It was my wife's birthday and she wanted to go somewhere for lunch where we could get something good for dessert, so we headed off to the Cheesecake Factory at the Galleria. They have great cheesecake and a large menu that usually pleases anybody.
Since it was a pretty nice day, we parked outside and walked in directly through their decorative front doors. Even though is was still before noon, we had to wait, so we were given a buzzer and we sat out in the seats by the mall entrance way to wait for a table. We had about 15 minutes to "people watch" until the buzzer went off and we were brought to our booth. As usual, the place was crowded and noisy, but I was concentrating on skimming through the menu book to find something good to eat.
Last time I had the Burrito Grande, and this time I settled on the Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta. Yes, I seem to gravitate to a specific theme here at the Cheesecake Factory, don't I? My son selected the same Americana Burger which he enjoyed last time, and my mother-in-law also repeated with the Chicken Salad Sandwich. My wife, the birthday girl, however, decided to try something different and had the Mushroom Burger.
Our waitress seemed a little distracted but she did ask us if we wanted some bread. We agreed that we did want some, but when she came back with the bread she only brought two plates to go with it and hardly any butter. I am not sure if she expected us to share plates or if she was just so absentminded that she miscounted. Overall the service there was at its typically hurried, not much attention given level. If you are expecting good service at a restaurant, do not eat at a shopping mall!
The food arrived at a reasonable time and as usual the portions were pretty large. My pasta was in a large bowl, but I knew I had to pace myself since I wanted some cheesecake at the end of the meal! The pasta was very tasty and creamy without being overpowering. I enjoyed it quite a bit and ate the whole thing. When my wife offered me part of her burger, I had to pause to think about it, but I ate that too. Her burger was very well done, with the onions and mushrooms cooked just right to make a flavorful topping to the very juicy, meaty burger. My son also devoured his burger in its entirety and my mother-in-law again enjoyed half of her chicken salad sandwich and took the rest home (hey, last time she gave it to me!) The fries that accompanied the sandwiches were okay, but nothing exceptional.
Then, since we were at the Cheesecake Factory we had to have some cheesecake! My son and I again split the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake and my wife and mother-in-law split the Chocolate Mousse cheesecake. Those slices are pretty massive but they do charge over $7 per slice, so they are made for sharing. I remember I had tried both types last time and preferred the Godiva one, so I was glad we had that one again. It was decadently rich and delicious as before. What do you expect with chocolate cheesecake?
So we left the Cheesecake Factory fully stuffed and with our weekly recommended saturated fat intake sitting in our stomachs. Eat there once in a while and it is sinfully delicious, but eat there too often and you will have to stay in the mall to buy a lot of larger clothes for yourself (if you are still alive.)
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