Yup, Starbucks. The place where the only "food" you could order once came in the form of extremely high-calorie muffins and pastries, loaded with sugar and absent of any resemblance to a food that could have been gathered, plucked, hunted or fished (the four Jonny Bowden Food Groups).

Starbucks now offers a number of food items suitable for low-carbers, including nuts, cheese and fruit.

My personal favorite is the high protein snack plate to go, which is just about the best "mini-meal" I've seen in a large chain store. It beats just about any snack I've seen around, and I sometimes "recreate" it using my own ingredients when I want a high-protein meal with less than 300 calories.

The Starbucks "High Protein" meal-to-go consists of a whole egg, some grapes, some cheese and a mini-whole grain bagel and peanut butter. Total calories: 260, with 13 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber and 9 grams of fat. Now that's a healthy "fast-food" option!

Starbuck's also offers a terrific spinach-egg-feta cheese wrap that weighs in at under 300 calories, and although there's no nutritional data given, I'm guessing it would fit nicely into a "Zone-type" dietary program.

In my unofficial and admittedly unscientific survey of the dozen or so Starbucks in my LA neighborhoods, they tell me these items are so popular they can't keep them in stock. That's proof that you can create a really filling healthy little meal for under 300 calories that's portable and convenient and that people actually want to eat. I'd like to think it's also proof that slowly but surely, our tastes are changing and we're beginning to incorporate some of the best principles we learned from the low-carb "movement" -- low sugar, whole grains, no trans-fats and plenty of healthy protein and fat.

Other fast-food restaurants -- are you listening?