Beware these restaurant meals

Scripps Howard News Service

We’ve sifted through countless restaurant menus and come across some pretty scary stuff. While 1,800 to 2,000 calories are enough to feed most folks for the entire day, some of these popular eateries top that in just one dish.

Olive Garden — Think you’ll keep it light and order chicken or fish? Beware of Chicken Alfredo and Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara; each has more than 1,400 calories per serving.

Cheesecake Factory — Forget about cheesecake (at 700 calories and up) — this chain’s menu features 1,500-calorie salads, 1,100-calorie sandwiches and a Morning Quesadilla weighing in at 2,020 — definitely not the way to start your day.

IHOP — Many of the dishes you’ll find on the menu will send you into calorie overload. A Classic Skillet meal with the optional add-on of chicken fried steak and sausage gravy will stack up to 2,260 calories and 142 grams of fat. The seemingly less-harmful French Toast Combo with bacon still comes out to 1,300 calories per serving.

Chili’s —Two-thousand-calorie chili-cheese fries and 1,600-calorie spinach-and-artichoke dip are just scratching the surface at this bar and grill. Burgers, ribs and other sandwiches (with fries) start at 1,200 calories each and go up from there.

Dunkin’ Donuts —Only 100 calories separate a 390-calorie multigrain bagel and a 290-calorie oatmeal raisin cookie. A 690-calorie sausage-egg-and-cheese croissant tops the list of button-popping breakfast items. Tempted by the new Big N’ Toasty? Forget about it and save 580 calories and 35 grams of fat. Think twice before washing these foods down with a large Coffee Coolata (with cream) or you’ll be slurping down 800 calories and 46 grams of fat.

— Courtesy Dana Angelo White on foodnetwork.com

For more information, visit www.foodnetwork.com.