It is always good to investigate what foods a restaurant has to offer. Some resturants are high on the excitotoxin-rich scale, meaning there are nearly no foods safe for people with a sensitivity to MSG and other ecitotoxins. Other restaurants that are mid-range excitotoxin-rich, meaning there are some foods that are safe if you carefully wade through the menu, and a large number of restaurants find under this category.

If a grilled food is cooked with a known excitotoxin-rich spice and others are not, it may be good to find out if these foods are prepared on the same grilling surface, maybe right next to each other, causing spice cross contamination.

 

 

If EVERY Restaurant establishment in the United States was listed here, I would be correct by doing so, because EVERY restaurant serves food with MSG and other excitotoxins. The list below, therefore, is made up of those restaurants that I have personal knowledge of or individuals have shared their experiences with me. Eventhough, many of the menus of the restaurants listed are filled with dishes that contain excitotoxins, I have learned how to create an excitotoxin-free meal, and the restaurants I share some of my created meals are footnoted. Some footnotes contain helpful information rather than suggested meals.

 

A

Applebee's*

Audie's Location: Mackinac City, MI*

B

Bob Evans*

Burger King*

C

Carl's Jr.*

Chili's*

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

Kentucky Fried Chicken

L

M

McDonald's*

N

O

Olive Garden*

Outback Steakhouse

P

Q

R

Red Lobster

Ruby Tuesday

S

T

Taco Bell

TGI Friday*

The Village Inn

U

V

W

Wendy's

X

Y

Z

 

 

The information below contains helpful meals and insight on how to create excitotoxin-free meals at some of the restaurants from the above list and other information in regards to my experiences and the experiences from other people who have shared with me via email or on my Forum.

 

As a general rule: NO breaded items, NO gravies, NO rice pealaf, NO breakfast potatoes with grilled vegetables (almost always has spices added which typically contain more than just salt and pepper), NO diet sodas or pop, NO hot chocolate, capichino, or other flavored coffee concoctions, NO flavored or sweetened ice teas, NO pre-packaged creamer (flavored or plain) for your coffee, NO artifical sweeteners, NO dipping sauces, NO sugar-free desserts (typically sweetened with Splenda®

 

A

Applebee's
Green Bean Crisp is a deep-fried item... Don't eat them, Excitotoxin Sensitive People! And don't eat the sauces either.

Audie's Location: Mackinac City, MI
All ground meats (hamburg, buffalo burger, and sausage) are doctored with a Special Spicing compliments of the Chief's southern knowledge of cooking. The Special Spicing includes some ingredients which contain excitotoxins. [Mick and I haven't been back since middle of 2012.]

B

Bob Evans

Burger King
I tried a one-inch by one-inch of my husband's Whooper meat patty. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!!! Excitotoxins, Excitotoxins, Excitotoxins!!! Their french fries are the ONLY thing I eat.

C

Carl's Jr.
No Sauced Burgers. Order "plain", with cheese if you like. The french fries are OK. Chocolate shakes are fine, but NO WHIP CREAM, because it is the imitation stuff. I get the Big Carl plain with Cheese... no special sauce!!!! I use to get their Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich which was great, but they have been replaced with a chocolate chip ice cream cookie which I am sure I had a reaction.

Chili's

D

Darden Resturants
Darden Resturants is the holding company to six chain restaurants across North America. These restaurants are as follows: Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52. I am only going to expound in the restaurants I have visited.

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

Kentucky Fried Chicken
Ha, Haha, haa, haha, Ha, Hahaa-ha!!! Don't make me laugh!!! KFC might as well change their name to Money Suckin Gizzards (MSG), because they sell chicken and all the fried southern cooked classics laddened with MSG and maybe a few excitotoxins for good measure. Having said that, I can have their "instant" mashed potatoes (NO GRAVY) and their biscuits. Why? How? I don't know, but if I find out I will let you know.

L

M

McDonald's
All I have is their french fries*, coffee (black), and their chocolate milk shakes (Whipped Cream is OK). Note: McD's French Fries are blanched in a deep-fried solution containing Hydrolyzed Meat Protein at the factory before shipping them to the restaurants. There, they are deep-fried for the one final time before the customer receives them. (They are definitely not vegan.) Shockingly, I did not assoicate any MSG reactions to McD's French Fries when I ate them for an extended time - a few months. My only conclusion is, there is such low quanity of excitotoxic ingredients in the FF, that I simply don't react. As a side note, not MSG related, but intersting: My husband has what doctors call Restless Leg Syndrome and ANY milk product can bring on a case of RLS. If Mick eats or drinks and milk products after noon (12pm), he will get RLS in the evening, gauranteed. If Mick drinks a McD's Milk Shake in the evening, we will not get RLS. What the hell is in those shakes? We know it isn't milk!! Scary for me, because I can drink them and not react, so, honestly, what the...?!!

N

O

Olive Garden*

Outback Steakhouse

P

Q

R

Red Lobster

Ruby Tuesday

S

T

Taco Bell
If you read the news, you should already know that Taco Bell has 60% filler in their taco meat. The filler is made up of Hydrolyzed ingredient(s) and other excitotoxins not fit for an Excitotoxin Sensitive Person. I'd say the coffee is OK, though. Black.

TGI Friday
Deep-Fried Green Beans preperation begins with blanching them in chicken or vegetable broth. As a rule, "vegetable broth" means hydrolyzed soy protein and ANYTHING "hydrolyzed" is a no-no. The dipping sauce is a no-no, because it starts with ranch dressing. Ranch-anything is always excitotoxin-rich.

The Village Inn
All burgers are doctored with excitotoxin-rich spices. A lot of excitotoxins, too!! I decided, the one and only time Mick and I tried a Village Inn restaurant, to drink our coffee and find another restaurant. I couldn't take a chance on eating something else there because of possible cross-contamination. The manager, at first, insisted they didn't use any MSG, but was reluctant to show me the ingredients in their special burger blend. He adventually did, and my husband and I agreed there were so many excitotoxins in the meat, there was no need for MSG.

U

V

W

Wendy's

X

Y

Z