Zaxby's Nutrition: How Healthy is Food from Zaxby's Restaurants?

About Zaxby’s Restaurants

Zaxby’s restaurant was created by Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley in 1990, making Zaxby’s 20 years old. Zach and Tony were childhood friends who continued their friendship into adulthood. They knew nothing about the restaurant business, but wanted to create a restaurant that offered great tasting chicken and wings because they felt the local places just didn’t quite cut it. Zaxby’s restaurants can be found in the southeastern region of the United States. Zaxby’s can currently be found in 11 states including Texas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and North and South Carolina.

Zaxby’s offers a variety of choices on their menu which means that the Zaxby’s nutrition information varies widely depending on the type of food ordered. Zaxby’s offers what they refer to as Zappetizers, Zalads, Meal Dealz, Sandwich Baskets, Wings and Fingerz, Kids Mealz, Party Platterz, desserts, sides, beverages and sauces.

Zaxby’s Nutrition on Two Favorite Menu Items

Zaxby’s most popular menu item is the Chicken Finger Plate. This meal includes chicken fingerz, crinkle fries, texas toast, cole slaw and their special Zax sauce. The Chicken Finger Plate contains 1,053 calories, 452 calories from fat, 49.9 grams of total fat, 10.8 grams of saturated fat, 60 grams of protein and 1,920 milligrams of sodium. Zaxby’s also offers a large size Chicken Finger Plate that contains 1,592 calories.

Another favorite item on Zaxby’s menu is the Wings and Things meal. This platter includes wings and chicken fingerz, crinkle fries, texas toast, celery, ranch and Zax sauce. This meal contains 1,138 calories, 512 calories from fat, 57 grams of total fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 79 grams of protein and 1,963 milligrams of sodium. Like the Chicken Finger Plate, the Wings and Things is also available in a large version that contains 1,676 calories.

Zalads & Kids Mealz Nutrition

One of the healthier meal options available at Zaxby’s is the Grilled Chicken House Zalad. Grilled chicken is healthier than fried chicken, mainly because there’s no skin to eat which adds excess calories. This salad contains 607 calories, 268 calories from fat, 30 grams of total fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 50 grams of protein and 1,515 milligrams of sodium. Though it’s a low-calorie meal option, it still contains high amounts of fat and sodium, but it does contain a good amount of protein.

The Kiddie Finger is one of the three Kids Mealz items available and it includes chicken fingerz, crinkle fries with seasoning salt. This particular meal contains 390 calories, 159 calories from fat, 17 grams of total fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 23 grams of protein and 711 milligrams of sodium. It’s important to remember that this nutritional information does not include a beverage.

Most people are aware that fried chicken is very unhealthy. If you take a peek at the nutrition of each of the different items, you can choose to consume as many or as few calories as you wish. Also, remember that you don’t have to eat the entire meal. You can save a lot of calories and added fat by eating only half of the meal.

References

Zaxbys.com: “Nutritional Information” (assessed March 23, 2010)

DietFacts.com: “Chicken Breast, Southern Fried” (assessed March 23, 2010)