Best Fast Food for Gainz

Any of you guys who lift or are trying to put on weight, where do you go to get cheap (meaning high amount of nutrients or calories per dollar) take-out food?

I already meal-prep but it's hard to eat the same thing 10x a week, so I like to mix in take-out at reasonably priced and reasonably healthy restaurants. Right now, the main spots are:

  • Chick Fil A
  • Chipotle or equivalent burrito spot
  • Panda Express (new Almond Chicken is all white meat, highly recommend)
  • Couple So-Cal specific restaurants like Fresh Corn Grill and Tender Greens but they are semi expensive per calorie

Looking to add more places where I can get solid, semi-healthy calories for <$15 without shitting my pants (eg not Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, etc)

52 Comments
 

Grilled chicken sandwich at CFA and the wrap are both good imo. Do you have Cava (https://cava.com/) where you are, it's similar to Chipotle

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

For some reason despite the Taco Bell diarrhea meme, I've actually never had a problem with their food and have probably eaten there >100 times. I actually feel better after Taco Bell than something heavier like Chipotle. But to answer your question, I'd probably say Noodles and Company has some of the best "semi-healthy" calories per dollar. Can get all kinds of noodles with grilled chicken, meatballs, steak, etc. for 8 or 9 bucks.

 
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Chipotle is the easiest to make healthy IMO. Two you might not think of -

Panera. There are definitely some terrible things on their menu, but You Pick Two can be quite healthy with certain soups/salad/sandwich combos

Also Subway - can make high protein meals for cheap, they also have decent protein bowls if you're not a bread guy

Array
 
SacrificingAdolescentYears

Chipotle is my lifeeee

Yeah Chipotle is good

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

CFA has an all around good menu. Everything is pretty tasty, the fruit bowls are fresh, salads are good (regular and kale), mac and cheese and fries are both tasty carb sources. And the breakfast is bomb too. I love ordering everything on my phone for drive through orders. Very convenient. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I just went to CFA - this was my order. They forgot the CFA sandwich. I called the place and the guy on the phone gave me a free sandwich and Mac and cheese on the app. 

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Yeah I usually spend $25 at Chipotle and $30 at CFA

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Dave16

Tuna and peanut butter smoothies. Straight gains

It must taste weird having a tuna smoothie though right?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I used to put raw quail eggs in my smoothies, but have to go to Harris Teeter to get them and just don’t really go to that area anymore. Also, the quail eggs are tiny and you have to put like 5 in there or more.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Dave16

Hmm that's an interesting one. I've heard of people pouring olive oil into smoothies for a little extra healthy fats.

Always been scared of salmonella with raw eggs but probably not an issue anymore.

Raw quail eggs don't have salmonella - there is no risk. 

"quail eggs don't carry a salmonella risk at all. This is due to the fact that quail eggs have an increased amount of lysozyme - an antimicrobial enzyme - which kills harmful bacteria."

https://www.quora.com/Are-raw-quail-eggs-less-likely-to-contain-Salmone….

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Bro you wanna fuckin dirty bulk? You wanna get some mass in dat ass? McDonald's and their milk shakes/McFlurries with every meal got you covered fam.

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

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Dude Chipotle has been really stingy with meats and toppings on my last couple Uber Eats orders. I don’t think I will order from them again on Uber Eats. I usually get 6 hard tacos (steak and chicken) and a kids meal with pollo asado. The kids meal is put together ok but tacos are a joke.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Chipotle has gotten really into stack filling when there isn't a direct face to the order being prepared. Basically never worth ordering delivery from there ever. In-person something about staring at the person making it they put more food / effort into it. I go often and have seen them making mobile / delivery orders for any apps and bowls seem lighter than usual (not full) and protein gets skimped. The 4oz of protein is more like a heaping spoonful since the 4oz container is for liquids, not solids. It's gotten really annoying having to pester the worker for a little more when they clearly prepare the bowl with low protein serving. When they serve steak and half the meat falls out they don't go back to get it and you can count the number of pieces quickly you usually got too little for the official "4oz" serving size.

 

Facts Chipotle stays skimping on the meats. Don't order uber or doordash from there because the servers will screw you on the portion size. Like greens above me said, there's something about looking them in the eye while they serve you and just being personable that helps ensure they aren't skimping..

 

Not sure if this is considered fast food but Chili’s has some pretty healthy protein options for pretty cheap.

 

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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