Eating out
What to order, by the numbers
When you can only finish half of it, the useful question is which half is worth eating. These pages rank each chain’s menu by protein per calorie, using the chain’s own published nutrition data — so you can see what earns its space.
Two chains, not ten. Every figure here comes from the chain’s own nutrition source with the date we checked it, and a chain we cannot source that way is simply absent rather than filled in from a calorie-counting site. The general guide to eating out covers the chains not listed here.
- Chick-fil-A 129 items · checked 2026-10-02
The grilled items are unusually protein-dense for fast food, and the kid-sized portions are a genuinely useful size rather than a compromise.
Most protein per calorie: Grilled Breakfast Filet — 13g in 60 cal (21.7g per 100 cal)
See the full menu ranked → - Chipotle 12 items · checked 2026-09-22
Chipotle is built in front of you, so the question is not what to order but what to leave out. A full bowl is more food than most small appetites finish.
Most protein per calorie: Chicken — 32g in 180 cal (17.8g per 100 cal)
See the full menu ranked →
General nutrition information, not dietary or medical advice, and nothing here is described as treating a side effect. Chains reformulate and portions vary by location — check the chain’s own figures before relying on a number.