by Ainsley Jo Phillips

Created on: January 27, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

I'm not a major naysayer of fast-food restaurants. I've eaten in my share of them and haven't-to my knowledge, anyway-gotten food-poisoning from a single one of them. Neither have I found body parts in my food.

Even high-quality, independently-owned restaurants have their moments at times-one example being when one of my relatives (have forgotten which one) found a dime at the bottom (interior) of his/her soft-drink glass.

Most people are aware that fast-foods aren't exactly health food establishments, either-but we know that when we enter them. If we want a health food establishment, we go to one. One of my favorites back when I was in graduate school was owned by a couple where the husband had been cured of "incurable" pancreatic cancer through eating what was known as a macrobiotic diet. This-along with other healthy and tasty selections-was served there.

The restaurant was operated by other people who believed in what they were preparing and didn't try to get away with cutting corners when it came to quality.

It was a very clean and pleasant-smelling place.

Even there, one customer found a fly in her salad. She was in there with her boyfriend, and she suddenly jumped up and ran outside, so I thought that they were having a lovers' quarrel. As it turned out, he was more sold on this kind of food than she was, and nothing on the menu had really appealed to her except for a salad-and, when that salad turned out not to be exactly vegetarian, she was outta there.

Anyway-now that I've established that even the most careful and independently-owned restaurant has its moments and that I'm, by no means, anti-fast-food (including those foods such as fries, pies, and oversized burgers that don't have a reputation for being health foods)-I'm going to go the route of listing some of the most healthy of the fast-food chain industry.

The first one that comes to mind is Subway. This restaurant has a wide variety of meats, toppings, and condiments to be stuffed into a wide choice of breads that are baked right there in the restaurant. Everything always appears to be fresh. They do bake cookies, but they're a high quality of cookies that are, like the breads, baked right at the site. They serve beverages such as popular pops, but I actually notice more selections of the healthy kind such as bottled water (flavored or plain), iced tea, and fruit juices. Their selection of crunchy munchies aren't limited to but do include such items as multi-grained Sun Chips and potato chips that have been baked instead of fried.

Subway also offers soups and salads.

The help also keeps the place up in terms of cleanliness.

Subway would probably be at the top of my list when it comes to healthy fast-food, but it is closely followed by such places as Boston Market, Fazoli's, Culver's, and (when I'm lucky enough to be in Canada or one of its rare locations in the states) Tim Horton's.

Although those places would be considered to be fast-food, they actually have serveral items in their menus that would be considered to be dinners. The same can be said for KFC, but, as far as variety goes, I believe that the aforementioned ones run circles around the latter-which isn't to say that I don't like KFC, because I definitely do.

If you dine in at Tim Horton's, the majority of your meal (which you gather up cafeteria-style) is served to you on real dishes with real dinnerware. It has been several years since I've had the chance to eat there, but that was how it was a few years ago, and I'm assuming that this hasn't changed.

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