So many questions about Cheesecake Factory…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give the gift card to a teacher or a daycare worker, a crossing guard, or leave it with a note for your mail carrier. Turn your derision into something really nice for someone else.

+1. It’s really gross to read threads like this during the holidays, when people who work hard but don’t have a lot of money would truly enjoy a meal or two at the Cheesecake Factory or a similar restaurant.

I am truly grateful that I grew up at a time and in a place that will always make me genuinely grateful for what I have, and never entitled or snobby. When I think about how one of our former daycare workers always listed Cheesecake Factory as her favorite restaurant, and cried when we gave her a generous gift card there, and sent us a picture of how she treated her mom there for Mother’s Day…that warms my heart, and DCUM just floors me sometimes.

Gimme a break. It's entirely possible to appreciate that memory and your former daycare workers, and simultaneously recognize that (i) the food at CF is mediocre at best; and (ii) the portion sizes are unhealthy, and symptomatic of may of the dietary failures in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indulge!
Go for something really comforting- chicken and biscuits, meatloaf, burrito.
Followed by delicious cheesecake - banana cream, vanilla bean, cannot go wrong.

I haven’t been in a long time but I used to get hibachi steak on wasabi
Mashed potatoes with mushrooms and asparagus.
It was so yummy but I don’t see it on the menu now.

You may be getting mixed up, chicken madeira comes with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus.

Here it is
https://order.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu/pleasanton-ca/products/19957602

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine. Some days you want to be fancy some days there's something to be said for eating potato skins and cheap beer at Chili's with some buddies from high school.

I mean known what you're getting yourself into and temper expectations. Anyplace with a menu that big uses frozen/reheated stuff. They have to. But so do most chain places and hey, you've got a gift card and aren't paying for it. So don't look at is as a fancy meal and you're fine.

The portions are crazy. You can literally order a lunch portion and save half and have two big lunches. But it's fine. Don't eat that stuff every day, but but some of the salads and pastas are perfectly fine.

I think most of the cheesecakes there are way too sweet, but again just plan to save half and it's fine.

Not true at all. I used to work there and the cooks would come in really early to prep/chop all fresh ingredients. The only items that are frozen are the cheesecakes, but not the strawberries...those are also chopped early in the morning.

Everything on the menu is delicious and you can always tweak any dishes to your liking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine. Some days you want to be fancy some days there's something to be said for eating potato skins and cheap beer at Chili's with some buddies from high school.

I mean known what you're getting yourself into and temper expectations. Anyplace with a menu that big uses frozen/reheated stuff. They have to. But so do most chain places and hey, you've got a gift card and aren't paying for it. So don't look at is as a fancy meal and you're fine.

The portions are crazy. You can literally order a lunch portion and save half and have two big lunches. But it's fine. Don't eat that stuff every day, but but some of the salads and pastas are perfectly fine.

I think most of the cheesecakes there are way too sweet, but again just plan to save half and it's fine.

Not true at all. I used to work there and the cooks would come in really early to prep/chop all fresh ingredients. The only items that are frozen are the cheesecakes, but not the strawberries...those are also chopped early in the morning.

Everything on the menu is delicious and you can always tweak any dishes to your liking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cheesecake Factory is where the lower class people go to be fancy.

And I say this as someone who grew up dirt poor and whose family always went to the Cheesecake Factory when there was extra money for a special occasion meal.

I'm not saying it's a place that only the low class eat in at all, either. Don't want to open that can of worms on here.

But like, when my mom won a $100 Visa gift card at work one year, that baby was reserved for the Cheesecake Factory not your ordinary Applebee's or Ruby Tuesday!

This was literally me each time we got to go:

I live for this sound on TikTok!

[Anonymous]

I like the bang bang chicken and shrimp once a year or so. Yes. Avacado rolls are decent. Son likes the burger —it doesn’t look good for me. And yes entrees are two or three meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a white raspberry cheesecake that's really good.

In a weird food emergency we once went there for brunch. DON'T do that - we both agreed we'd have rather go hungry. But the four cheese pasta is totally decent. And they have a whole section of their menu (which is bigger than the bible) that's lower calorie. My cousin LOVES this place and likes to visit each one in each new city she goes to.

If you don't mind me asking, why?

[Anonymous]

You can ask your waiter in advance to split your meal in half and package the other half up to go. You can also ask them to split a piece of cheesecake with two people. The servings are huge and still large even when cut in half.

I like their Asian chicken salad on their skinny menu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a white raspberry cheesecake that's really good.

In a weird food emergency we once went there for brunch. DON'T do that - we both agreed we'd have rather go hungry. But the four cheese pasta is totally decent. And they have a whole section of their menu (which is bigger than the bible) that's lower calorie. My cousin LOVES this place and likes to visit each one in each new city she goes to.

If you don't mind me asking, why?

It was just really shit quality. My daughter has a list of places that it's her job to not allow me to suggest. CF for brunch is one, Olive Garden (any meal) is another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indulge!
Go for something really comforting- chicken and biscuits, meatloaf, burrito.
Followed by delicious cheesecake - banana cream, vanilla bean, cannot go wrong.

I haven’t been in a long time but I used to get hibachi steak on wasabi
Mashed potatoes with mushrooms and asparagus.
It was so yummy but I don’t see it on the menu now.

You may be getting mixed up, chicken madeira comes with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus.

Here it is
https://order.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu/pleasanton-ca/products/19957602

Right, there it is, and it's not what you described. Here is Chicken Madeira....mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indulge!
Go for something really comforting- chicken and biscuits, meatloaf, burrito.
Followed by delicious cheesecake - banana cream, vanilla bean, cannot go wrong.

I haven’t been in a long time but I used to get hibachi steak on wasabi
Mashed potatoes with mushrooms and asparagus.
It was so yummy but I don’t see it on the menu now.

You may be getting mixed up, chicken madeira comes with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus.

Here it is
https://order.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu/pleasanton-ca/products/19957602

Right, there it is, and it's not what you described. Here is Chicken Madeira....mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus:

PP's Hibachi steak looks exactly like what they described--steak with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and asparagus.