Since changing my diet over a year ago, I find it very hard to eat out. Most restaurants in this area of California serve pretty cheap food. And by cheap I don’t mean the price that they charge you–I mean the quality of the ingredients.

There are not many places I can eat in Manteca. I try to be as paleo-primal as possible. I avoid grains and other starches, legumes, and refined sugars. And this is a big problem here.

Manteca restaurants are mostly taquerias and chain restaurants. We’ve got Chilis, Applebees, Panda Express, and all the common fast food joints. These places put flour and sugar in just about everything.

So I’m looking for dishes that don’t contain the foods that I’m avoiding, and this is extremely difficult here. So where do I go? I can think of three establishments in Manteca, CA.

Chipotle is my go-to restaurant of choice in Manteca. The service and the portions are hit-or-miss but the quality of the food is always good. It’s easy for me to eat gluten-free, grain-free, and sugar-free at any Chipotle. I just get a bowl and skip the tortillas, rice, and beans.

In-N-Out is my budget restaurant. I get Double-Doubles without the bun, and skip the fries and soda. There are lots of other burgers in town, but I like In-N-Out the best. I think their burgers have the most fat–tender, tasty, juicy, and always delicious.

And finally, there is just one affordable restaurant here in Manteca where I can sit down and get some good ol’ traditional American food. And that is Johnny’s.

Johnny’s serves typical diner food. They close at 8:30pm every night. On Sundays they are full of people from various churches. Johnny’s is open early enough for truckers, seniors, and other early-risers to come in for breakfast. All the omelettes are good. For dinner I like the liver and onions with chopped bacon.

And then there’s the hot wings.

OB’s in Truckee (now closed) used to have the best hot wings I’ve ever tasted. But now that OB’s is closed, that award goes to Johnny’s. The sauce is perfect, not too hot. And the wings aren’t too greasy. I think they bake the wings instead of fry them, but they won’t tell me.

So that’s about it. Chipotle, In-N-Out, and Johnny’s. If you are trying to eat paleo, primal, or low carb in Manteca these are your best choices. You can just about skip everything else here.