Restaurant menu statistics
Calories, sodium and sugar on the menus of 96 restaurant chains in the United States, worked out from the 22,684 items the chains published in January 2018 and from 8 annual collections between 2008 and 2018.
Reports
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Calories by restaurant chain
The median meal item on a restaurant-chain menu in the United States had 450 kcal in January 2018, across 7,419 burgers, sandwiches, main dishes, pizzas, salads and soups at 91 chains. O'Charley's had the highest median (1,030 kcal) and Golden Corral the lowest (180 kcal) of the 89 chains with at least 8 meal items.
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Calories by menu section
Burgers had the highest median energy of the 12 menu sections at restaurant chains in the United States in January 2018: 700 kcal an item. Then came main dishes with 580 kcal, sandwiches with 550 kcal and salads with 490 kcal.
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Restaurant menu calories by year
At the 46 restaurant chains in the United States that MenuStat recorded in every collection from 2008 to 2018, the median meal item had 420 kcal in 2008 and 370 kcal in 2018. Across every chain recorded, the median was 430 kcal in 2008 (51 chains) and 450 kcal in 2018 (96 chains).
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Sodium by restaurant chain
The median meal item on a restaurant-chain menu in the United States had 1,070 mg of sodium in January 2018, and 13.5% of the 7,414 meal items with a published figure had 2,300 mg or more, the US Daily Value for a whole day.
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Sugar in restaurant drinks
The median drink on a restaurant-chain menu in the United States had 35 g of sugar and 190 kcal in January 2018, and 35.9% of the 7,137 drinks with a published figure had 50 g of sugar or more.
The data
Every item behind these reports, with its energy, protein, carbs, fat, sugar, fibre and sodium, is a free download: one file for all chains or one per chain.
Cite this page
Calori (2026). Restaurant menu statistics: United States, 2008 to 2018. https://www.calori.com/restaurants/us/statistics. Data: MenuStat annual data, 2008 to 2018 (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene).
The figures are MenuStat’s, which are in the public domain (CC0 1.0); they are free to reuse with a link to this page. The item-level figures are a CSV or JSON download.
Figures are the ones each chain published for the United States menu in January 2018, from MenuStat 2018 annual data (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene). Carbs exclude fibre, which is listed separately. Menus, recipes and portion sizes change, so check the restaurant’s current menu. Calori is not affiliated with these restaurants; names belong to their owners.
