
f) beef with broccoli         +2
g) moo shu pork                0
h) house lo mein              -1
i) house fried rice           -3
j) kung pao chicken           -3
k) General Tso's chicken      -4
l) orange or crispy beef      -4
m) sweet and sour pork        -4

Tip: An order of any of the dishes with a -4 has about 1,600 calories. Share it with someone who gets stir-fried vegetables (750 calories).

17. Which is closest to what you typically order at an Italian restaurant?

a) linguine with red clam sauce     +5
b) spaghetti with marinara
   sauce                            +5
c) linguine with white clam sauce   +4
d) spaghetti with meat sauce        +2
e) cheese ravioli                   -1
f) spaghetti and meatballs          -1
g) spaghetti and sausage            -1
h) cheese manicotti                 -4
i) veal or eggplant Parmigiana      -4
j) lasagna                          -5
k) fettuccine Alfredo               -8

Tip: Most spaghetti, lasagna, and Parmigiana dishes run about 1,000 calories. Alfredo has 1,500.

18. Which is closest to what you typically order at a Mexican restaurant? (Subtract 1 point each if you eat the refried beans and sour cream that are served on the side.)

a) chicken, vegetable, or shrimp
   fajitas                               +5
b) 2 chicken tacos (crispy or soft)      +2
c) 1 chicken burrito                     +1
d) 2 beef or chicken enchiladas          -1
e) 1 beef burrito                        -3
f) beef chimichanga                      -5
g) taco salad or 2 chile rellenos        -6

Tip: The rice, refried beans, sour cream, and guacamole that come with most entrees supply roughly 800 calories and three-quarters of a day's saturated fat and sodium.

19. Which is closest to what you order at a seafood restaurant?

a) grilled fish or shellfish   +5
b) fried fish or shrimp        -1
c) fried clams                 -5
d) fried seafood combo         -5

Tip: Fried seafood gets poor scores because most restaurants do their frying in hydrogenated vegetable shortening, not vegetable oil. The seafood combo and fried clams each have about 900 calories.

20. Which is closest to what you typically order at a steak house? (Subtract 2 points if you don't trim your meat.)

a) grilled chicken or fish   +5
b) sirloin or filet mignon   +1
c) pork chops                -1
d) New York strip steak      -4
e) rib eye steak             -4
f) T-bone steak              -5
g) porterhouse steak         -6
h) prime rib (16 oz)         -7

Tip: A trimmed, 16-ounce prime rib has about 1,000 calories and two days' worth of saturated fat. A trimmed, 12-ounce sirloin has 400 calories and less than haft a day's sat fat.

21. Which kind of potato do you most often order as a side dish?

a) baked potato with sour cream
   (1 Tbs. or less)                  +5
b) mashed potatoes with gravy        +3
c) baked potato with sour
   cream (3 Tbs.)                    +1
d) baked potato with butter          -1
e) baked potato with sour
   cream and butter                  -3
f) french fries                      -3
g) "loaded" baked potato (with
   bacon, butter, cheese, and sour
   cream)                            -5

Tip: A tablespoon of sour cream has less saturated fat than a teaspoon (about one pat) of butter.

22. Which is closest to what you typically order at a family-style restaurant? (Add 2 points if you don't eat the skin on the chicken. Add 2 points if you get light dressing on your salad.)

a) chicken stir-fry or pot roast   +3
b) grilled or roasted chicken      +3
c) turkey and stuffing             +1
d) chicken Caesar salad             0
e) chicken fingers or nuggets      -2
f) hamburger                       -3
g) chef salad or chicken pot pie   -4
h) meat loaf                       -5

Tip: Without the stuffing, the turkey would get a +5. Pot roast beats a burger because it's leaner and comes with vegetables.

23. Which side dish is closest to what you typically order?

a) salad or vegetable of the day     +5
b) rice pilaf or mashed potatoes     +3
c) macaroni and cheese               -1
d) french fries or creamed spinach   -3
e) onion rings                       -5

Tip: Thanks to the batter, onion rings have 900 calories. French fries have 600.

24. Which is closest to what you typically order at a Greek restaurant?

a) chicken souvlaki            +5
b) lamb or pork souvlaki       +4
c) Greek salad                 -1
d) spanakopita (spinach pie)   -1
e) dolmades (meat-stuffed
   grape leaves)               -3
f) gyro sandwich               -5
g) moussaka                    -5

Tip: The gyro and moussaka each have about 800 calories and at least a day's worth of saturated fat.

25. Which is closest to the dessert you typically order?

a) sorbet                          +2
b) pumpkin pie                     +1
c) baklava or chocolate cake       -1
d) apple pie or chocolate mousse   -3
e) cheesecake                      -6
f) fudge brownie sundae            -6

Tip: A slice of cheesecake or a fudge brownie sundae can run you 700 to 1,100 calories.

EATING SMART RESTAURANT GUIDE

It's not easy to remember how many calories you're swallowing with that chicken Caesar salad or how much saturated fat is hidden in that serving of lasagna. Now you don't have to. Just slip our 4" x 9" slide guide into your purse or pocket and you'll have the calories, total fat, and artery-clogging fat for more than 250 restaurant and fast foods right at your fingertips. No more scratching your head trying to remember if the manicotti is worse than the ravioli or vice versa.

CSPI's Eating Smart Restaurant Guide: Send $4 per copy (plus $1 per order for shipping and handling) to CSPI--Restaurant Guide, Suite 300, 1875 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20009.5728. Ask for product #ESRG. Write for bulk order prices.

HOW'D YOU DO?

75 or more                           Lookin' Good.
                  You know your way around a menu.
50-74                              Could be worse.
                     A few changes and you're set.
25-49                             Could be better.
                     Think about brown-bagging it.
24 or less                              Stay home.

Don't leave home without our Eating Smart Restaurant Guide.