Ram4 wrote:I miss one of my old favorites that's long gone - the open faced hot turkey sandwich. ... it was good comfort food.

Never had it a TCF but I recall one road trip as a kid with my grandparents, all the roadside diners had it and it was my goto as a kid, that and frog's legs.

Just ate here today. Probably goes without saying but don't order the crab cakes-they're somehow spongey, mushy, and creamy in texture. Also pretty well breaded and deep fried. Heavy.

The two accompanying dipping sauces, Mustard and tartar sauce, both mayo based and homemade, were flavorful and tasty.

Can also attest that the salads are sad. My cesar was barely dressed with somewhat limp, pale lettuce. Hardly any flavor. The croutons were homemade though.

I've also noticed that the cheesecakes have steadily decreased in quality of ingredients over time. I remember way back around 2000 when they still used real whipped cream. They changed over to the fake stuff pretty quickly, and the cheesecakes themselves seem to taste more and more 'artificial'.

The gratis bread and butter are still good.

I thought of this thread because tomorrow night, the Cheesecake Factory near the Reno airport will be the site of my dinner. I'll have been up since 4am, and am dropping off my colleague at the airport at 5pm, and will be wearing a suit and tie on a 95 degree day. I just won't be in the mood to explore (especially with a 6am flight the next day), and just sitting at the bar and picking something off the Skinnylicious menu is going to fit the bill.

threadkiller wrote:I thought of this thread because tomorrow night, the Cheesecake Factory near the Reno airport will be the site of my dinner. I'll have been up since 4am, and am dropping off my colleague at the airport at 5pm, and will be wearing a suit and tie on a 95 degree day. I just won't be in the mood to explore (especially with a 6am flight the next day), and just sitting at the bar and picking something off the Skinnylicious menu is going to fit the bill.

Pictures, please!

At last! Yesterday was my Cheesecake Factory day.



Anticipation grew as I approached the imposing entrance. Unfortunately it was closed (probably related to the heavy rains) so we had to use the back door. As our group of twenty headed to our private room (windowless and boring, but good for our purposes), I got a glimpse of the grandeur of the empty bar room.



I was hungry so decided on meatloaf, encouraged by enthusiastic recommendations from two Factory veterans on either side of me.



Good stuff: classic meatloaf, well executed. Sautéed onions were a nice touch and the gravy wasn't bad at all (maybe a tad sweet but well within my limits, and it reminded me of my mother's ketchup-spiked meatloaf gravy). Potatoes and succotash were both exemplary. The succotash was particularly impressive, with very fresh vegetables cooked with care. I think the corn might have been freshly cut from the cob, as I found a single strand of fresh-looking corn silk. An all-around solid plate of food. I don't know where in Chicago you could find a better meatloaf dinner (any suggestions?).

tatterdemalion wrote:This thread reminded me of a fascinating article in The New Yorker that takes an inside look into the operations of The Cheesecake Factory and what big medicine can learn from it.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/13/big-med

I'm a big fan of Atul Gawande, but had missed that New Yorker article. Even before reading it, I recently gained a lot of respect for The Cheesecake Factory. Like Steve Z, I'd completely dismissed the place and never gave the slightest thought to visiting. But in the past few weeks I realized it's more than another Bennigan's (not that I've eaten there either). Running a national chain with a huge menu of cooked-to-order food that people wait in line for shows they're doing something right. It was interesting to read how they pull it off.

After my lunch I can further appreciate how well-run the place is, with lots of thought given to the smallest details. Case in point: the doggy bags. Since a large fraction of customers take leftovers home, maybe this isn't so minor. The bags are designed to precisely fit the takeout tubs (themselves well-designed) so tipping and spilling are largely eliminated. I'm sure there are dozens of similar details that escaped my attention.

threadkiller wrote:I thought of this thread because tomorrow night, the Cheesecake Factory near the Reno airport will be the site of my dinner. I'll have been up since 4am, and am dropping off my colleague at the airport at 5pm, and will be wearing a suit and tie on a 95 degree day. I just won't be in the mood to explore (especially with a 6am flight the next day), and just sitting at the bar and picking something off the Skinnylicious menu is going to fit the bill.

That makes perfect sense. While I'll never become a Cheesecake Factory regular, I now understand its appeal and wouldn't hesitate to return (under certain circumstances).

Nobody ordered appetizers or dessert so I guess one of these days I'll have to stop by the Hancock location to try a few items from the happy hour appetizer menu. I'm already looking forward to it!!!

stevez wrote:

threadkiller wrote:I thought of this thread because tomorrow night, the Cheesecake Factory near the Reno airport will be the site of my dinner. I'll have been up since 4am, and am dropping off my colleague at the airport at 5pm, and will be wearing a suit and tie on a 95 degree day. I just won't be in the mood to explore (especially with a 6am flight the next day), and just sitting at the bar and picking something off the Skinnylicious menu is going to fit the bill.

Pictures, please!

Sadly for this thread, there was an In-N-Out a block from the hotel, and the ability to eat dinner while sitting on my hotel bed before passing out won out over community service.

ChicagoTribune.com wrote:Watch out, diners: There are serious calories in some restaurant meals.

That was the message of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group, as it released its annual "Xtreme Eating Award" winners — the most calorie-stuffed dishes and drinks from the country's chain restaurants.

Topping the list were entrees like The Cheesecake Factory's Pasta Napoletana, which the chain describes as a meat lover's pizza in pasta form. The pasta, dressed in a Parmesan cream sauce, is topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, and bacon and clocks in at 2,310 calories, 79 grams of saturated fat, and 4,370 mg of sodium.

2,310-calorie pasta dish, 1,450-calorie omelet on group's unhealthy restaurant meal list

=R=

4,370 mg of sodium

One of the good things about chains like the Cheesecake Factory is that, unlike independent restaurants, it's relatively easy to look up the nutritional information for their menu on websites like this one.

nsxtasy wrote:One of the good things about chains like the Cheesecake Factory is that, unlike independent restaurants, it's relatively easy to look up the nutritional information for their menu on websites like this one.

And the cals are printed on the menu. I ate there recently for the first time in at least a decade and the exorbitant amount of cals in each dish, along with the breadth of choices, made the decision making process a bit time consuming.

Half price cheesecake today - http://wgntv.com/2017/07/31/cheesecake- ... today/amp/

ronnie_suburban wrote:2,310 calories, 79 grams of saturated fat, and 4,370 mg of sodium.

Rene G hasn't posted in almost three weeks. I'm getting worried.

Opening of the first Cheesecake Factory in Hong Kong has diners cooking up strategies to handle heaping portions

https://www.wsj.com/article_email/it-ta ... TUxODExWj/