Romano's Macaroni Grill can be found at or around almost every mall and strip mall in the USA. Many years ago I ate there once, and after taking a look at their nutritional menu today, I am shocked I didn't have a heart attack on the spot (exaggeration, I know). I know it's convenient and there are those of you that love this place, so before you go, be sure to check out this breakdown of many of the popular Italian items served.
| Item | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated Fat (g) | Carbs (g) | Sodium (mg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calamari Fritti | 1210 | 78 | 13 | 66 | 4170 |
| Tomato Bruschetta | 1000 | 70 | 11 | 75 | 1810 |
| House Salad (w/o dressing) | 130 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 460 |
| Insalata Blue (w/ chicken) | 570 | 38 | 12 | 9 | 1020 |
| Mozzarella alla Caprese (half order) | 260 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 410 |
| Grilled Asparagus (side order) | 30 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 590 |
| Lobster Ravioli | 1090 | 78 | 54 | 55 | 1910 |
| Pollo Magro "Skinny Chicken" | 330 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 770 |
| Simple Salmon | 590 | 40 | 6 | 5 | 1390 |
| Chicken Parmesan | 1490 | 68 | 35 | 129 | 3510 |
| Veal Marsala | 1270 | 64 | 44 | 116 | 2660 |
| Fettuccine Alfrredo (w/ chicken) | 1370 | 97 | 56 | 68 | 1300 |
| Spaghetti & Meatballs (w/ meat sauce) | 2430 | 128 | 57 | 207 | 5290 |
| Traditional Lasagna | 1040 | 54 | 30 | 65 | 2800 |
Before you go saying I've only pointed out the things that are bad for you, the only dinner items (aside from salads) that had less than 830 calories are listed ("Skinny Chicken," Chicken Cannelloni, and Simple Salmon)—almost every item had 1,000 plus calories.
For deserts and kids items, just read more
| Item | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated Fat (g) | Carbs (g) | Sodium (mg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Passion | 1150 | 56 | 29 | 149 | 910 |
| Tiramisu | 1000 | 64 | 36 | 89 | 160 (typo?) |
| Kids Double Mac 'n' Cheese | 1210 | 62 | 40 | 107 | 3450 |
| Kids Grilled Chicken & Broccoli | 390 | 5 | 2 | 51 | 560 |
| Kids Spaghetti & Meatballs (w/ tomato sauce) | 500 | 20 | 8 | 58 | 1520 |
Are you as shocked as I am at the numbers above? Don't even get me started on the kids mac 'n' cheese.
If I were headed to this restaurant, I would be kicking and screaming, but I would have to order the "Skinny Chicken" with a house salad (w/o dressing) and a side of asparagus. I'd skip the dessert altogether unless I were sharing it with ten (or more) people. If you're getting anything other than the "Skinny Chicken," Chicken Cannelloni, Simple Salmon, or a salad with no dressing, split your meal with someone else to cut it back.
Antik Batik
Alessi
Piquadro
Well their portions are pretty enormous. I do the "create your own" pasta there, with whole wheat penne and veggies as the added toppings, and I can only stomach about 1/3 of it in a single sitting.
1I usually order a house salad w/ light dressing and the italian sausage soup. It's a pretty healthy meal.
2The skinny chicken is actually pretty tasty. It has a yummy glaze on it, with steamed spinach and a little tomato & olive salad with low-fat feta.
I also do the create your own pasta with double broccoli, mushrooms, etc.
3I felt my arteries clogging just reading this!
4ceI've never even heard of this place. Either I don't get out much, or we don't have one here in my city! But we have plenty of other Italian restaraunts, and it makes me wonder if their menus are just as bad ...
5wow thats CRAZY!!! how can they contain so many calories, it sounds VERY gross!
6OH MY GOODNESS! Spaghetti & Meatballs?! Even the kids version. I would NEVER let my kid eat that. What's worse...every kid wants the Mac N Cheese and what parent would think that is half of the calorie needs for the day and almost all the fat! We are NEVER going there. We just got one by the local mall. We'll stick with a sammich and onion soup at Panera Bread if we HAVE to go out when at the mall.
7yikes!!
8skinny chicken it is, in the event i wind up at macaroni grill!
9I only went there once when I was overweight and didn't care about what I ate. I've read the nutrition on this restaurant before and was shocked. It's such a turn off
10I can only eat about half an entrée at this place, and any other italian restaurant. People do need to keep in mind that most people can't eat an entire "serving" of these meals. I'll eat half, and take the rest home. That means only 500-600 cals in the meal.
11That is just completely disturbing. I'd rather cook it at home so I can control the serving size, and the amount of fat/calories/sodium.
12That asparagus is really really good. I usually get that and the skinny chicken. I also usually get the caprese salad, its SOOOOOOO good, but no more for me!
13Yikes....i'll have skinny chicken and asparagus please...
14Ouch. I've never been there but I am guessing it is a typical north american eatery where portions are atleast twice as big as they need to be. Fat and calorie content on some of these would be reasonable if you only ate half, which is probably a normal portion any way.
15Exactly why i dont eat out.
Plus i am not paying that much money when i could make better at home.
16i eat at macaroni grille and penne rustica, which is what i normally get, isn't even listed here..i can only imagine...i make it 'healthy' by splitting the entree into several meals. i eat about 1/3 at the restaurant, the remaining 2/3 for dinner and lunch the following day.
17This is so revolting! I never eat there, but my aunt eats there a lot. One thing she told me once: "I'm obese, yet I don't overeat really. I do eat out a lot, but I don't think that's where all the calories are at". I guess that IS where her problem lies. When you eat out, they use butter and oil in EVERYTHING!!! I try to not eat out a lot, but what if you went to this place and got the spaghetti and meatballs figuring it was about 1000 calories for the whole thing. Eating it would put you over your estimate by almost a day's worth of calories! I can't help but think that eating out has got to be a huge part of the obesity problem.
18guess i won't be eating there!
19No wonder they taste so good!
20hehe no wonder my amreican friend says we have tiny portions here in Europe!!
21The place is called "Macaroni Grill", what was to be expected? =)
22crazy crazy calories ...
23Wow that is totally crazy, I have a Macaroni Grill near my home but I have never eaten there, thank goodness. Although I have eaten at Carrabba's Italian Grill, which I'm sure is just as bad.
24Omg! My boyfriend loves this place. All he has to do is hear the words Macaronni grill and he's drooling like a pavlov dog. He always eats the chicken marsala. i don't se eit listed up there. . . but i also love the bread. i eat the bread like there's a wheat shortage. oiye why am i so hungry now and it's only 8:30 in the morning?
25I really was not impressed with this place. ate there a couple of years ago and never went back
26When I started WW and was really looking at calories/fat, I was totally shocked at how bad this place was! I had NO idea. I didn't eat there often to begin with, but now I avoid it like the plague. Yikes!
27As a general rule: SAY NO TO ANY AND ALL CHAIN RESTAURANTS!!!
28Omg Carraba's is delicious...I swear they are healthier than Macaroni Grill! (No I'm not looking it up, I don't want to be disappointed.)
Yes, Americans do have out-of-control portion sizes, but I don't really know anyone who eats it all. I went to an italian restaurant with my boyfriend last night, and we split a caesar salad, and I got baked ziti, which is obviously very bad for you, and I at like 1/3 of it. Maybe not the healthiest leftovers to have around, but most people do not eat this stuff all at once.
29I also do the create your own pasta thing.. and I go for a whole wheat penne with veggies and sometimes the sausage... and I eat less than half of it. The calorie breakdown sounds about right for the portions we're talking about. I'd be suprised to see anyone actually eat a whole plate.
30Waw crazy, it must be good for my bro
31wow dude
32wow
I've only eaten there once, when we went out as a family. It was close and was able to seat a large group quickly. However, their portions are HUGE. I only managed to eat maybe half mine I think you can still enjoy their pasta if you know this and figure you are only going to eat half the serving. For instance, I had the Pasta Milano, the dinner portion, which is an amazing 1120 calories and 57 grams of fat. I only at half of it, which means the pasta itself was only around 560 calories and 29 grams of fat. Not quite as bad, then. It just depends on your portion size there. I think you can still get the pasta, by the time you eat a salad, you really can only manage to eat half the pasta so just have them split it up for you. Besides, it's eating at a restaurant which really should be a treat, not an everyday occurance.
33it's a great italian place to eat better than olive Garden even though we don't have one here in Eugene we really could use one!! and also a Jimboy's Taco and an In and Out Burger, but they just haven't progressed up here yet! but if you do get the great spaggets and meataballs just don't eat for the next day, guess what-- calories gone!!!
34Their portions are huge so that's why most of their food has so many calories. I don't think it's humanly possible for one person to consume an entire entree from there in one meal. However, I don't understand what you mean by "double mac n' cheese" on the kids menu. There is "macaroni n' cheese" on the kids menu which only has about 600 calories (still a lot for a kids entree I guess, but nothing close to 1210 calories). So I guess 1210 would be about how many calories would be in a double portion of the mac n' cheese, but I've seen the kids menu and there is nothing on there that says anything about ordering a double portion. And who in their right mind would order that much mac n' cheese for their kid anyway?
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