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| - I work nearby, and I keep seeing my coworkers with the distinctive red muscle maker containers at lunchtime. I finally tried it out today. It's a small shop run by friendly, personable people. They have a varied selection of healthy menu options, with nutrition info and calorie counts clearly labeled on their big menu displays and printed flyers, so you can comparison-shop without having to do any research before you go. Most of the items on the menu seem to fall between 400 and 800 calories. The black-and-red decor -- including walls painted solid matte-black with red accents -- has a slightly haunted-house/porn-theater/NASCAR feel to it; I don't mind that at all, but I can see how it might feel off-putting or claustrophobic to some. Fight through it!
I had a Yee-ha wrap -- grilled chicken, turkey bacon, southwest potatoes, yummy spicy sauce. It was very good (actually much tastier than I expected it to be), and very filling -- I was full after finishing half the wrap and saved the rest for dinner. I got a cucumber salad on the side. It was refreshing and a nice complement to the spicy wrap, but the vegetables were a little rubbery, making me think maybe it had been made yesterday.
According to the menu, my wrap had about 680 calories. I thought it was at least as tasty as the Qdoba Queso burrito I can get down the street, which is literally nearly a thousand calories with the default options (no wonder they don't disclose their calorie information right there on the menu -- they'd go out of business). The food at Muscle Maker grill is tasty, and I really appreciate that their business model is built around transparency about the nutrition you're getting when you eat there. I'm looking forward to trying more of their menu.
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