--- ---  # This Is the Unhealthiest Meal You Can Eat at an American Chain Restaurant ## Video: Should I Eat Pizza? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Pizza?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvpgAWn5.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-02-12. You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. But don’t be fooled: these are not greasy thumbs._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 5, 2015 2:45 PM UTC  Center for Science in the Public Interest  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 5, 2015 2:45 PM UTC A shrimp dish at Red Lobster has a calorie count that will leave you shell-shocked. On June 3, the food safety and nutrition consumer advocacy group [Center for Science in the Public Interest](http://www.cspinet.org/new/201506031.html) (CSPI) published a list of the nine unhealthiest meals at chain restaurants, which are over 2,000 calories (a day’s worth of food). At the top of the list is Red Lobster’s shrimp version of the “Create Your Own Combination” menu option. Customers can consume four days worth of sodium and a whopping 3,600 calories when they order the Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp, Walt’s Favorite Shrimp, and Shrimp Linguine, side orders of Caesar salad, French fries, and a Cheddar Bay Biscuit, while washing it all down with the chain’s 890-calorie, 24-ounce signature margarita. Meals from the Cheesecake Factory, IHOP, and Sonic also made [the list](http://www.cspinet.org/nah/xtreme2015.html). To avoid overeating at these restaurants, the group recommends choosing “a thin crust pizza over hand-tossed or pan,” “a small filet or sirloin over a New York Strip \[or\] ribeye,” and “broiled, steamed, baked, or grilled seafood over fried seafood,” [according to a statement](http://www.cspinet.org/new/201506031.html). Report Revels Which Chain Restaurant Meals are the Most Unhealthy ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/"},"headline":"This Is the Unhealthiest Meal You Can Eat at an American Chain Restaurant","datePublished":"2015-06-05T14:45:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:20:46.755Z","description":"According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest","url":"https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","Food Facts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01f3efbf2bad8a61/698853295f570f4c3bb1bd46/red-lobster-xtreme-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01f3efbf2bad8a61/698853295f570f4c3bb1bd46/red-lobster-xtreme-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"red-lobster-xtreme-2015","caption":"","creditText":"Center for Science in the Public Interest","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/","name":"This Is the Unhealthiest Meal You Can Eat at an American Chain Restaurant"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Should I Eat Pizza?","description":"You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. But don’t be fooled: these are not greasy thumbs.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NvpgAWn5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-12T19:00:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvpgAWn5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/","duration":"PT1M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```