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Free AI tool for eating out

Restaurant calorie estimator

A meal out comes with no label, no scale and a kitchen you cannot see. Describe the dish as it arrived, sides and drinks included, and the estimator works out its calories and macros the way a restaurant usually makes it, not the way you would at home.

Describe what you ordered

Name the dish and what came with it: sides, sauces, drinks and the size if the menu gave one.

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Why a restaurant meal needs its own estimate

The same dish often carries more energy from a restaurant kitchen than from a home one, for reasons you cannot see on the plate. Food on a hot grill or pan is usually cooked in oil or brushed with butter. Salads tend to arrive dressed, vegetables are often finished with butter, and sauces are part of the recipe rather than a spoonful on the side. Portions follow the menu, not your appetite, and bread, fries or rice come with the plate.

So this page tells the AI to assume restaurant portions and the fats and sauces kitchens usually add, unless your description says otherwise. Write dressing on the side, didn't use it or half portion of fries and the estimate follows you.

What the estimate can and cannot know

It cannot know the restaurant's recipe. Naming a chain or a menu item tells the AI what kind of dish it is and how big it usually is, but not that kitchen's own figures, and the tool never claims to have them. If the restaurant publishes nutrition for the dish, use theirs: it is measured for their recipe and their serving.

Rows that match a food in our database use USDA FoodData Central values for the estimated weight and link that food. Everything else is the AI's estimate and is labelled as one. The weights are always estimated from your words, which is where most of the uncertainty is. How accurate is AI calorie counting? goes through the weak spots in detail.

When the restaurant publishes its numbers

In the United States, restaurant chains with 20 or more locations must show calories on their menus and menu boards and have fuller nutrition information available on request, under the FDA's menu labeling rule. Many chains elsewhere publish the same on their websites. Look there first for a chain meal, and use this estimator for the independent place round the corner, the market stall, the dish a friend ordered for the table, or the night you forgot to check.

How to describe a meal out

  • Say the size the menu gave: large, 12-inch, double patty, pint.
  • Name what came with it: bread and butter, fries or salad, the sauce, the dip.
  • For shared plates, give your share: about a third of a sharing platter, two slices of a large pizza.
  • Include drinks and dessert, which are easy to forget and rarely small.
  • Say what you left: ate half the rice is as useful as anything you ate.
  • Mention how it was cooked when the menu said: grilled, fried, battered, creamy.

Frequently asked questions

Does the estimator know a restaurant chain's menu?
No. It knows what kind of dish you name and how large such a dish usually is, not a particular restaurant's recipe or published figures. If the restaurant lists the dish's nutrition, that number is the better one.
Why is the estimate higher than the same meal at home?
Because this page assumes restaurant portions and the cooking fat, butter, dressing and sauce kitchens usually add. If your meal came without them, say so in the description.
Does it work for take-away and delivery?
Yes. Describe what was in the box or bag the same way: the dish, its size, and every side and sauce that came with it.
How should I log a meal I shared?
Describe only your part of it: a share of the platter, the number of slices, or half the dish. The estimate is for what you write.
Do you keep what I type?
No. The description is sent to Google Gemini to be analysed and is not stored by us. A repeated description may be answered from memory for up to seven days, kept under a keyed hash rather than the text. That answer does include the names of the foods the AI read in your description, with their weights and nutrition.

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An estimate of a typical version of the dish, not the restaurant's own figures, and not medical or dietary advice. For an allergy or a medical diet, ask the restaurant and follow your doctor's guidance.