Cheesecake Factory
http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com
It seems like every city in the top 20 of population in the USA has a CF or two. I think that many people consider Cheesecake Factory as the anti-independent and in some ways, it is. I have read blogs where people say “I am not sure why people stand outside of Cheesecake Factory for two hours while our independent restaurants are ½ full.”
Well, let me explain. With over 100 menu items and most of them under $20 and portions big enough to have for two meals from, you are getting value/quantity and in most cases and the food that doesn’t taste that bad.
However, Cheesecake Factory is a jack of all trades, master of none. Don’t get me wrong, I have never had a bad meal there, but I have never had a great one. Go on a Saturday night and you will see an hour wait. In most cases the tables are close to each other, it is loud and you can easily ring up a big bill with a few slices of cheesecake at the end.
I was with my wife and a friend and we ordered a few items of their “snacks and small plates” menu.
Fried Zucchini (served with Ranch)
Wild Mushroom Pizette
Fried Zucchini was the normal out of a bag, presented like a fried log cabin. Nothing good or bad going on here.
Wild Mushroom Pizette was pretty lame as well. When I think wild mushrooms, I am not thinking baby bella’s. If they brought it with crimini or shiitake, they might be on to something. For snacking and the price, it was ok.
Louisiana Chicken Pasta
Parmesan crusted Chicken served over Pasta with Mushrooms, Peppers and Onions in a Spicy New Orleans Sauce.
The pasta was bow tie and I have to admit, I like this dish. I imagine that it is easily 1,000 plus calories, but being able to bury your face in a huge bowl of pasta has a cost. I didn’t think that the sauce was all that spicy, I would say zesty. Two small complaints though: veggies were a little sparse and the chicken was a little too thin.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes to the pasta and NO to the snacks. If you are looking for the “something for everyone” restaurant that has food that is better than your casual chain (Applebee’s, etc.), then Cheesecake Factory is hard to beat. But don’t get me wrong:
I wouldn’t wait an hour to eat here.
I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
If I was looking to have a meal to remember with my wife, it surely wouldn’t be at CF.
Also, I usually don’t comment on service, but the service at the Keystone at the Crossing location was surprisingly good.
-WIBIA
Tags: Cheesecake Factory, Food, Pasta
I’m in the camp that thinks Cheesecake Factory is pretty overrated. Mainly bc of what you mentioned about the lines. I don’t know what the big deal is.
All I know is $50 for a cheesecake is effing ridiculous. It’s good cheesecake, but not worth $50 for a whole cake.
“Fried Zucchini was the normal out of a bag” – this line sums up CF for me.
Out of the bag – as in SYSCO frozen food dolled up with a nice little price tag.
I wouldn’t waste five minutes, let alone one hour waiting to get in to CF. Besides being noisy and meh’ food – I never found the service to be anything worth writing home about [although I understand they train the heck out of the poor kids] and the price isn’t worth the quality of what you receive [see: SYSCO]
I would leave it alone.
I’ve only ever gotten the cheesecake as take-out (the chocolate mousse one = YUM). Any restaurant that has such a large menu makes me skeptical. Someone told me they have ads (?!?) in the menu as well. Strange.
Oh, please tell me you’re just kidding and they don’t literally buy food from SYSCO. That’s like, school cafeteria food.
Been to a CF once in my life. The menu is so vast that I had a hard time choosing what I wanted, so I just closed my eyes and randomly pointed at something on the menu.
what did you end up with Marvo?
Good point. I just $ a slice at a time, never did the math, thanks Bomb.
Yeah, on their website the prices on the whole cakes range from $25 for the tiny 7 inchers, to $50 for the bigger ones. I don’t mind paying a few dollars for a slice of cheesecake, but it really adds up when you get a whole cake!
It must’ve not been very good because I don’t remember.
Couple things:
“When I think wild mushrooms, I am not thinking baby bella’s. If they brought it with crimini or shiitake, they might be on to something.”
Baby portabello mushrooms are the same thing as cremini.
Also, Sysco has different qualities of food depending on who they’re selling/producing to – not to defend the use of Sysco, but it’s not always “cafeteria” quality food.
Just making sure someone was paying attention!
My friend works at the Cheesecake Factory. I asked him about sysco and he admitted that they are their main supplier, but also added the fact that they only use sysco’s top quality called “Imperial”. He also said that they only get raw product and nothing frozen. They have all their meat and fish delivered daily, as fresh as you will find in Indy. He has worked at several restaurants (mostly independent) and is very surprised how much work goes into executing the menu. They make all their sauces and dressings daily (over 90 total). I am not defending CF, I just think that generalizing a restaurant because of the food supplier is a short sighted view. Where do you think that all the other restaurants get their product?
You make a good point. I’ll bet a lot of restaurants use the same (or similar) suppliers. I guess I didn’t realize that Sysco has different qualities of product. It’s just tough to accept that when I grew up seeing Sysco trucks outside the school, eating the subpar junk that they served us in the cafeteria. The “Sysco = bad school food” connection is a tough one to break.
I always get the Chinese chicken salad. It has to be the best item on the menu. I’m never disappointed, it’s more than enough for 2 meals, and it’s consistently good. I’m afraid to try anything else….
I actually am a server at the Cheesecake Factory, and just so you know, EVERYTHING is made fresh. Nothing comes out of a bag, nothing is from SYSCO. There are over 100 prep cooks that arrive at 6 a.m. daily to prepare food fresh for that particular day. The company, though corporate, hasn’t taken the recession as an excuse to buy everything cheaper, pre-made, and frozen like other chains (Friday’s, Macaroni Grill, even PF Changs). The fried zucchini is cut fresh daily and breaded in the restaurant with handmade breading. Nothing comes out of a bag. Don’t make assumptions unless you know your facts.
Ordered a $32 Filet Mignon and got a $10 horse-meat sirloin that was 25% fat. CF are frauds. 50+ deserts do not make up for crappy food. Do they really think I don’t know the difference between a filet and a sirloin. This was my second and last visit to the CF. When I spend $50 a head for food, I don’t want McDonald’s quality.
100 prep cooks?????at each restaurant? yea right. does anyone actually know if the food is fresh. you can’t have 200 items made fresh can you?
Last 2 comments are hilarious. I love the cheesecake factory and am happy to shell out wads of cash for their super delicious food.