Cheesecake Factory, Everywhere USA

Look, I don't mind eating at Cheesecake Factory, but I don't understand why this place is ALWAYS so crowded. There are a lot of good restaurants around these chains and yet for some reason people still resort to waiting for 2 hours at the Cheesecake table. I don't get it. When this particular Cheesecake Factory opened near me, I, like many other people, waited for hours to eat here. Why? The meals are the same everywhere and we know what we are going to get. What is the excitement? I have no idea....but I still was involved! Good marketing team over there!

So I've been here twice now since it's opened near me (and countless other times outside of that), so let me quickly tell you what I got.

First Visit:
The Factory Appetizer Favorites was an AWESOME way for a table to sample all the delicious appetizer items they have. I love appetizers a lot, so this was such a special treat. My favorite were definitely the tamale corn cakes; spinach and cheese dip; and summer rolls. After that, I was actually really stuffed even though we had five people splitting appetizers! I ordered the Fresh Fish Tacos which were good, and very healthful tasting (good after the appetizer!) I ended up not being able to eat a lot and took some home. Let me tell you-- they don't heat up well the second time around, so I would advise you to eat the whole dish. I then ordered (please don't ask me how I had room for this) the carrot cake, which was HUGE (again, i took most of it home) and was good, but still not as good as my favorite carrot cake EVER from Wegman's (their Ultimate Carrot Cake and their Ultimate Chocolate Cake are two of the best cakes you will ever eat in your life).

Second Visit:
I ordered the appetizer salad (which size is good enough for a normal portioned salad) for my dinner, the French Country Salad (Mixed Greens, Grilled Asparagus, Fresh Beets, Goat Cheese and Candied Pecans). Doesn't that sound delicious? It wasn't. Ok, ok, I'll be fair, it was.....Ok. They forgot the pecans so we had to specially ask for it, which was strike one. But also, the taste was just incredibly bland. I was expecting taste explosions in my mouth and it didn't happen. I was bummed. To treat myself, I decided to go for dessert, as I often do. I chose the carrot cake cheesecake which was yummy. I think I preferred the carrot cake cheesecake over the carrot cake.

Overall, I still don't get they hype over this place other than the huge selection of meals. But, you won't hear me complaining if we end up going here......

Cheesecake Factory, Towson Town Center,
825 Dulaney Valley Road,
Towson, MD 21204
(410) 337-7411
www.thecheesecakefactory.com