![]() By: Travis Nguyen Many assume that all fast food places are unhealthy. They assume that “fast”, means “unhealthy”. Most fast food places sell cheap food and are made with unhealthy ingredients. However, many fast foods have now started to provide healthier alternatives. There is also a lot of chains that primarily focus on providing healthy food. Some fast food places you might think are unhealthy, might be one of the most healthiest fast food places there is. Panera Bread has a large amount of healthy foods on the menu. They are located all over the U.S. and Canada. Panera Bread is a bakery, cafe and restaurant that serves baked goods such as, soups, salads, and sandwiches. A potential healthy choice at Panera Bread is the Asian Sesame Salad with Chicken. This salad has 410 calories, 21 g total fat, 54 mg sodium, 25 g carb, 4 g fiber, and 32 g protein. It includes lettuce, citrus & pepper chicken, seasoning, onions, spices, dressing, sesame seeds, toasted almonds, and cilantro. This salad only costs $8.49. Chipotle also has a “build your own” method. This method allows consumers to construct meals that fit their calorie and macro requirements. This method also lets them choose healthier options like salad bowls. These bowls range from about $6.50 to $8.65, depending on what you put inside your bowl. “You get a lot of food for 8 bucks and the spicy salsa is amazing.” Mr. Monagle had said. They also allow you to create burritos with different types of meat inside, price ranging depending on the type of meat. A healthy option at Chipotle can be the Vegetarian Burrito Bowl. You can build the bowl however you would like to. If you’re looking for a meal under 600 calories I would recommend adding white rice, pinto beans, fresh tomato salsa, sour cream, cheese, and romaine lettuce. This 15.5 oz meal has a total of 590 calories, 22.5 g of fat, 70 mg cholesterol, 1,330 mg of sodium, 66 g of carbohydrates, 4 g of sugar, and 20 g of protein. This bowl costs $7.55. McDonalds not only has unhealthy food like burgers, burritos, soda, and milkshakes but then also have healthier options like the McWrap. The McWrap is crispy chicken and vegetables wrapped in a flour tortilla. This burrito includes the crispy buttermilk chicken filet, a tortilla, tomato slices, salad blend, cucumbers, shredded cheddar, and ranch. This McWrap would be a good choice if you’re looking for an entre. This burrito would go with a side of fries and maybe a fruit smoothie. This wrap has a total of 420 calories, 13 g of total fat, 1,250 mg sodium, 40 g total carbs, 90 mg cholesterol, 35 g of protein, and 5 g of sugar. This $3.99 wrap with a side of fries and a drink can potentially be a 19 healthy meal for the day. Subway offers a variety of meat and vegetables to put into your sandwich. Their slogan, “Eat Fresh”, is used to inform consumers that their food are fresh. Subway has a “build your own sandwich” method that allows consumers to put whatever they desire in their sandwich. After all the vegetables are put it, they have a dozen of different types of sauce you can top off the sandwich with. One healthy option at subway is the italian b.m.t footlong. This sandwich consists of genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, black forest ham, cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, red onions, and tomatoes. This sandwich has a total of 790 calories, 33 g of total fat, 90 mg cholesterol, 2660 mg of sodium, 87 g of carbohydrates, 13 g of sugar, and 38 g of protein. The italian b.m.t costs $6.75 itself, but with an extra $2.70, you can add a bag of chips and a soda for $9.45. This would be a great option if you’re looking for a healthy, cheap meal. Although many fast foods are mainly unhealthy, some places still have great, healthy options you can choose from. Some of the examples listed can be a great choice if you’re looking for a healthy alternative at fast food places. In addition, even if you aren't at any one of these places, there are many different ways to eat healthy. At most places, the allow you put whatever you’d want on your food. This way, you can eat however you’d like and would have whatever you desire in your food. There are many healthy alternative food choices at fast food places. ![]() By: Jessica Flores When looking at a little kids happy place we see that they are happy in three places, Toy store, Candy store, and Ice Cream shops. As I am growing older I still love ice cream and candy but your taste buds change. As a kid all you look for is the sweetest thing on the menu but now I look for the creamiest, most flavored ice cream I can find. With those expectation, I wanted to find the best place. When looking at local ice cream shops many don’t consider them as an option. Upon the opening of SweetFix it was very intriguing and seemed like a quality Ice Cream shop so I had to try it for myself. This shop is located in the target plaza on McKee Road and they open their doors relatively late being 12 pm and close at 10pm monday-thursday and closing at 11 Friday through sunday. When looking at the overall quality of their ice cream it is by far better than Rite Aids ice cream and might also be better than Baskin Robbins. Although many say that six dollars for two scoops of ice cream is pricey, I believe that it is worth it especially with the quality of their ice cream. They are known for making their own ice cream and flavors. For example, they have one of my all time favorite flavors, butterscotch cookies and cookie butter which you don't really see anywhere else. Their ice cream no matter what flavor it is will be delicious. It is sweet but not too much while still being milky and smooth. Even if you don’t like ice cream much and prefer some shaved ice perhaps, they make fresh Italian shaved ice of many flavors and every one of them is delicious. Their flavors varrie from blueberry, mango, strawberry, etc. Not only are the flavors delicious but the coloring on the actual Italian shaved ice is also so vibrant and beautiful. When looking at another very popular place for ice cream, we see rolled ice cream. This dessert originally started in Thailand under the name of I-Tim-Pad. This has become so famous that they recently added a place near Hostetter Road. They open at 2pm and close at 10pm Monday-Thursday and open 12pm to 11pm Friday through Sunday. I have seen them open half an hour early just to help the guests that were already waiting for them to open. Now with their popularity I wanted to see what this please was all about so I went for myself. Upon arrival the first thing you see is their menu which starts at 7 dollars with unlimited toppings on your ice cream. With that their menu varies from the classic oreo rolled ice cream to one of the wildest flavors I saw on their menu which was Hot Cheeto ice cream. In Willow Glen there is a place called Icicles, which is relatively similar to this place called Frozen Ninja. They both have similar ice cream options and toppings on their menu. For example they have a strawberry flavor which includes strawberries, milk and condensed milk the only difference is that they have different names. To embrace the difference in their type of ice cream I tried what they call the Avocado Smash. I myself usually don’t like avocado in any way shape or form but this changed that. This ice cream was sweet but still had the flavor and freshly cut avocado. Now when looking at how store packaged ice cream compares to regular ice cream shops there is usually nothing to compare but one ice cream brand always catches my eye. Häagen-Dazs is a very well known ice cream brand that sell in many grocery stores while in the U.S they have a few ice cream shops. They have one location here in the San Jose area it is located in the Valley Fair mall their business hours are from 10am-9:30 pm. Their vanilla ice cream is so creamy and delicious that it leaves you wanting more. Another one of my favorites is Dulce de Leche which is a caramel ice cream and it just melts in your mouth and leaves that perfect amount of sweetness.. Compared to the other ice cream shops this company takes a more traditional approach on ice cream compared to Sweet Fix. Depending on your own preferences you can choose from these different places. If you would like a place that has creamy different ice cream Sweet Fix is the perfect place for you but if you want a different style ice cream with crazy flavors I would go for Frozen Ninja or Icicles. If you want a classic but still delicious Ice cream, Häagen-Dazs is the place for you. There you have it the best places to eat different styles of ice cream. ![]() By Liliana S. Mireles Chili’s: Chili's is a restaurant for friends, family and solo diners. This restaurant has a variety of meals that are very enjoyable and very tasteful. Although they have a whole menu full of delicious meals, there are some meals that you should try for yourself! Chili's is usually packed on weekends and some Friday nights. On weekdays, you don't have to wait as long to be seated as you do on the weekends. On weekdays, it isn't usually packed because most parents are at work, students are at home or in after-school activities, and some parents stay at home to make dinner. I believe going on a Friday night is the best time to go because you don't have to worry about making dinner and you get to go out with your family or friends and have an amazing time. Their service is absolutely the best; the waiters are kind and check up on you a good amount of times in case you need anything. One of their many great plates is the Cajun Chicken Pasta. This plate is $11.99, and although most people believe this is on the pricey side, it is definitely worth the price because it fills you up. One thing the picture is missing is the piece of garlic bread the pasta comes with. Everytime I go to Chili's, I always order the Cajun Chicken Pasta because the creamy alfredo sauce, sliced up tomatoes, sliced grilled chicken and shreds of cheese it has is super delicious and tasty. My personal favorite part about this meal is dipping my garlic bread in the alfredo sauce. It is obviously not for everyone, but I believe you should give it a try! With this great dish, you need something refreshing to drink on the side. I usually order the Strawberry Lemonade (with light ice so it doesn't taste like water) because it is super refreshing and is a good combination together. If you and a friend want to save some money, on the back of the Chili's menu, there are a variety of meals where you pay $22 for two and the Cajun Chicken Pasta is one of those. It is perfect for you and a friend, a date, or solo and you want the other plate because you're in love with it! Overall, I believe you and your family should go try this pasta because Chili's is the only place with the best Chicken Pasta ever! Pho Tau Bay Silver Creek: Pho Tau Bay is a Vietnamese restaurant. It is not for everyone, but trust me; as a picky eater myself, I thought I wasn't going to like this place at all, but I’m glad that I decided to eat there because now, I'm a regular customer. It is a good environment for children and big groups. You only have to wait five minutes or so to be seated because they have to clean the tables. The restaurant inside is very spacious and you only need to wait a maximum of ten minutes for your food to come out, while in other places you have to wait a little longer. Pho Tau Bay is usually not as busy at around 8:30-9:00 on Friday nights. On the weekends, it is a little bit busier, but you're still able to be seated within fifteen minutes. On the weekdays and weekends, Pho Tau Bay opens at 8:00 am and closes at midnight, so you have plenty of time to go and try their Chicken Pho! The best thing on their menu is the Chicken Pho with white meat. It is the best soup to have when you're sick because it makes your throat feel good, especially when you have a sore throat and it hurts to swallow; this soup helps your throat relax because of the chicken broth. Even if you're not sick, this Chicken Pho is super good. It has thin noodles, chicken broth, white chicken and your choice of toppings (I recommend adding lemon). They have a small, medium and large plate of all their Phos. I'm not quite sure how much the small costs because I order the medium, which costs $11.75. The plate is quite big, so sometimes, I have to ask for a to-go “box” because I can't finish it and it is too good to throw away. Their servings are definitely filling and super delicious. Alone with their warm Chicken Pho soup on your table, they serve you jasmine tea, that is also super warm and good! Sushi Maru in Milpitas: The third place I recommend you to try is Sushi Maru in Milpitas! It is an average-sized restaurant inside. At this sushi place, you do have to wait a little longer to be seated, but again, it is totally worth it like the last two places! Sushi Maru is usually a little crowded around 8:00-9:00 pm. Since most people are off of work and are in the mood for something good, they come to Sushi Maru and because they know they will not be disappointed. They have an area of two large tables for a group of around eight, and they also have booths for a total of four people. They have some booths set up next to where they prepare the sushi because they have a little “river” where there are sushi rolls on boats going in circles and you can just pick the one you want off the boat. They open from 11:30 am - 2:00 pm and then reopen at 5:00 pm and officially close at 9:30 pm. At this Sushi restaurant, you can either choose from the boats or you can order off of a menu. The couple times I have gone, I always chose from the boat because there are different types of sushies I've never tried before. Also I like to see what I’m going to eat, so sitting at the booths next to the boats is a lot better, especially if you are a picky eater like me. When you grab the small plate of sushi off the boat, they all usually have a total of four rolls per plate and every plate has a different design, and that design identifies the price of that sushi. For example, if I grab two plates of the first plate design (see right) the total of those two would be $7. I can not give you a specific name of sushi and how much it costs because they have a variety of choices. If you want your own type of sushi or something that you do not see on the boats, you can order it and they will bring it out to you. I have only tried the sushi there and I recommend the California Roll, Crab Roll, and the Dragon Roll! Whenever I have sushi, I always just drink water, so I can not recommend any drinks from this place, but I'm sure a Sprite would top it all off! Overall, these are my top three picks for you, your friends, and family to go and try it out! I promise you that you will not be dissapointed. I know for a fact that my family and I love to go to these food places when we get the chance, and when we go, their food definitely hits the spot! I choose these three places because they are of diverse cultures and are very good. It is always a good idea to go out and try new food places and I hope you consider one of my recommendations. by Khoi Le
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