Healthy Food Off Campus

While our wonderful USC campus does offer students an excellent variety of healthy and satisfying food, sometimes we all just need to get away. Even though the area surrounding USC has the highest concentration of fast food restaurants per square mile in Los Angeles (there are so many, in fact, that there has been a ban on building any new ones), it is still possible to go to these places and get something that not only tastes good but is good for you.

The Good Options from the Not-So-Good Restaurants

Chipotle- the best options here are the salads, as long as you steer clear of the rice, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese. Instead, opt for a chicken burrito bowl with black beans, green tomatillo salsa, veggies, and sour cream (if you must!)

McDonalds- McDonalds has healthier options than most would think. A quarter pounder sans cheese, 6 piece chicken nuggets, egg McMuffin, and grilled chicken sandwich all weigh in at under 500 calories.

Wendys-If Wendy's is your fast food of choice, your best options are a baked potato with sour cream and chives, an ultimate grilled chicken sandwich, or even 5 pieces of crispy chicken nuggets with a side of chili. Yummy!

Taco Bell- Taco Bell recently introduced their new "fresca" menu, which is essentially some of their more popular items without cheese or other fattening additions and instead with a tasty pico de gallo salsa. Items not on the fresca menu but still worth your time? Two spicy chicken soft tacos and surprisingly enough, cinnamon twists!

KFC- It may be hard to believe that a restaurant with the word "Fried" in the name could actually have something healthy, but, as usual, it's all about what you choose. A good first step would be to ask for your chicken skinless, but if you really want something fried and crispy, go for 3 crisp strips or one of the snack wraps (the honey BBQ one is the best).

Dominos-Cheese, tomatoes, and carbohydrates isn't bad for you, but for some reason when it all comes together on a big pizza it can be. Luckily Dominos has some good options that still give you the pizza taste you crave. Go for 2 slices of crunchy thin crust pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple or 2 slices of crunchy thin crust deluxe feast, and both options will cost you less than 500 calories. Not all chains offer it, but try to get whole wheat crust when you can or at least 1/2 cheese.

Jack in the Box- Jack in the Box offers something not usually seen at fast food restaurants, and that is pita sandwiches. The chicken fajita pita is filling and delicious, and not bad for you. Other good options include the hamburger deluxe or the breakfast Jack.

Panda Express- Unfortunately for Panda fans, some of the best tasting items on the menu like Orange Chicken or Chow Mein are not healthy-eating friendly. But don't be discouraged! A plate of steamed veggies, mushroom chicken, and beef and broccoli is only 350 calories. Not bad at all! Other good options are the tangy shrimp or string bean chicken.

Want to see what some of these delicious sounding options look like? Follow this link and you'll be hungry in no time.

The Good, the Tasty, and The Fast

Luckily there are some healthier fast food restaurants around USC to help balance out the restaurants mentioned above. There is actually a good amount of healthy options that are just as fast as the other ones. Since its a lot easier to make healthy choices from these restaurants we won't tell you what you should look out for, since its harder to go wrong. But in case you need a reminder, here are the best healthy and fast food options around the USC campus.

• Quiznos

• Subway

• Robeks

• Soy

• Manna

• El Pollo Loco

• Salad Farm