How to Eat Out at Restaurants When You Have Kidney Disease

Eating out with friends or family shouldn’t feel like a high-stakes test and should not be stressful! However, restaurant kitchens often rely on high amounts of salt, butter, pre-seasoned sauces, and sodium-based preservatives to speed up prep and enhance flavor.

With a few strategic ordering techniques, you can enjoy dining out while keeping your sodium, phosphorus, and potassium targets on track.

Some Strategies to use for Any Restaurant

• Ask for Sauces, Dressings, and Gravies on the Side: Kitchens often ladle heavily. Getting them on the side lets you control the portion with a dip of your fork rather than drenching your meal.
• Request “No Added Salt” Ask your serverif the kitchen can grill or broil your protein (fish, steak, or chicken) without added seasoning blend or steak butter.
• Beware of “Crispy” and “Glazed” Words like glazed, teriyaki, barbecue, marinated, or smoked usually signal high-sodium marinades or phosphate-containing sauces.
• Swap the Side Dishes: Most entrees automatically come with high-sodium friends, or high potassium sides like mashed potatoes. Ask to swap for steamed white rice, a plain side salad with oil and vinegar, or steamed low potassium vegetables (like green beans or broccoli).

Cuisine-Specific Hacks

Italian Restaurants

• Watch out for: Cured meats (prosciutto, salami), heavy cream sauces (Alfredo) processed parmesan, and garlic bread seasoned with salt blends.
• Better Options: Pasta roasted with olive oil, fresh garlic, and herbs; grilled chicken piccata (light on capers); or personal pizzas ordered with light cheese, red sauce, and fresh vegetables instead of processed meats.

Mexican Restaurants

• Watch out for: Pre-salted tortilla chips, jarred salsas, refriend beans, and queso dip loaded with phosphate emulsifiers.
• Better Options: Soft corn or flour tortillas filled with plain grilled chicken, steak, or fish (fajitas ordered without extra salt); topped with lettuce, fresh tomato, and cilantro. Skip the refried beans and shredded cheese, and opt for plain steamed rice.

Asain Cuisine

• Watch out for: Soy sauce, fish sauce, teriyaki glaze, and monosodium glutamate (MSG)- all of which rapidly spike sodium in a meal.
• Better Options: Request your dish prepared steamed with sauce on the side. Choose steamed white rice over fried rice. At sushi restaurants, opt for simple roll combinations like cucumber or fresh salmon, and use low sodium soy sauce sparingly by diluting it with a bit of plain water or lemon juice.

American Diners & Steakhouses

• Watch out for: Pre-seasoned steaks, bacon, sausage, gravy, and french fries
• Better Options: Order poached or scrambled eggs with unbuttered white toast; a plain grilled hamburger on a standard bun (hold the cheese and bacon, top with lettuce and tomato); or a sirloin steak specified “grilled plain with no steak butter or seasoning salt.”