If there were a restaurant that specifically catered to low carb foods (or even low carb "fast foods") would you eat there?

Assume that the cost of the food was slightly higher than national fast food chains and the food quality was good to great.

If so, what would you want that restaurant to:

- look like?
- carry in terms of menus?
- provide, in terms of additional services?

I am looking into seeking investors to start up a low carb fast-food restaurant.

Thanks,
JF3

throw one over here in CO.
I would definitly eat there.

I dont care what it looks like as long as its clean. Then i would not have to cook so much.
It would definitly have to have take out.
as far as the menu goes anything low carb.

Lo Carb desserts - would be a must!!!

McAtkins

maybe for a value meal you could have a cheeseburger no bun wrappped in lettuce, pork rhinds, and a diet rite. lol



Jon

heres my wish list
really great decaf, sugarfree, heavycream coffee drinks -hot & cold
sugarfree italian cream sodas
filtered water on the table at no charge
fresh salads w/ bacon,cheese,etc. -my fav is bluecheese / BLT
low carb tortillas w/ chix fahitas stuff on them
deep fried veggie chips-like potato chips but not potatos
coleslaw
Thia roll ups-spicy w/ side of peanut sauce
baskets of spicy wings w/celery & bluecheese dip
burger in a basket
little bags of BBQ soy nuts and flavored almonds on the counter
so that i can bring my non LC friends in w/ it has to offer a bun for the burger and i hate to say it but probably regular ketchup
menus have to have nutrtional info on them
the decor should have yoga posters, at least one poster of a really hot guy lifting weights and one poster that says BEEF- Its whats for dinner.
OH- there should be a doctors scale that doubles as decor/addtl'service
for fun put me in one of those mirrors that makes me look tall and skinny no matter what. It should be near the desserts!
well i'm getting hungry so let me know when you're open!

This buisness would do very well. It seems like the low carb is "fad" is finally making it out of fad status. Everyone has a friend that low-carbs. "In-N-Out" already has the "Protein Style" burger. All it is is a burger wrapped in lettuce instead of bread. That would probably be teh downfall of the buisness, the fact that you can pretty much go to any fastfood restaurant and get a hamburger and take off the buns. Or go to a sit down restaurant and get steak and eggs. I don't know what it is but you gotta find the niche or something that would make it worhtwhile to go there to get your low-carb foods rather than to a fastfood place. I'm guesswing the good low-carb desserts would be the big drawl. Just my thoughts.

...and your thoughts are appreciated. You're absolutely right. Why this restaurant? Here are some of my thoughts on this:

- Low carb dieters are very passionate after they see "the truth" about the role of fats vs. carbs. It is my guess that this alone would make for repeat customers.

- Guilt-free ordering... I know that I feel like an idiot when I order a burger with no bread, + cheese, +bacon, + a side of mayo. My guess is that many people order the burger, and throw away the bread, just to avoid the guilt. At this place, it would be second nature.

- Convenience through variety. I know that I've gotten tired of eggs, eggs, eggs, beef, beef, beef, etc, etc. I know that there are tons of possibilities and combinations that are yet untapped. This restaurant would make the variety easily accessible.

- True health. How many restaurants can say that the food is good for you? Subway found a niche in this market with the Jared campaign. While it's true that some have lost weight on low fat sandwiches--they're starving. I know--I was one of them. Well, not at the low carb restaurant.

- A place to meet and greet with others like you.

- Just plain convenience. Didn't have time to prepare your low carb meal? Run to the low carb fast food place on your way to work. No sweat.

Just some things, I've been thinking about....

Everyone, thanks for all the suggestions. I'd like to hear more...

I notice that you live in Chicago which is a big city so probably a good place to open a new buisness with such a "radical" concept. BUT I think if you are really, really, really, really, really, gonna do this, you should open up shop in L.A. Purely because it is the health/trendy capital of the world. More thoughts of mine, i'm sure to have more spewing out soon....

I think the best draw of a LC restaurant would be really great sauces. It would be nice to have LC gravies and glazes and ketchup and things like that, in addition to a lot of fresh veggies.

And, yes, it gets annoying saying, "No fries, what kind of veggies do you have?"

I think the best part would be that one could eat just about anything on the menu! It would be a good idea to highlight meals especially low in carbs, as well, for induction level dieters.

That's my two cents.

Low carb desserts- a definite plus.

Low carb bread- with real butter, too.

JF3,

I have been thinking the same thing but with no capitol and limited knowledge, I know it is something that I could not do. In central Florida I know it would be a big hit because all of the stores are running out of Atkins products and the sugar free section is bare and I had to wait a week to get a box of Splenda. Low carb is big here! really big!

I would love to have a place that served really good fried chicken coated in pork rinds. I hate to make it because of the mess but oh it taste SOOOO good.

My dream resturant would have flavors from all different types, such as italian, mexican, japanese, chinese, thai, american, californian, carribean, cuban, french, etc. Kind of like an international low carb fare. And by doing all of these different types of food, you could trick other non LC'ers to come in and enjoy!

Oh! and lots of flavors of cheesecake! I guess what I am descibing is a Low Carb Cheesecake Factory! Didn't they start out in Chicago? We have 2 in Central Florida and they are always packed! Oh.. and a salad bar to die for! that would be great! And low carb soups... I could go on and on... can't you tell!

The very thought of this excites me so much! Good luck on your endevour!

It really is a great idea!! I think it would succeed!!

I've got some names



The Low Carb Cafe


or


The Meaterie Eaterie

or


Where's the Bun?



Jon

I would like to see a restraunt carry:

1) Diet Rite or Diet RC Cola;

2) Low-Carb Deserts (NO Aspartame/NutraSweet/Equal).

3) Low-Carb Sides. It really annoys me that the choices at most restraunts are Hi-Starch, Hi-Flour, or Hi-Sugar;

4) Splenda and Stevia Packets on the Table instead of Sugar and Equal.

5) No HIDDEN Sugar !!! This is the worst thing about restraunts. They buy food loaded w. Sugar. Some meats (Bacon, Sausage, Ham, etc...) have Sugar added. Many soups have sugar added.

6) No Hidden MSG !!! They hide that garbage in all kinds of stuff. I just found out how much MSG I've been unwittingly consuming. I have been trying not to consume MSG by not eating Chineese (even before going on Atkins). Then, I found out they were hiding it in my soup.

7) No Aspartame/NutraSweet/Equal. It has too many related problems. Splenda isn't that much more expensive and IMO tastes better w.o the Side-Effects of Aspartame.

8) Better soup choices. I can only eat the soup at most restraunts 1 day a week, because the other 6 days they serve Hi-Carb. soups. Actually, I can get away with a couple Matzo Balls in my soup w.o getting knocked out of Ketosis. But, I won't touch msot cream (Added Milk) or tomato based (Added Sugar) soups due to their Hi-Carb. content.

9) Better Veggie choices. You don't have to cook every dang veggie. Some veggies are better raw. Also, every veggie does not have to be preceded by "Sweet" or "Honey". Both indicate added sugar.

10) More meat choices. I had Buffalo (Real Buffalo not Chicken) a couple times when I was living in Orlando. The hotel on Alafaya and Colonial made it into Hamburgers. Unfortunately, they cooked onions INTO the meat. The Buffalo itself tasted good.