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As much as I hate to say it, the food is good. They have a fully staffed kitchen at every restaurant and cook quite a bit on-site it appears. Their menu which i

As much as I hate to say it, the food is good. They have a fully staffed kitchen at every restaurant and cook quite a bit on-site it appears. Their menu which is notorious for being huge also appears smartly designed with many dishes sharing ingredients and technique. Their burger is actually really good. My gripe is the portion sizes are just too big. So much waste. I wish I could order half portions at 3/4 the cost.

btgeekboy 3y ago
My partner and I don’t go often, but when we do we order one main and a slice of cheesecake. Maybe a smaller appetizer if we’re particularly hungry. It’s a ton of food but it’s a good amount for two.
monero-xmr 3y ago
Agree but you should split a meal with someone else and / or take home the extra. Portion sizes are huge but no need to throw it away.
- ghaff 3y ago
  A lot of things don’t heat up well or you’re traveling and aren’t in a position to take leftovers home. It’s not even a uniquely US thing. I’ll often get an appetizer or two rather than a main.
charlie0 3y ago
Or you know, just eat half and take the other half home and eat it later. Of course, re-heating doesn't work as well with some dishes. I've found there are some places that would be too expensive for me and the only reason I eat there it because I can amortize the cost over 2 meals due to their larger portions; particularly if the food is re-heatable without a large degradation in quality. Think curries or other foods with lots of moisture.
- nemo44x 3y ago
  I do when possible but I don’t always want to eat the leftovers again. But often we’ll be out and it’s just sitting in a container in the car and becoming increasingly unsafe to eat.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
Why do you hate to say it? I'll admit, I loved Cheesecake Factory as a kid, but then as an adult I feel bad to say I was afflicted by a bit of the "anti-Cheesecake Factory snobbery": it was too kitschy, too "chain theme restaurant", too "American excess" with its giant portions and million menu items. I hadn't been in years (there is also not one close to where I live). I then went recently as part of a family get together, and it was just plain great. My meal was really, really good: well seasoned, not overly salted/cheesy/creamy but still delicious, the veggies were crisp and fresh. Service was fantastic and prices were great. In terms of the portion sizes, go for their "skinny" or whatever they call it menu. I had a shrimp pasta dish - it didn't taste like it was "light" or "diet" at all, but primarily the portion size was just much more reasonable. If you do get one of their giant dishes, lots of them, especially their Italian dishes, make for great leftovers.
- techsupporter 3y ago
  > Why do you hate to say it? I think you answer your own question with this bit: > I'll admit, I loved Cheesecake Factory as a kid, but then as an adult I feel bad to say I was afflicted by a bit of the "anti-Cheesecake Factory snobbery": it was too kitschy, too "chain theme restaurant", too "American excess" with its giant portions and million menu items. I hadn't been in years (there is also not one close to where I live). A lot of my friends and coworkers have the same view. If it is a chain, it is most likely bad (which is a statement that has a decent chance of being correct) but then extends to "and people who like to eat at chains are bad eaters." My experience with The Cheesecake Factory is like yours: > I then went recently as part of a family get together, and it was just plain great. My meal was really, really good: well seasoned, not overly salted/cheesy/creamy but still delicious, the veggies were crisp and fresh. It's really good food. My wife and I eat there a couple of times a month for "fancy dinner". I feel like so many independently owned restaurants go overboard in either their "conceit", trying to find a way to stand out that winds up being over the top and puffery, or they are aiming for an experimental/possibly-outlandish food menu that winds up falling flat. So many of these places feel like "celebrity chef wannabe outlet that sells a ton of alcohol to make up the profits." Meanwhile, The Cheesecake Factory merely...exists. Doing its thing, pretty well, with enough variety that it doesn't get boring.
mannyv 3y ago
When we go to the CCF we plan on having it for lunch/dinner the next day. The portions are so large that if we plan on getting a cheesecake we order it so it comes after the meal. We actually don't like the cheesecakes so much; I like a thicker/heavier or a fluffier cheesecake, and the CCF cheesecakes are kind of right in the middle.
lannisterstark 3y ago
<NVM>
svachalek 3y ago
We used to like to get a few of the small plates and share, kind of like tapas from an alternate universe. Some of them are really excellent. They rotate those a lot though and last time we went we didn't find much on that page that really lit a fire. But if you do it's really a nice time, order a drink, share some plates, marvel at the Stargate architecture.
- ghaff 3y ago
  A lot of the time in general, depending on the restaurant, a couple apps or small plates are perfect for me these days. Less filler while getting some variety especially if I’m eating by myself.
listenallyall 3y ago
What's with "I hate to say it"? It's ok, Cheesecake Factory is awesome! (and that's from someone who always skips their desserts) Go at lunch time, they have an entire page of "lunch-size" entrees.
- nemo44x 3y ago
  Maybe not the right phrase but before having kids it wasn’t a place we’d go. Nothing against it, just went to other types of restaurants for a different type of experience. But after kids your lifestyle changes (fancy restaurants at 8:30pm fade away) and you do different things, often based on their nap routine. So cheesecake was a place we tried since it’s super family friendly and near places we shop at. And it was surprisingly good. We tried other chains and some were ok but many were not worth it imo. Cheesecake was the best overall in our assessment.
  - listenallyall 3y ago
    > Cheesecake was the best overall in our assessment. Lol, yes, exactly, that's the consensus opinion (not "surprisingly," except among food snobs), and it's why the place is packed every night while many of its competitors have gone out of business. Sorry it took you so long to realize it.
    - nemo44x 3y ago
      To be clear, without kids I probably wouldn't go there unless we happened to be at a mall/etc that it was attached to. But it ain't bad!
m463 3y ago
i disagree. Maybe a different way of saying it would be that other restaurants are so much better.
sparsely 3y ago
Agree on the portion sizes. The only time I've been we were next to a table of a college football team or something - like 20 huge guys, and I don't think many of them finished their portions (none of us did, we didn't even want cheesecake afterwards!)

btgeekboy 3y ago

My partner and I don’t go often, but when we do we order one main and a slice of cheesecake. Maybe a smaller appetizer if we’re particularly hungry. It’s a ton of food but it’s a good amount for two.

monero-xmr 3y ago

Agree but you should split a meal with someone else and / or take home the extra. Portion sizes are huge but no need to throw it away.

ghaff 3y ago
A lot of things don’t heat up well or you’re traveling and aren’t in a position to take leftovers home. It’s not even a uniquely US thing. I’ll often get an appetizer or two rather than a main.

charlie0 3y ago

Or you know, just eat half and take the other half home and eat it later. Of course, re-heating doesn't work as well with some dishes. I've found there are some places that would be too expensive for me and the only reason I eat there it because I can amortize the cost over 2 meals due to their larger portions; particularly if the food is re-heatable without a large degradation in quality. Think curries or other foods with lots of moisture.

nemo44x 3y ago
I do when possible but I don’t always want to eat the leftovers again. But often we’ll be out and it’s just sitting in a container in the car and becoming increasingly unsafe to eat.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

Why do you hate to say it? I'll admit, I loved Cheesecake Factory as a kid, but then as an adult I feel bad to say I was afflicted by a bit of the "anti-Cheesecake Factory snobbery": it was too kitschy, too "chain theme restaurant", too "American excess" with its giant portions and million menu items. I hadn't been in years (there is also not one close to where I live). I then went recently as part of a family get together, and it was just plain great. My meal was really, really good: well seasoned, not overly salted/cheesy/creamy but still delicious, the veggies were crisp and fresh. Service was fantastic and prices were great. In terms of the portion sizes, go for their "skinny" or whatever they call it menu. I had a shrimp pasta dish - it didn't taste like it was "light" or "diet" at all, but primarily the portion size was just much more reasonable. If you do get one of their giant dishes, lots of them, especially their Italian dishes, make for great leftovers.

techsupporter 3y ago
> Why do you hate to say it? I think you answer your own question with this bit: > I'll admit, I loved Cheesecake Factory as a kid, but then as an adult I feel bad to say I was afflicted by a bit of the "anti-Cheesecake Factory snobbery": it was too kitschy, too "chain theme restaurant", too "American excess" with its giant portions and million menu items. I hadn't been in years (there is also not one close to where I live). A lot of my friends and coworkers have the same view. If it is a chain, it is most likely bad (which is a statement that has a decent chance of being correct) but then extends to "and people who like to eat at chains are bad eaters." My experience with The Cheesecake Factory is like yours: > I then went recently as part of a family get together, and it was just plain great. My meal was really, really good: well seasoned, not overly salted/cheesy/creamy but still delicious, the veggies were crisp and fresh. It's really good food. My wife and I eat there a couple of times a month for "fancy dinner". I feel like so many independently owned restaurants go overboard in either their "conceit", trying to find a way to stand out that winds up being over the top and puffery, or they are aiming for an experimental/possibly-outlandish food menu that winds up falling flat. So many of these places feel like "celebrity chef wannabe outlet that sells a ton of alcohol to make up the profits." Meanwhile, The Cheesecake Factory merely...exists. Doing its thing, pretty well, with enough variety that it doesn't get boring.

mannyv 3y ago

When we go to the CCF we plan on having it for lunch/dinner the next day. The portions are so large that if we plan on getting a cheesecake we order it so it comes after the meal. We actually don't like the cheesecakes so much; I like a thicker/heavier or a fluffier cheesecake, and the CCF cheesecakes are kind of right in the middle.

lannisterstark 3y ago

<NVM>

svachalek 3y ago

We used to like to get a few of the small plates and share, kind of like tapas from an alternate universe. Some of them are really excellent. They rotate those a lot though and last time we went we didn't find much on that page that really lit a fire. But if you do it's really a nice time, order a drink, share some plates, marvel at the Stargate architecture.

ghaff 3y ago
A lot of the time in general, depending on the restaurant, a couple apps or small plates are perfect for me these days. Less filler while getting some variety especially if I’m eating by myself.

listenallyall 3y ago

What's with "I hate to say it"? It's ok, Cheesecake Factory is awesome! (and that's from someone who always skips their desserts) Go at lunch time, they have an entire page of "lunch-size" entrees.

nemo44x 3y ago
Maybe not the right phrase but before having kids it wasn’t a place we’d go. Nothing against it, just went to other types of restaurants for a different type of experience. But after kids your lifestyle changes (fancy restaurants at 8:30pm fade away) and you do different things, often based on their nap routine. So cheesecake was a place we tried since it’s super family friendly and near places we shop at. And it was surprisingly good. We tried other chains and some were ok but many were not worth it imo. Cheesecake was the best overall in our assessment.
- listenallyall 3y ago
  > Cheesecake was the best overall in our assessment. Lol, yes, exactly, that's the consensus opinion (not "surprisingly," except among food snobs), and it's why the place is packed every night while many of its competitors have gone out of business. Sorry it took you so long to realize it.
  - nemo44x 3y ago
    To be clear, without kids I probably wouldn't go there unless we happened to be at a mall/etc that it was attached to. But it ain't bad!

m463 3y ago

i disagree. Maybe a different way of saying it would be that other restaurants are so much better.

sparsely 3y ago

Agree on the portion sizes. The only time I've been we were next to a table of a college football team or something - like 20 huge guys, and I don't think many of them finished their portions (none of us did, we didn't even want cheesecake afterwards!)