Taste Test: Better Fast Food

Just skip the Tendercrisp salads, which have fried chicken and about a day's worth of fat.

McDonald's The small burger (260 calories), cheeseburger (310) and Chicken McGrill (400) are the caloric bargains among the sandwiches. Even the fried Filet-o-Fish (400) is an okay choice for a splurge: It packs 18 grams of fat, but 13 of them come from healthful fats. Save 90 calories and nearly two grams of saturated fat by skipping the tartar sauce. Note that most, if not all, of the chain's fried fare has some trans fat.

Try the salads. They include Bacon Ranch With Grilled Chicken, Fruit and Walnut and have 90 to 370 calories. (Skip any salads with crispy chicken, which is fried.) Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing not only tastes great but is a caloric winner at just 40 calories--as much as 100 calories less than some of the creamy, full-fat dressings.

For dessert, reach for the Apple Dippers, slices of apples with Low-Fat Caramel Dip (100 calories) or the Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait (160 calories, 130 without granola).

Subway You know all about Jared Fogle, the Indiana University student who lost 245 pounds and found a job as a spokesman for this chain. But he shed those pounds by eating the six-inch Savory Turkey Breast without mayo, oil or cheese (280 calories; 4.5 grams fat) and the 12-inch veggie sub (460 calories, six grams fat). He didn't eat the high-calorie subs like the Chicken Bacon and Ranch (530 calories, 25 grams fat) or the Meatball Marinara (560 calories, 24 grams of fat). He also reportedly did a lot of walking to help burn calories. Our testers gave high marks to the Savory Turkey Breast and Ham sub on honey oat bread with honey mustard, lettuce and tomato (290 calories and five grams of fat for the six-inch size).

Quiznos They've added flatbread sandwiches to their toasted-sandwich-and-soup combination. Unfortunately, the chicken in the flatbreads is fried unless you ask for it not to be. Our testers liked the roasted chicken flatbread with one slice of cheese and mushrooms. A cup of chicken soup was a bit salty and had mostly pasta and one tiny piece of chicken. Quiznos provides limited nutritional information on its Web site, advising consumers and the press to contact the company for more details. Repeated telephone calls and e-mails to the company were not returned.

Wendy's We tried Mandarin Chicken Salad, Chicken BLT Salad, Mediterranean Chicken Salad and Fresh Fruit Bowl. All were winners (even without the almonds or crispy rice noodles on the Mandarin Chicken Salad and even though one tester wished there were olives in the Mediterranean salad.) All ranged from about 220 to 680 calories. (Avoid the Homestyle Chicken Strips Salad, which has fried chicken tenders.)

Baked potatoes, mixed fruit cups, mandarin oranges and side salads are new options that can be substituted for fries in combo meals. The Ultimate Chicken Grill (360 calories) with a baked potato pleased our testers. Or make a meal out of the stuffed baked potato with cheese for 440 calories, 15 grams of fat (only three of them saturated and zero trans fats). ·

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