Atkins diet has impact on local restaurants

Carbs increasingly are out and protein lots of protein is on the menu for Reno restaurants that want the business lunch crowd.

As Dr.

Atkins' diet and its offshoots remain the weight-loss programs of choice, restaurants pitch carbohydratefree, protein-rich lunch specials for the Atkins crowd.

But it needn't be boring.

Steve Terry, chef at the Sage Creek Grill, said his Atkins specials at lunch range from hamburger patties rich in mushrooms and bacon and to roast chicken sauteed in butter.

"It's always fun to do new stuff," said Terry.

The chef himself has been a follower of a low-carb, high-protein diet for five years.

"As a chef, I have to stay in shape," he said.

Another Atkins follower in the business is Gloria Brimm, who owns Austin's with her husband, Doug.

"I'm almost down to the weight I was before I got into the restaurant business," said Brimm.

The restaurant's menu, which spotlights big salads and steaks, easily accommodated the diet for its owners and customers alike.

Even so, Brimm said the managers of Austin's have taken time to educate their kitchen staff and waitpersons about the Atkins diet.

"When people start wanting to lose things from menu items, they'll understand why," she said.

Tim Wright, who owns The Chophouse and Grill Fish with his partner Tommy Cortopassi, said the restaurant changed his daily specials as a result of the Atkins craze.

"People were getting frustrated with all the special orders," he said.

The two restaurants' menus, already heavy on steak and fish, drew Atkins dieters, and the restaurant boosted its sales with the daily specials.

Restaurants' attention to the Atkins plan is particularly important,Wright said, because it's one of the few diets in which consumers can easily eat away from home.

At The Grill at Quail Corners, meanwhile, owner Sam Francovich said his staff is selling about 20 orders daily of its Atkins burger patty, sauteed mushrooms, bleu cheese, and "lots of bacon." "It's probably our biggest seller," Francovich said.

"This is the only diet that I know of that people search out."

Not every restaurant, however, is creating special for the Atkins diet.

Said Joel Giandalia, food and beverage manager of The Eldorado: "If anyone has a special request we are happy to help them meet the needs of their individual dietary requirements, whether that be the Atkins or any other.With nine on-site restaurants, it's relatively easy to cater to the needs of almost any diet." And Brimm said Austin's customers have found some ways to reduce the pain of an Atkins diet such as a carbohydrate- free 10-ounce martini.

"You don't have to deny yourself everything," she laughed.