By: Alyson Lawrence
First impressions can make or break a dining experience
As soon as I walked into The Cheesecake Factory, which opened on Sept. 29 in Bradley Fair, 21st and Rock Road, I took everything in, from the service to the food, so that I could let you know if it’s worth a visit.
My friend and I decided to go on a Friday night, and when we arrived, there was an hour wait for a table. So we got on the list.
Once we were seated, we met our server, who was very sweet. She immediately had water for us and brought some bread to our table as well. The brown bread, a signature of The Cheesecake Factory, is the best.
I ordered a Georgia Peach blended cocktail, and it was good, but for the price — $15.50 — I wouldn’t get it again. I give the drink a four out of five.
For appetizers, we got the fried macaroni and cheese bites and the chicken Thai lettuce wraps.
The mac and cheese bites were good, but they were a little rich, so I wouldn’t have been able to eat more than one or two. But I would definitely get them again. I give those a three out of five, just because they were just a little cold when they got to the table.
The chicken Thai lettuce wraps were amazing and a good healthy option. The filling was made of cucumbers, bean sprouts, carrots and coconut rice noodles, and the serving came with three different sauces. The lettuce wraps get a five out of five.
For our entree we decided to split the viral Cajun salmon. I don’t know if we just got a bad dish, but I can’t understand how this dish went viral because we did not like it at all. The salmon was too soft and very fishy compared to other salmon I’ve had. It was served with mashed potatoes and corn, and although the corn was good, the mashed potatoes were just okay and pretty bland. It gets only a three out of five.
Our server saw we didn’t eat the salmon at all and took it off our tab, which was nice.
We had to get a cheesecake, of course, so we split the brownie crunch cheesecake. It was very good and gets a four out of five.
Since my friend and I shared everything, we just split the bill down the middle and paid $42 each. That didn’t include the salmon that was removed from the tab.
Overall, I had a good experience at The Cheesecake Factory and will definitely go back and try different items. I also think splitting things is the way to go because the portions are very big.
PHOTO: Vantage Staff
