Restaurant critics appear to have the best job in journalism, a few nights a week on someone else鈥檚 dime.

But restaurant critic Pete Wells had painted a more complicated picture. In a recent column, Wells announced he鈥檚 leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to and other health problems.

鈥淚ntellectually, it was still really stimulating, but my body started to rebel and say, 鈥楨nough is enough,鈥欌�� Wells told The Associated Press. 鈥淚 just had to come face to face with the reality that I can鈥檛 metabolize food the way I used to, I can鈥檛 metabolize alcohol the way I used to and I just don鈥檛 need to eat as much as I did even 10 years ago.鈥�

To write a review, usually make two or three visits to a restaurant and bring a handful of dining companions so they can taste as many dishes as possible. If has a special focus on wine or cocktails or desserts, they try those, too.

鈥淵ou have to sample the full range of the menu,鈥� said Ligaya Figueras, the senior food editor and lead dining critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 鈥淚f I really felt like a salad today, I can鈥檛 just have the salad.鈥�

Special features, like lists of the best places to get pizzas or hamburgers, may have critics eating the same fare for weeks. MacKenzie Chung Fegan, a restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, sampled all over the city for a story about a restaurant that specialized in the dish.

鈥淭here was a two-week period where I was eating more duck than anyone鈥檚 doctor would advise,鈥� Fegan said.

All that restaurant eating can take a toll. In a 2020 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University found that 50% of meals at full-service U.S. restaurants 鈥� and 70% of those at 鈥� were of poor nutritional quality, according to American Heart Association guidelines. Less than 1% were of ideal quality.

Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and Tufts professor who was one of the study鈥檚 authors, said restaurant meals tend to be lower than ideal in whole grains and legumes, modestly lower in fruits and vegetables, and modestly and saturated fat.

For the period the study examined, between 2003 and 2016, the nutritional quality of food in grocery stores improved, Mozaffarian said. But restaurants didn鈥檛 make similar changes, he said.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how many restaurants I go to and on every person鈥檚 plate there are French fries,鈥� Mozaffarian said. 鈥淭here are not an equal and diverse array of healthy and unhealthy menu choices.鈥�

To be fair, Fegan said, diners are looking for something delicious when they go out to eat, 鈥渁nd a lot of times that means something with fat and sodium.鈥�

鈥淚f I鈥檓 looking at the menu thinking, 鈥榃hat is the most exciting thing on this menu?,鈥� it鈥檚 probably not a side of broccoli rabe,鈥� she said.

Figueras deals with the challenge in several ways. On the nights she鈥檚 not dining out, she says she is 鈥渉ypervigilant鈥� and eats mostly vegetables. She plays tennis and walks her dog to stay in shape. And when she鈥檚 heading to a restaurant, she eats fruit or another healthy snack so she won鈥檛 arrive hungry.

鈥淓verything tastes good when you鈥檙e starving,鈥� she said.

Lyndsay Green, the dining and restaurants critic at the Detroit Free Press, also tries to eat healthy on her days off, getting most of her food from a . Green says she thinks menus are getting healthier. Many chefs are offering gluten-free or vegan options, she said, and are getting more creative with their .

Green thinks restaurant critics can help readers by being open about their own needs. A pregnant critic, for example, could write up a restaurant guide for other expectant parents.

鈥淣early everyone has health concerns and dietary standards, so I think it can also be our job to talk about that in our work,鈥� she said.

Wells isn鈥檛 the only restaurant critic to make a change in recent years. Adam Platt stopped covering restaurants for New York magazine in 2022, also citing the toll on his health. Wyatt Williams stopped covering restaurants for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2019, saying he had simply lost his appetite.

Fegan and Wells both noted that to have more longevity in the business. Mimi Sheraton, a former restaurant critic for The New York Times, died last year at age 97 after a six-decade career in food.

鈥淚 think if you are socialized as a woman in America, you鈥檝e already spent a lot of your time thinking about portion and weight and control,鈥� Fegan said.

Wells will file a few more reviews before stepping down in early August. He will remain with the Times. Times food writers Melissa Clark and Priya Krishna will step in as restaurant critics on an interim basis, the newspaper said.

Wells said he will continue to go to restaurants and maybe even enjoy them more now that he鈥檚 not distracted by work. He said he will be sorry to lose touch with New York鈥檚 seemingly infinite restaurant scene, but glad to find more balance in his own life.

鈥淓ating out constantly, you lose touch with your own normal appetite,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know anymore what was normal for me.鈥�