bistroMD Review
Created by a weight management doctorCustomized for you by dietitians
Tasty breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
24/7 program access
Special diet choices (gluten-free, diabetic, etc.)
Pros & Cons
- USDA-approved meals
- Suitable for diabetics
- Fully customizable diet plans
- Environmentally-friendly
- No lactose-intolerant, vegetarian meal programs
- No expedited shipping
Plans & Pricing
The pricing model includes the price of each dietary plan (variable) plus a fixed shipping cost of $19.95. Shipping surcharges for Alaska and Hawaii may apply. The dietary plans vary based on the selected category – standard, vegetarian, gluten-free, diabetic-friendly, heart healthy, menopause, men’s program, and women’s program.
Lunches and Dinners – 5 Days
The plan is $97.46 and includes 5 lunches and 5 dinners. The program is designed for both men and women.
Lunches and Dinners – 7 Days
The plan is $119.96 and includes 7 lunches and 7 dinners. The program is designed for both men and women.
Full Program – 5 Days
This plan comes with 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 5 dinners. It costs $119.96.
Full Program – 7 Days
This plan includes 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 6 dinners. It costs $142.46.
bistroMD often features promotions for new customers. Coupons offering various discounts are also very common.
Overview
Founded in 2005 by Dr. Caroline and Ed Cederquists, bistroMD is a meal delivery service that provides weekly, frozen, low-calorie meals designed by certified weight-management physicians. The company offers different types of healthy weight loss diet plans including standard, gluten-free, diabetic, and heart healthy, for men, women and seniors. bistroMD delivers to the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii via FedEx, and it can take up to 6 business days for the meals to arrive.
Special Features
Custom Weight Loss Diet Plans
MybistroMD membership access feature also serves as a customization tool, allowing users to craft meals according to their preferences, enhanced by professional advice. The customized weight loss plan creation process involves an in-depth approach, where customers are required to provide more detailed information like eating habits, overall health, any medical conditions (diabetes, heart-related issues), and more.
Once all the information is submitted, registered physicians come up with a custom diet plan (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) that can later be modified by the user. The menu is available online 24/7 and customers can make changes at any time.
All the meals are packaged separately inside an insulated container and kept frozen with the help of dry ice. The orders arrive in environmentally-friendly Kodiakotton insulation boxes that can easily be disposed of.
Ease of Use
The registration process is fairly simple and requires the kind of information you’d normally expect to provide for any e-commerce website like personal details, e-mail and phone number, city, state and address, zip code and credit card details. All of these fields are required.
One inconvenient thing we have discovered is that in order to get membership access, there is no way around but to order a meal first. Once the deal is processed, you’ll be able to log in with the email address and password you’ve chosen for your MybistroMD account during the registration.
Also, while the site is easy to navigate, it is not well structured in terms of user experience and UI. There is a ton of information packed in each page, but it’s flooded with many visuals and call to actions, which can make it difficult to read. Also, the number of pop-up ads that appear when you move your mouse to a specific area of the website are also frustrating.
Suppliers
The brand doesn’t offer any specific details regarding the suppliers of the raw ingredients.
Variety of Food
Currently, the brand offers gluten-free as well as vegetarian meals for clients, in addition to their regular options. The team is actively working on adding more variety to the menu, which should allow users to enjoy their preferred meals in the future.
The brand doesn’t offer dietary-free or lactose intolerant programs. At best, the chefs simply remove the entrees with cheese from the given programs.
Food Allergies
bistroMD is USDA approved, meaning that each meal is labeled with complete nutritional information, value, and ingredient list. All of the raw materials used in the meals are safe.
Also, bistroMD does a good job at accommodating various allergic conditions. However, the buyer has to be fully aware of the allergies they have and must notify the customer service team upon making a purchase so that they can remove certain entries from the custom program. Furthermore, the brand warns that all the foods are being prepared in a number of kitchens that handle all entries, meaning that a certain level of cross contamination may occur.
There is also a pretty detailed article on how to recognize and combat common food allergies on the brand’s website, explaining the most widespread allergens, recommendations to reduce the risk of food allergies, and an emergency plan.
Customer Support
The bistroMD team provides high-quality customer support regarding all sorts of issues including shipping, returns, dietitian help, etc. It is available 5 days a week via the phone or email.
-
24/7 Help & Support
The bistroMD team is available during business hours. -
Phone Support
Customer support can be reached from 8am-5pm EST on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, & 9am-6pm EST on Wednesdays. -
Email
You can contact the bistroMD team at customerservice@bistroMD.com, and the dietitian support at dietitian@bistroMD.com. -
FAQ
The FAQ section provides answers to a number of questions regarding the company and its vision, nutrition, menu, shipping and returns and how to get started with your weight loss program. -
Blog
The blog is well categorized and updated rather frequently. It features all sorts of topics related to eating healthy, health conditions, weight loss, fitness, etc.
Final Word
Overall, bistroMD is a good, reputable, professional-led meal delivery service that puts a lot of emphasis on eating healthy and educating the public on the risks associated with excess weight gain. All of the foods are USDA-approved and the team is composed of certified dietitians and physicians, which makes the brand highly trustworthy. Although a bit expensive, the majority of customers are pretty happy with the results, which makes the brand definitely worth considering.
Leave a Reply
Leave a comment
Join the discussion by writing a question or comment in the form below.
Leave a comment
Join the discussion by writing a question or comment in the form below.