Claim Jumper: World's Unhealthiest Restaurant?

Posted on Apr 16th 2010 1:00PM by Martha Edwards

It's no secret that most restaurant meals are shockingly high in calories. And while many of us expect to run an extra couple of miles the day after a big meal out, we don't usually bargain for getting double our recommended daily calorie intake in one single meal. But if you're planning a visit to a Claim Jumper restaurant any time soon, you might be getting just that.

The restaurant chain, which until now has avoided posting its nutritional info, recently fessed up.

The most shocking item on the menu is definitely the Beef Back Ribs, which clock in at 4,301 calories, 156 grams of saturated fat and 7,623 mg of sodium. Not a big beef fan? A plate of pasta -- the Black Tie Chicken Pasta, to be exact -- will set you back 3,773 calories, 134 grams of saturated fat and 4,638 mg of sodium. If you decide to go the "healthy" route and choose the Charbroiled Citrus Chicken Salad, you're looking at 2,520 calories, 33 grams of saturated fat and 1,776 mg of sodium. So much for a healthy choice.

A few additional menu lowlights:

The Appetizer Combo - 3,517 calories
Country Fried Steak - 2,409 calories
Chocolate Motherlode Cake - 2,723 calories
Spicy Jambalaya - 2,470 calories
Albacore Tuna Salad Sandwich - 1,837 calories
Baked Potato Side Item - 440 calories

There doesn't seem to be any entrée item on the menu that has less than 800 calories, unless you count vegetable soup and a side of asparagus as an entree -- but even that meal has a shocking amount of sodium.

In case you're thinking these menu items look mighty tasty, consider this: The number of calories you should consume every day will vary depending on your age, height, weight and activity level, but generally an average women should be looking at around 2,000 calories per day, compared with 2,500 for men. So it goes without saying that you should under no circumstances be consuming 4,000 or even 2,000 calories in one meal. Unless you're trying to become to world's fattest person.

Another thing to keep in mind? It will probably take you five to six hours of exercise to burn off that one meal.

Still, you don't always have to eat at home to get a healthy meal -- try one of these healthy restaurant salads if you're dining out.

37 Comment

Tags: calories, claim jumper, daily calories, eat out, restaurant

Around the Web

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

okmusic 4-17-2010 @ 6:42AM

Just another installment of the food nazis. Should a person eat one of these meals everyday - of course not. Should they even eat them once a week - depends. But for someone who is active, who enjoys splurging every once in a while, enjoy. Then exercise. If these writers have their way, everyone will be a vegan eating tofu and cardboard.

venatrix 4-17-2010 @ 8:38AM

Why is the writer a food nazi because the information is unpleasant? We have a plethora of health issues in this country that are directly related to the junk that we eat - not just once a week - but day after day. Our daily intake of fats (good and bad) should be around 25% to 35% of our daily caloric intake. Of that amount only 7% should consist of saturated fats - that one meal would contain 156 grams of saturated fat is unfathomable. Some people may not care, but some might and that the writer should be considered a nazi for giving us that information is disingenuous.

makkarix 4-17-2010 @ 4:03PM

amen to that

Clyde 1-30-2011 @ 7:00PM

Instead of being hacked off at the "food nazi" for pointing this out, you should be hacked off at Claim Jumper for feeding you this toxic waste. You need information to make an informed decision. This article isn't a call for a boycott, it's just letting you know what's on your plate. React according to your own judgment.

Les 4-17-2010 @ 12:30PM

The "Food Nazi" is right!
There is nothing wrong with eating out occasionally, but meals with that many calories and salt are unhealthy, unless you are--or want to be--a Sumo Wrestler.

mikevickisadirtyfilthyscumbag 4-17-2010 @ 2:21PM

There are people who eat fast food 2 or 3 times a day. Even then, its their own business right? Wrong. How about the parents who feed that garbage to their kids because they're too lazy to cook real food. Its no different than allowing your 10 year old to smoke 2 packs a day. Why do you think Insurance premiumus are through the roof? Because the fat slobs with no willpower make the hospital their 2nd home, but they don't pay anymore than thin, healthy people do they. I pay $2000 a month for my family's insurance. That's per month, not annual. Everytime I write that check, i have a right to be pissed off at the weaklings in this country who wont stop shoving cheesecake down their throats. Everyone like myself who pays their unfair share to this bloated health care system should pray that the food nazis regulate some of those bad habits.

granny recipe 4-17-2010 @ 7:16AM

Oh, I love those dog-gone ribs though...It's just a little bit of extra work to dig through the 17 pounds of salt until you get to them and the chicken salad is a bit gritty considering the fact that they have 4 pounds of salt on them, but hey, I would go back again. The waitress was very friendly!

Louis 4-17-2010 @ 7:54AM

Holy Mackeral! I thought my Cinnabon Caramel Peacanbon was a disaster with 1100 clories, 56 grams of fat, and 141 grams of carbs.

Well, I know how I can save money--I'll go to Cinnabon for breakfast, then Claim Jumper for Lunch and Dinner. Then I won't have to eat again for 2 years.

By the way---is this story really accurate. I mean, 4600 GRAMS of salt would be like 15 pounds. Why not just drink the Atlantic Ocean?

Nora Fiennes 4-17-2010 @ 8:53AM

It's always nice when the food police jump in to slam one restaurant when there are hundreds of chains just like it on America's highways and in cities all over. I have major doubts that this restaurant has "just now" released it's nutritional info. A big fat lie. The info was readily available all along if anyone asked.

Cearralyn 4-17-2010 @ 9:11AM

I have eaten Claim Jumper's meals many times. I do not add salt to my food, and I can tell when there IS too much salt on something. I do not believe this article. Claim Jumper has excellent food, but they do give out HUGE portions. All someone has to do is eat half and take the other half home for another time. Then whatever salt intake happens to be in the meal would be cut in half. By the way, I usually eat either their chicken or their steak, and the steak, especially, is NOT salty. There would be no disguising a high salt content on a steak.

Catman 4-17-2010 @ 9:41AM

OK Music...that isnt the point. This isnt even splurging. Its totally off base. Even a loaded ice cream sundae doesnt approach these proportions. I think restaurants should be required to post their nutritional information and people should then be responsible for what they are eating. This isnt moderation...its lunacy!

fm442 8-22-2010 @ 9:00PM

One thing that the writer conveniently left out is the vast majority of people who eat at Claimjumper cannot finish a meal in one sitting! IF we go to Claimjumper, we always bring at least half of it home for a meal the next day. Even cut in half, the calorie and fat content is still high, though its not like we eat there everyday. And another thing, I know a lot of other people already commented on it, but it is such a glaring error- if you are to write on the subject then you should know that sodium content is given in mg, NOT grams. It might just be a typo, but a big one at that, and it takes away the credibility of the rest of the article.

Al 4-17-2010 @ 10:18AM

If your going to spend your life worrying about each and every thing you enjoy, maybe life isn't for you.

Christine 4-17-2010 @ 10:30AM

Thankfully, we dont have this restaurant in San Antonio, but not such a bad idea to open a few where known active Taliban members live. Food does not have to be cooked in such an unhealthy manner to be good. This restaurant deserves the bad press as they have the ability to change the press they get.

Bill 4-17-2010 @ 10:52AM

The last time we ate at Outback (another "terrible) restaurant with FANTASTIC food, we were seated across from a group of "people" with tatts all over everyexposed area of skin and enough steel peircings in the face so as to be magnetic.

Looking at that type of abuse of a human body makes me nauseous. Where are those who should decry the punching of holes through skinand injecting chemicals to make "art"? I am supposed to believe that is personal expression and art. Fine. Then I also choose to "abuse" my body by enjoying a great meal (or 2-3) from one otherwise pleasant visit to Outback. They have a right and so do I. Funny thing is, these folks didn't look too healthy or altogether there. I, on the other hand, could probably lift at least 2 if not 3 of those folks with one arm. Who is healthier?

kidslibrarian 4-17-2010 @ 11:03AM

Even ignoring the g/mg sodium issue, this isn't an accurate article. There are definitely entrees under 800 calories(Roasted Trip-Tip, Roasted Chicken, just to name two). I've never eaten at this restaurant, but articles like this are very annoying.

Everyone knows, when considering salads for example, that if you remove the full-fat dressing the salad becomes amazingly more healthy. You can order salads without the obvious "bad" items on them. There are certainly healthier side options (i.e. organic corn, side salad without full-fat dressing) that can make these meals far more reasonable.

How many calories do you EXPECT to get in a FULL back of ribs for heaven's sake? You can't make those ribs at home for a whole lot less fat and calories, in and of themselves. Choose healthier sides, choose healthier main entrees, and don't eat so much! Even the rotisserie chicken (less than 800 cal) is a ridiculous portion--half a chicken! Nobody needs that much food. This isn't the restaurant's fault--lots of people like to take half their food home so they can have 2 meals.

Just be smart consumers and you can eat mostly anywhere, relatively safely.

jasmine 4-17-2010 @ 11:20AM

Interesting reading the comments. Some just jump on the sodium issue. The truth is, we all just eat "Junk" some of the time. So what. We all try to eat healthy "Most" of time. This article, despite some the bias is just an article. Happy eating.

Patty 4-17-2010 @ 11:22AM

So, this is news? It looks like this blogger has a grudge against Claim Jumper. Why else have this posting? Any time I go out to eat, no matter where it is, I know I am going to get a lot more calories and sodium than I have when I cook at home. I still love Claim Jumper.

Jane Hall 4-17-2010 @ 11:38AM

Why do we have to have "food czars" to tell us what to eat?? I live in the U.S. and have the right to eat what I want when I want..... If I choose to eat 1800mgs of sodium at one meal that is MY business. If I want to eat at a certain restaurant, it's MY choice.... I can read the menu and have a fair idea of how to add cheese - breading - sauce = calories and salt and fat.... MY choice. If you smoke, Your choice... If you run, jog, your choice. If you have to carry a bottle of water around like a 1 yr old with a baby bottle - your choice. Back off of the criticism of what others choose to eat. Perhaps the one joy a person has is food.