Restaurant Review- Kelsey's

A friend asked me out to lunch yesterday and we had to choose between two restaurants- Kelsey's or Montana's. I chose Kelsey's since I had never been there before. I didn't expect much from a chain family restaurant. I expected mediocre food, blend into the background decor, and average service.

When I know the restaurant I am going to for a meal, I always try to look at their website for a menu beforehand so that I can plan a healthy meal for myself and not be tempted by all the burgers and deep fried potatoes that reside in the full-fat kitchen.

Of course, I went to the Kelsey's website to click around and hopefully plan a decent meal for myself. I went straight to the section called Dinner Salads. They have a selection of 4 large salads which are very substantial with grilled chicken, various cheeses, and other add-ons like nuts and seeds. The salads come with pre-decided dressings. I was in the midst of deciding when I spotted something on the left side of my screen- Download Our Menu Nutritional Information. What?!? You have got to be kidding me!

Of course, I took at peek at it! Thinking that maybe they only had a few items listed. But, no. They have their entire menu listed including sauces and optional add-ons. I was VERY IMPRESSED! This really helped me make my decision and helped me steer clear of the burgers and various other goodies they were offering.

I decided on the Chicken Sonoma Valley Salad.

Here is the description from the menu:

Mixed greens topped with seasoned grilled chicken, red peppers, grape tomatoes, crumbled Feta cheese, croutons, raisins, mixed seeds and nuts. Served with our spicy Honey Citrus dressing.

Sounds good and it rings in at 550 calories including the dressing.  High for a salad, but not for a restaurant salad.

D'oh! 

I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side!


It came out and I was not disappointed. Tons of mixed field greens, a small chicken breast (not those crazy over-sized monster chicken breasts), not a mountain of cheese- just a sprinkle, and enough little extras to make me happy. It didn't come with bread- and that is a plus! Because I would be tempted to eat it and that would be an extra 100-200 calories. The dressing- it was barely there. It didn't drench the leaves to sogginess. If anything- I could have used more dressing! There was just enough to make the leaves taste a little spicy with vinegar.

All in all, I was impressed with the overall experience with Kelsey's website and food. As far as I know, including the nutritional info on websites is not common unless they are touting low cal content- like Applebee's. Obviously nutritional information will vary with the people making the food and any modifications that the customer makes, but it gives you a ballpark figure to play with instead of making a wild guess. I hope more popular restaurants follow Kelsey's lead and be upfront about calories and fat content in the food they serve.

Rating:

/ 5



I was not paid for this review. All thoughts and reviews are my own.