Restaurants have been pressed since at least the 1970s to provide menu options for customers looking to lose weight and eat more healthfully. That pressure might reach its peak every January, when patrons are hellbent on following a set diet in hopes of shedding a few pounds.
What diet might that be this year, given the weight-loss schemes currently in vogue? Chances are it won’t have as much of an influence on menus as the craze that swept up diners and restaurants more than two decades ago, prompting chain after chain to overhaul their bills of fare.
Join us on this week’s edition of Restaurant Rewind for a look at the profound influence that fad, the Atkins diet, temporarily had on the industry. It’s a cautionary tale of how short-lived any restrictive eating plan tends to be, regardless of how widely it might have been embraced.
Press play for a look at the influence popular diets have today, compared to the force at least one packed 25 years ago.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.