Whole30 Restaurants: Where to Eat, What to Order

1: Zoe’s Kitchen *Whole30 Approved*

Zoe’s is Whole30 Approved restaurant, meaning you can just go in and order a ready-to-go Whole30 compliant meal, no questions asked! And they’ve got a massive list of Whole30 compliant menu items below. What you can order:

• Main Dishes: Chicken Kabobs, Shrimp Kabobs, Salmon Kabobs, Mediterranean Chicken, Moroccan Citrus Roasted Chicken (no turmeric rice), Cauliflower Rice Bowl (no feta or greek tzatziki) Greek Salad (no feta, cucumbers instead of pita).
• Side Dishes: Roasted Vegetables, Fresh Fruit, Potato Salad
• Sauces: Zoe’s Dressing, Israeli Skhug, Italian Salsa Verde, Moroccan Harissa

2: Chipotle *Whole30 Approved*

Chipotle is another awesome option that’s officially Whole30 Approved. They recently introduced Carne Asada and Chicken as compliant options in addition to the carnitas (they’ve been compliant for years!), so it’s exciting to have three protein options. What you can order:

• Whole30 Salad Bowl (one touch on the app or online).
• If you’re in person, order: Salad Bowl with romaine lettuce, carnitas, chicken, or carne asada, fajita veggies, tomato salsa (and/or tomatillo red salsa and tomatillo green salsa), and guacamole.

If you want to recreate it at home, you can always make my Chipotle Copycat Barbacoa recipe!

3: Cheesecake Factory

For a restaurant named after what’s probably the least Paleo and Whole30 friendly food in the world, the Cheesecake Factory has several really decent OPTIONS for a full, delicious, compliant meal! Always double check with your server or call ahead to be sure accommodations can be made. What you can order:

• Skinnylicious Grilled Salmon with no mayo and a side of vegetables
• Skinnylicious Hamburger with no bun and no mayo, served with a side salad and olive oil and vinegar.
• Grilled Branzino with mediterranean vegetables. Just ask that they’ll only use compliant oil during cooking.

4: In N Out Burger

A solid, delicious option for when you’re traveling or need to eat out for other reasons. It’s surprisingly simple to get a complete Paleo friendly/Whole30 compliant meal at In N Out Burger. What you can order:

• Double meat, protein style, no sauce, add mustard, pickles, grilled onions, and no cheese.

6: Five Guys

Five Guys is a fun burger chain known for their simple menu. They fry their French fries in peanut oil, so do not order the fries! That said, the burgers are an okay option for when you need to eat out. What you can order:

• A burger or double burger patty with no bun, extra tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, mustard, and onion. Confirm they won’t use noncompliant oil on the grill.
• Note: The pickles are Mount Olive brand, and their mustard is French’s, which are both compliant! Just bring your own ketchup if you like that.

7: California Pizza Kitchen

Here comes another restaurant named after one of the least Whole30 and Paleo friendly foods ever, but is totally delivering with some compliant options! Go figure. What you can order:

• Cedar Plank Salmon with no succotash, and substitute steamed vegetables.
• Fire Grilled Ribeye with no butter or wine salt, substitute oil for the dressing on the side salad. Confirm there’s no cheese or croutons added to the side salad.

8: Chili’s

So now we’re getting into the section of the list that has some decent Whole30 compliant options also need to be specially ordered and carefully confirmed. You’ll need to call ahead to Chili’s to confirm they have another oil besides soybean oil– My local Chili’s did, but it had to be specially requested. What you can order:

• Ribeye or Sirloin with steamed broccoli or grilled asparagus, with no marinade or butter.
• I think you could try to special order fajitas without tortillas, rice or beans, and double check that it can be cooked in compliant oil. The guacamole and salsa were both compliant at my Chili’s!

9: Applebee’s

I used to love Applebee’s when I was a teenager, but it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten there. As a restaurant with a huge menu, I would’ve thought there’d be more Paleo friendly options, but there weren’t too many. That said, you can still eat there! What you can order:

• Sirloin or Ribeye dinner with a side of steamed broccoli and baked potato. Confirm they’ll only use compliant oil.

10: Olive Garden

I was pleasantly surprised to see that with a few small accommodations, there are some solid Whole30 and Paleo friendly menu options at Olive Garden. What you can order:

• Herb Grilled Salmon with NO BUTTER, and ask for the broccoli to be made without parmesan.
• Zoodles Primavera with shrimp, no cream sauce, and oil only. Tell your server to leave the bread sticks in the kitchen. Please double and triple check ingredients at your location.

11: Burger King

Charbroiled burgers! The only ingredient in Burger King burger is beef, yay, so it’s Whole30 compliant. There are better options out there, but it’s definitely not the worst place in the world for Whole30 fast food. What you can order:

• Burger patty with lettuce, onion, and tomatoes.
• Side salad with no dressing, no cheese, and no croutons.

12: McDonalds

I have yet to go on a road trip and not encounter at least one McDonald’s, so you can pretty much count on it as an option. Most of the menu is not compliant, but it’s nice to know their beef patties are 100% beef, which is refreshing. No additives, hurray! What you can order:

• Beef patty with lettuce, onions, and mustard
• Side salad with no dressing
• Apple slices

13: Panera Bread

Panera doesn’t offer a ton of options, but when you’re living that Whole30 life, you do get used to patching together a meal with a side salad and some hard boiled eggs, if need be. That’s pretty much what you’ll need to do at Panera. What you can order:

• Green Goddess Salad with no bacon, dressing, or pickled onions (I assume the pickled onions have sugar in them but I couldn’t get an answer on that). You can add roasted turkey!
• Seasonal Greens Salad with no dressing, a fruit cup, and an apple. then just be sure to get plain olive oil and vinegar as your dressing.
• Turkey Sandwich with no mayo and no bread, extra lettuce. Basically it’s just deli turkey on top of greens with some veggies and mustard (the mustard is compliant!)
• They also have hard boiled eggs, compliant turkey, and avocado that can be ordered a la carte and added to meals.

14: Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel is one of those places that just makes me feel at home when I’m on a road trip. They’ve been absolutely wonderful making accommodations to make their meals Whole30 compliant in the past. One of the biggest things is to make sure compliant oil is used. What you can order:

• Grilled Chicken Tenderloin dinner with no marinade with steamed vegetables.
• Grilled Sirloin Steak with no butter, a baked potato and steamed vegetables.
• Eggs with tomato slices and a side of fruit.

15: Wendy’s

I really like Wendy’s as a company, mostly because I love Dave Thomas– I used to love his commercials when I was a kid, and the Dave Thomas Foundation is pretty great. But for Whole30 fast food, there are only a few options. What you can order:

• Burger Patty
• Side salad with no dressing, no cheese, and no croutons
• Baked potato
• Apple bites

17: Chick Fil A

Okay, we’re officially at the part of the list that is way less than impressive. Chick Fil A has some so-so Whole30 options for a fast food restaurant, but not many. I still like to stop here on road trips though, because I can grab an unsweetened iced tea and my kids can burn some energy in their play place. You won’t starve, but you can definitely do better if you’re looking for a Whole30 or Paleo friendly restaurant. What you can order:

• Apple sauce packet or a fruit cup without mandarins (they have sugar in the syrup).
• A side salad without cheese, bell peppers, or dressing.
• Warning: All of the chicken is made with non-compliant ingredients (even the grilled chicken and the grilled nuggets). Do not order the chicken!

18: Subway

I was completely grossed out to learn that Subway has ZERO compliant protein options. None. For a company that talks a whole lot about health in their marketing campaigns, they sure don’t seem too focused on whole foods. Basically all you can get:

• A bowl of compliant vegetables you like (lettuce, tomato, onion), and unsweetened Applesauce. This might work out okay if you had a compliant meat stick or can of tuna handy.

19: PF Chang’s

PF Chang’s officially wins the award for least Whole30 and Paleo friendly. I couldn’t find one thing on the menu that can be easily adjusted! Every single protein option has soy and/or wheat included as an ingredient (WHAT?!). You can literally order nothing.

• If you must eat at PF Chang’s, the best bet would be to call ahead to your local restaurant and see if they can accommodate you somehow. It’s possible the chicken lettuce wraps or beef and broccoli could be specially made, but I wouldn’t be too hopeful.