45 grams of sugar, just 1 gram less than the Kids' Chocolate Milk, so picking juice over chocolate milk doesn't cut the sugar in any meaningful way.
The chocolate milk at least brings 13 grams of protein. Juice brings none. 190 calories.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no more than 4 to 6 ounces of juice a day for children aged 4 to 6. Water it down by half.
The kids' version costs $10.50, the adult Cheese Flatbread $12.95. On the nutrition sheet they're the same food.
Both show 1,000 calories, 50 grams of fat and 2,530 mg of sodium, which is more salt than the FDA's 2,300 mg daily value for adults, so either the portions match or the data is duplicated, and for a child it makes no difference which.
Vegetarian. 49 grams of protein. Split it between two children.
59 grams of protein, the most of anything on the children's menu, and for $2 more than the plain Kids' Quesadilla the chicken adds 19 grams of protein and 120 calories.
940 calories, though. That's within 180 of the adult Quesadilla. 35 grams of saturated fat.
Gluten, milk, wheat and soy are listed. Order it with fruit, not fries.
46 grams of sugar, which is 8 more than the Kids' Mini Hot Fudge Sundae.
Plain Kids' Milk has 16 grams, all of it lactose, the sugar milk carries naturally, so the chocolate adds roughly 30 grams of sugar and 130 calories. The American Heart Association sets 25 grams of added sugar a day as the upper limit for children.
$2.25. 13 grams of protein. I'd pour it as dessert, not with the meal.
A child's portion of fries carries 870 mg of sodium, which is more than the entire Kids' Pigs in a Blanket plate, pastry and hot dogs included, at 780.
300 calories. That's 28% of the adult French Fries, while the salt is 59% of theirs. The small portion gets salted as if it were the big one.
Swap in Kids' Fresh Fruit at the same $3.50 and the plate loses 250 calories and all 870 mg. No allergens are listed on the fries.
50 calories and 0 mg of sodium. Nothing else on the children's menu has less salt.
It costs $3.50, the same as Kids' French Fries, so the swap is free, and it takes 250 calories off a child's plate without anyone needing to explain why.
The menu tags it gluten-free. No allergens are listed. The fruit mix isn't specified on the menu, so ask if your child is picky.
550 mg of sodium. No main on the children's menu has less.
The adult Chicken Tenders carry 3,230 mg, almost six times as much, so this is the fried chicken order where the kids' portion is genuinely scaled down rather than just smaller.
460 calories and 24 grams of protein. Gluten, milk, eggs and wheat are listed. It's the plate I'd order for a picky eater.
Grilled cheese became an American lunch staple in the 1920s and 1930s, once sliced bread and processed cheese were both cheap and on every grocery shelf.
This one is 700 calories. The salt is the surprise. 1,960 mg, fifth-highest on the children's menu, from bread, butter and cheese together.
Only 18 grams of protein. Eggs and soy are listed along with gluten, milk and wheat.
Milk is the only allergen on this plate.
On a children's menu full of breaded, fried and cheese-sauced options, that makes it one of the simplest dishes to order for a child with allergies. 460 calories. 33 grams of protein, the fifth-highest figure among the kids' dishes.
Grilled chicken breast comes with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. The 1,600 mg of sodium is the one number I'd want lower.
540 calories, which is 43% of the adult Grilled Salmon plate. A smaller fillet comes with mashed potatoes and vegetables.
32 grams of protein is the sixth-highest figure on the children's menu. Milk and fish are the only allergens. Gluten isn't one of them.
If your child eats fish, this is the best-balanced plate they'll find here, with 910 mg of sodium against the 2,040 in the macaroni and cheese.
No nutrition figures are published for it. Of the children's menu items, 26 have figures and this isn't among them.
It's made in-house and served cold over ice.
1,160 calories. That's the heaviest dish on the children's menu, 320 calories more than the adult Filet Mignon.
Sodium is 2,040 mg, close to a full adult day's limit, in a bowl meant for a child.
I'd still order it, just not for one kid. Split it between two and each gets 580 calories and 14 or 15 grams of protein, which is a normal dinner. Vegetarian, with gluten, wheat and milk listed.
Whole milk, 200 calories and 10 grams of fat. $1.95, the same price as the non-fat version.
For a child under two, whole milk is what paediatricians recommend, because the fat supports brain development at that age, and after the second birthday the Kids' Non-Fat Milk gives more protein for 80 fewer calories.
10 grams of protein. 16 grams of sugar, all lactose. Milk is the only allergen.
Two places claim the corn dog, the Cozy Dog Drive In on Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois, and the Pronto Pup stand at the Minnesota State Fair, and both date theirs to the 1940s.
These are the mini version. 610 calories and 42 grams of fat. That's 190 calories more than the Kids' Pigs in a Blanket.
1,790 mg of sodium, sixth-highest on the children's menu. I'd pick the pigs in a blanket instead.
No tree nuts are listed. The adult Hot Fudge Sundae lists them.
That makes this the sundae to order at a table with a nut allergy, at 480 calories, 38% of the adult version's 1,280, with milk, eggs and soy the only allergens.
38 grams of sugar. 20 grams of saturated fat. $5.95 to $7.50.
$1.95. 120 calories. 0 grams of fat.
Against the regular Kids' Milk, it saves 80 calories and 10 grams of fat and gives your child 2 more grams of protein, since removing the fat concentrates everything else in the glass.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends whole milk from 12 to 24 months and low-fat or non-fat milk after that. So this is the one for anyone past their second birthday.
37 grams of saturated fat, second only to the Kids' Macaroni and Cheese on the children's menu, and nearly double the 20-gram daily value set for adults.
910 calories. That's 47% of the adult Fettuccini Alfredo. The butter pasta is half the calories.
Vegetarian, with 1,370 mg of sodium. I'd order it only for a child who won't eat anything else.
The cheapest pasta on the children's menu, at $8.95. Also the least salty of the three.
950 mg of sodium against 1,370 for the Alfredo and 1,600 for the marinara, which surprised me, because tomato sauce is the one that looks light, but a seasoned tomato sauce carries more salt than butter and a little parmesan.
460 calories. 11 grams of saturated fat. Vegetarian.
It's the only pasta on the children's menu with no milk on the allergen list, and at 1 gram of saturated fat and 0 mg of cholesterol it's the leanest of the three by a distance.
Salt runs the other way. 1,600 mg, the most of the three pasta choices. The sauce accounts for that.
Gluten and wheat are the only allergens. 470 calories, vegetarian.
2,720 mg of sodium. Nothing on the children's menu is saltier.
That's more than the FDA's 2,300 mg daily value for an adult, on one plate for a child, and it comes with 990 calories and 86 grams of carbohydrate, tied with the Kids' Cheese Flatbread for the most carbs on the kids' menu.
$11.50, against $14.95 for the adult Pepperoni Flatbread. The adult one is only 180 calories heavier. Share it between two kids.
Pastry-wrapped hot dogs, 420 calories, with 780 mg of sodium, less than half the salt of the Kids’ Mini Corn Dogs.
In Britain, pigs in blankets means sausages wrapped in bacon, a Christmas side dish. The American version wraps the sausage in dough. That's what this is.
Gluten, milk, soy and wheat are listed, but no egg. $8.95.
The plain Kids' Quesadilla carries 34 grams of saturated fat, more than the Kids' Grilled Cheese Sandwich at 21, even though both are essentially cheese in bread.
820 calories. 40 grams of protein. Adding chicken turns it into the Kids' Chicken Quesadilla, for 120 more calories.
Vegetarian, with milk, soy, gluten and wheat listed. 1,440 mg of sodium, 520 less than the grilled cheese.
360 calories, the lightest main on the children's menu. Two bite-sized burgers on mini buns.
Gluten and wheat are the only allergens listed, with no milk, eggs, soy or sesame, which makes this one of two kids' mains, alongside the marinara pasta, that list neither milk nor egg.
22 grams of protein. 750 mg of sodium. The adult Roadside Sliders run 800 calories.
320 calories, which is 80 fewer than the A La Mode scoop added to a slice of cheesecake, so the children's scoop is simply the smaller portion, and at $4.25 it's the cheapest dessert a kid can order.
Milk and eggs are listed. No nuts. 25 grams of sugar.
The Kids' Mini Hot Fudge Sundae adds hot fudge for 160 more calories. I'd skip the fudge.
The figures show 0 calories, which describes a diet or zero-sugar soda, not a regular cola, and a 12-ounce Coca-Cola carries 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar.
Ask which one you're getting. The adult to-go soft drink lists 30 mg of caffeine. This one lists none.
For a young child, a caffeine-free lemon-lime soda is the safer pick. $1.95 to $2.50.
One meatball, singular. The adult Spaghetti and Meatballs is 1,920 calories; this is 680.
The salt doesn't shrink as far, 2,180 mg against the adult plate's 5,550, so the child's portion keeps 39% of the sodium on 35% of the calories, and it's the third-saltiest thing on the kids' menu.
8 grams of saturated fat, low for this menu. 29 grams of protein. Eggs are listed, from the meatball.
180 calories. The Kids' Fresh Fruit is 50.
Strawberries on their own carry almost no fat, so the 14 grams here, 9 of them saturated, come from dairy, and milk on the allergen list points to cream served with the berries.
15 mg of sodium. $4.95. For a child who wants dessert, it's the lightest one on the kids' menu.
450 calories. That's under 40% of the Kids' Macaroni and Cheese, so the dessert here weighs less than the heaviest main on the children's menu by more than 700 calories.
It's a small bowl. Sugared biscuit on vanilla ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream around it. 25 grams of fat and 380 mg of sodium.
Order it after a Kids' Grilled Chicken plate and the two come to 910 calories together.