--- title: Report Revels Which Chain Restaurant Meals are the Most Unhealthy description: Red Lobster’s shrimp Create Your Own Combination menu option has 3600 calories per the Center for Science in the Public Interest canonical: https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-05T14:45:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:26.014Z og:title: Report Revels Which Chain Restaurant Meals are the Most Unhealthy og:description: Red Lobster’s shrimp Create Your Own Combination menu option has 3600 calories per the Center for Science in the Public Interest og:url: https://time.com/3910588/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01f3efbf2bad8a61/698853295f570f4c3bb1bd46/red-lobster-xtreme-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: red-lobster-xtreme-2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Report Revels Which Chain Restaurant Meals are the Most Unhealthy twitter:description: Red Lobster’s shrimp Create Your Own Combination menu option has 3600 calories per the Center for Science in the Public Interest twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01f3efbf2bad8a61/698853295f570f4c3bb1bd46/red-lobster-xtreme-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is the Unhealthiest Meal You Can Eat at an American Chain Restaurant > Sponsored content. 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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). ```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":"2026-08-04T07:48:26.014Z","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. 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