The best way to lose weight on any dietary protocol is to prepare your own meals and eat at home. It allows you to be certain about what all you put into your body. While buying groceries, cooking at home, and doing dishes every day is great in theory, doing so is not always possible. Sometimes it's just easier to go out to eat and let someone else do all the hard work. With all that being said, here is a guide of the top 5 keto friendly restaurants in Montgomery County:
1. Chipotle
Chipotle is making a great effort to accommodate folks on ketogenic dietary protocols. They currently offer a super greens base, which is a combination of kale, lettuce, and spinach. Pair super greens, fajita peppers, and a double portion of your favorite meat to create a delicious bowl. Be sure to skip corn, tomatoes, salad dressing, tortillas, and chips as all are rich in carbs. If you do it right, you can create a bowl with less than 17 net carbs.
2. Five Guys
Get yourself a bun-less lettuce wrap. It doesn’t matter if it’s a burger or a dog, just stay away from the buns, BBQ sauce, cooked onions, and tomatoes. Limit your condiments. Meaning pick either ketchup, A1 sauce, or mayonnaise. A combination of all 3 will give your meal a higher carb count than it needs. Hot sauce and jalapeños are okay since they have virtually no carbs. Oh and you can have absolutely NO FRIES!
3. Cava
Cava is one of our all-time favorites. It is a Mediterranean place that allows people to make custom bowls. They also offer a super green base which can be paired with a variety of different proteins. Pick either grilled chicken, spicy lamb meatballs, classic grilled meat balls, or braised lamb. Avoid falafel, roasted veggies, and harissa honey chicken as they are all high in carbs. All the dips you can add to the bowl are relatively low carb, but we recommend choosing only your two favorites. Also only pick your favorite 4 toppings, as choosing more would make the meal high carb. Avoid couscous, pita crisps, and pickled onions. Use only up to 3 dressings. But be sure to avoid the lemon herb tahini dressing as it’s higher in carbs. Follow this advice for a tasty low carb Mediterranean treat.
4. Chopt
Chopt is a delicious salad place. The best thing to do is create your own salad since some of the pre-made menu options are higher in carbs. Feel free to pick whatever greens you wish as they will be low in carbs and high in dietary fiber. Pick 3 of your favorite choppings. The “choppings” aka toppings to avoid are black beans, chickpeas, corn, croutons, pita chips, tortilla chips, and quinoa. Only select 1 premium vegetable for your salad and make sure it’s not sweet potatoes. Pick 1 crunch item but make sure it's not dried cranberries. Go light on the dressings. All of them are great for keto except for the balsamic vinegar.
5. Noodles & Company
This place is great because they allow customers to replace all pasta dishes with Zuchini Noodles (zoodles.) It’s important to note that many of their sauces and toppings can be high in carbs. The best thing to do is ask for a clean protein on top of zoodles with no added sauce. This may seem boring, but we promise its delicious and nutritious.