The Cheesecake Factory Challenge

After we left the theater Sunday afternoon from seeing both parts of Doctor Who’s Spyfall on the big screen, the fam opted to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

 

We made this decision because 1) the restaurant was right there, only a few blocks from the theater and 2) we had a gift card.

 

For Christmas, Andrea’s brother gave us a $50 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. 
 

I don’t mean to be critical of my brother in law’s generosity but $50 was not enough. Damn, this place is expensive.

 

The décor of the restaurant is decidedly upscale with soft ambient lighting. The music was too loud but that’s life today in modern American restaurants: the music is always too damn loud. 

My daughter Randie assures me the music is not really that loud and I'm just being too sensitive. I think that's what she'ls telling me but it's hard to tell since the MUSIC IS TOO DAMN LOUD!

 

Our waiter was named David who was a very professional and courteous person.

 

I’ve noticed of late that the bar for wait staff in most restaurants these days is pretty low. The problem is in a low unemployment economy, I imagine most restaurant managers have to make do with whoever they can get for wait staff.  I’m not saying that these waiters and waitresses are incompetent or unpleasant but there is a certain talent to being both socially engaging and getting stuff done that is not always a given except for the most proficient wait staff.  I guess the Cheesecake Factory is sufficiently upscale enough to hire top line waiters. David was very good at his job.

 

When we told him this was our first visit to the Cheesecake Factory, David did try to warn us. The portions here are big. “Whatever you think the portions will be,” he said, “They will be bigger than that.” 

 

Andrea ordered a chicken parmesan sandwich. Here’s what I think happened.

 

The chef fries up an ENTIRE chicken. No, not a chicken breast. No, the ENTIRE chicken.

 

This ENTIRE chicken is placed on a bun with cheese and marinara sauce and cut it in half.

 

Andrea ate what she could and took the rest home with her.

 

Andrea will be eating leftover chicken parmesan sandwich for the rest of her life. 

 

I tried to be healthy with the selection of an almond chicken salad sandwich. It was very good and there was a lot of it. I also tried to improve the health aspect by getting my sandwich with a salad. Like a lot of upscale places, too much is done to make a salad more healthy using a strange variety of alien greens that is not lettuce. I did not care for that. Not that I had much room to consume the salad what with the super sized almond chicken salad sandwich. 

 

Randie aimed for small with some quesadillas from the appetizer menu.  As our daughter told us repeatedly, she was interested in the Cheesecake Factory and it has NOTHING to do with the word “Factory”.  She was there for Cheesecake, damn it! She ordered a chocolate Oreo cheesecake and we trust she will be out of her diabetic coma any day now.

 

Despite our oversized sandwiches, Andrea and I were also there for Cheesecake, damn it! We split a slice of lemon meringue cheesecake. It was so good even if afterwards my overstuffed stomach as making me long for the sweet release of death.

 

Well, if I had to die, I was going on out a high note with lemon meringue cheesecake.

 

Then we got the bill and my eyes popped out of my head like a startled cartoon character.  $4.95 for a glass of lemonade? REALLY?!?!?

 

My brother in law’s Christmas gift blunted the blow somewhat but I will say this. Between the truck sized portions and the prices, Cheesecake Factory will not be a regular stop on our culinary rotation of regular dining out. Which is a shame as the food was quite tasty and the service was excellent.

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Coming up later today, the return of the Tuesday TV Touchbase.