Dunkin Donuts, Long John Silvers Going Healthy?

I’ve been seeing a good trend going on with fast food places, and it seems like lately a few of the bigger guys have added healthy choices, that actually also sound like they taste pretty darn good, to their menu offerings.  The first one, which I was kind of shocked about because it doesn’t typically attract people are very health conscious to begin with unless they really are only there for the coffee and not the donuts, is Dunkin Donuts.  And they really are most famous for their coffee, not their donuts, which are also pretty darn good.

By the way, as a side note, we bought Dunkin Donuts coffee from Sams club, the beans that you grind, and let me tell you, it tastes nothing like what they brew in their store, so I’m not sure what their brewing secret is for Dunkin Donuts coffee, but you can’t duplicate it at home for some reason.  But I digress.

The new healthy additions to the Dunkin menu actually sound and look quite tasty.  They now offer flat bread breakfast sandwiches made with egg whites instead of full eggs, and they also offer turkey sausage as one of their meats that can be put on the breakfast sandwiches.  Dunkin’s new menu is called DD Smart, and each item is reduced fat and should have 300 calories or less, which is perfect.  Actually, I’m not sure if 300 calories would fill me up for breakfast since I like to eat fairly big at breakfast to start my day off right and because I know I’m going to burn most of it off, but I’m sure it’d be a good start!

Now, the other fast food chain that has announced it is coming out with a healthy menu is Long John Silvers, home of the deep fried chicken planks and deep fried and breaded fish. It’s all so good, but let’s face it, you end up with not only a stomach ache from all the grease (at least I do), but you also end up eating close to a thousand calories if you get one of their meals.  Sometimes it’s worth every last calorie, I will admit that, but when you are watching what you eat, you really can’t eat the deep fried and breaded options that appear on their menu.

Their new non deep fried menu items are called the Freshside Grill options, and include some very tempting and tasty items that are low in fat and reduced in calories, such as grilled talapia, salmon, shrimp, and a seaside vegetable medley for those that are vegetarians.  Look at LJ’s they’re even getting the vegetarians in there! 

I guess with these items you wouldn’t have to worry about popping a good carb blocker since the carbs aren’t surrounding the healthy fish.  Good for them. Hopefully the new healthy menu items will pay off for Dunkin and LJ’s, it’d be nice to see that they have staying power, and that people really are looking for healthy options sometimes when they go to places that don’t typically offer healthy items.