Who Likes Cheesecake (Factory)? Eick June 24, 2009 Restaurants 27 Comments Update: We have a winner of the $25 gift card! JamieSusan. Congrats. You can also checkout the new Cheesecake Factory happy hour online. I’ll tell you one thing: THIS guy does. Regular readers of this blog know I’m not a sweets or dessert guy, never order it, rarely eat it. But the one exception is cheesecake. I absolutely love the stuff. The Cheesecake Factory, to their credit as a chain restaurant, has pretty good food, and damn good cheesecake. I first discovered this place while spending a semester in Washington, DC during college. A big group of us went there for Easter dinner because, well, none of us were able to go home, and as college kids, couldn’t exactly afford Easter dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was that night that I discovered The Cheesecake Factory will serve you portions bigger than your head. I stuffed myself that meal, ate a little bit late night, and still had enough leftovers for lunch the next day. The Cheesecake Factory has a new promotion called “Share Your Celebration.” I don’t often write about the campaigns my company is sometimes promoting, but this one has some pretty sweet prizes. A trip for Four to Florida, gift cards, and maybe coolest of all FREE cheesecake for a year. To enter, just go to the site and share what you have to celebrate. I also have a $25 gift card to The Cheesecake Factory to give away to one lucky reader. To enter to win, please post in the comments what your favorite or most memorable experience with cheesecake is. If you don’t like or are allergic to cheesecake, you can still win the gift card –  just post saying why you don’t like or don’t have a memorable experience with cheesecake.  The Cheesecake Factory has a huge menu, so if you win, you still get free dinner out of it! The most interesting or intriguing response before July 1st will get the gift card. Unless they aren’t that intriguing, in which case I’ll pick someone from the comments at random. I will post details for how the winner can contact me on or around July 1st. Good luck everyone! The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Eick Latest posts by Eick (see all) Fast Food Bracket Round 1: Jack in the Box vs. Five Guys, KFC vs. Checkers - March 3, 2016 BK’s “Polygameat” Campaign Shockingly Similar to Wendy’s “Meatatarian” Campaign - September 16, 2014 Surge Wins Discontinued Foods Bracket! - April 12, 2013 27 Responses erin June 24th, 2009 i LOVE LOVE cheesecake! its my favorite! several years ago, my boyfriend (who is now my hubby!) decided to surprise me by making me dinner and dessert for one of our first dates. the dinner was absolutely delicious! then he said he had a surprise for me for dessert (he knew it was my favorite and was trying to impress), and when i saw what it was i was so excited! then i took a bite and it was AWFUL!!! so, now that we are married, we make a terrific team – he cooks, i take care of dessert! Reply shatraw June 24th, 2009 this just in: cheesecake declared gross! Reply shatraw June 24th, 2009 is that an eligible contest entry? Reply Kulby June 24th, 2009 I was obsessed with cheesecake as a kid…my most memorable experience would have to be making a slice of cheesecake out of clay in 6th grade art class — clearly, I always had food on my mind Reply Bear Silber June 24th, 2009 I LOVE cheesecake (the dessert) but frankly hate The Cheesecake Factory….granted their namesake is delicious. I just can’t stand how they have such huge portions, and it’s really hard to get anything healthy there. My most memorable cheesecake story…I guess when my mother first offered me cheesecake (to a 9-year old it was cheese cake), I was not wanting this at all. I could only think about a cake made with a big block of cheddar. I didn’t even try one until I was about 20…I feel in love…and now I make the best darned one around 🙂 Reply Megan June 24th, 2009 Ummm I don’t really have a memorable experience with cheesecake. Except this one time a friend and I went to Cheesecake factory and shared an appetizer, ate salads, drank a bottle of wine and made fun of this waitress with insanely huge hair. My friend even slyly took a picture with her phone so she could show another friend. Also a tip – the banana cream cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory is awesom…and I don’t even really like bananas. Some of their flavors are really sweet and rich so you take like one bite and you’re done. The banana cream is light and fresh…not as rich etc. It’s my favorite. Reply matt June 24th, 2009 I always get cheesesteaks and cheesecakes confused. So one time I asked the folks at Cheesecake Factory to make me a cheesesteak. They said no, but I think it was because I told them I’d put it down my pants. I haven’t checked with the Cheesesteak Factory in Georgetown to see if they’ll make me a cheesesteak that tastes like cheesecake. Reply Kristen June 24th, 2009 My mom is known for making bomba$$ cheesecake (strawberry or cherry topped and a graham cracker walnut crust). They are requested at every family party way in advance and she’s happy to oblige. One year a fight broke out over the last piece among the adults…let’s just say mom makes two cheesecakes nowadays. Reply Brett June 24th, 2009 I love the cheesecake factory – i love the BIG salads, and how careful they are with food allergies. also the actual cheesecake is pretty good, too. Reply Skiff June 24th, 2009 My friend and I noticed that one of our neighbors was away and had been delivered a cheesecake. We didnt want the cheesecake to go bad so we ate it. (also because we’re horrible people that steal cheesecake) The next day a new cheesecake had arrived, so we had to eat that as well. This went on for a while until one of us dropped the cheesecake and we realized how horrible we were and stopped stealing cheesecake. True story* *By true story I mean a horrible episode of Friends, because I’m the worst. Reply Michelle June 24th, 2009 making my 1st cheesecake & to this day… still using the same recipe as a base haven’t turned back since! Thanks for the drawing. m Reply Julia June 24th, 2009 When I was a kid, I wouldn’t have eaten cheesecake if you held a gun to my head. (Yes, I was that kid.) Then one day at college, I had to eat some because everyone else was (yes, I was that college kid), and it was unbelievable! It’s one of the few desserts that I think is actually better in its non-chocolate form. Reply Amanda June 24th, 2009 Not a huge fan of cheesecake, but… I do LOVE frozen slices dipped in chocolate. They sell them at our state fair. It is a huge refreshing change to a plain ol’ iced tea or lemon shake up! Reply mike June 24th, 2009 I hate cheesecake, but i love cake. Hatred toward cheesecake is my only experience. Reply Erin June 24th, 2009 My boyfriend and I went to Cheesecake Factory for our first date becuase, as college students, we loved the feel of a nice restaraunt, but at an affordable price. It was pouring rain that night and he was so nervous that he dumped the umbrella full of water on me on our way in (I still remind him of that every chance I get!) We sat in the booth and talked for hours while sharing a slice of cheesecake and missed our movie! Now, we celebrate every anniversary there! Reply Brian June 25th, 2009 I’ve been to Cheesecake Factory once. Believe it or not, I didn’t have any cheesecake. Usually when a see a restaurant that offers many different types of cuisines on its menu, I always fear the worst. A lot of places can’t even get one cuisine right. How can I expect them to get 5 right? Surprisingly, Cheesecake Factory wasn’t bad at putting together a decent plate of tacos. I expected something bland. Reply Indianapolis Eater June 25th, 2009 I absolutely love cheesecake. I could eat it all day long if I wasn’t so concerned about the fact that I’m basically eating plate of fat as I’m doing it. Also, only been to The Cheesecake Factory once and it was okay. There was nothing bad about it and there was nothing good about it. It’s one of those places where if I went there, I’d be satisified. As for my best cheesecake story: Around Christmas time five years ago, I received a suspicious package at my front door addressed to a former resident of my condo. Not knowing what the package was or how in the world to get a hold of the actual addressee, I figured I’d open the package and check it out (I saw the return address was a mail order dessert company) so that it didn’t go bad. Yes, this sounds like that Friends episode, but this one is true. Much to my surprise and delight, I opened the package to find a cheesecake sampler wheel of eight different kinds of cheesecakes! I tore through about half of that thing in the next five minutes and then “gradually” finished the rest over the next two days. It might have been the greatest random thing to ever happen to me. Reply Bear Silber June 25th, 2009 @Indianapolis Eater – That’s awesome! Sounds like you had a visit from St. Nick early. “It might have been the greatest random thing to ever happen to me.” – Love it! Reply Jess June 25th, 2009 My cheesecake story is pretty cool, starting in France and ending in an emergency room. So here’s the deal. I was in France for a bit, exploring around and checking out the provences, honing my skills and testing out different foods. I see an advertisement, hand-lettered, for “cheese cake”, in English, in a small cafe. I am elated. I go in and order the cheesecake, excited to eat something familiar and sentimental to me, and it arrives. It looks normal, and smells okay. So I dig in. It tastes a little funky, which probably should have tipped me off, and halfway through, I realize it’s a cheese cake. Cheese. As in, blue cheese, highly sweetened, with mushrooms. Here’s where the ER comes in. I am highly allergic to mushrooms, hives, swelling, the whole bit. Realizing this, I blurt out as much of an explanation as I can, all the while cursing the gods that I couldn’t just find a damned Cheesecake Factory and that cognates weren’t a little more simple. To make a long story short, I spent the remainder of my vacation recovering. It sucked. I can no longer trust hand-written signs advertising cheese cake. Gotta be one word from now on, guys! Hope I win… Reply Ellie June 25th, 2009 My most memorable cheesecake incident was when my boyfriend and I read somewhere that you could add tofu to your cheesecake to decrease the fat and add some healthy. What a sacrilege and a lie! It was the only cheesecake, EVER, that I have not chowed on. Most memorable, but most disgusting. Reply Kim June 25th, 2009 Strawberry cheesecake is by far my favorite. And I absolutely can not get enough of the Cheesecake Factory. I’ve never had a bad experience there. <3 Reply amhancock June 26th, 2009 Been to the CF on the bay in Baltimore..it was an ending to a wonderful day with my in-laws. They’ve since opened one in town, but haven’t had the chance to go. I would love to try it again! Reply Doreen June 27th, 2009 I love, love, love the Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory! I’m Lactose intolerant BUT I love my cheese and that WON’T stop me from having my Cheesecake!! Nothing will! No diarrhea, nothing!! 🙂 I love all kinds of cheese but Cheesecake is my fav. My Mom and I love eating Cheesecake together. It’s nice to catch up and chat over eating some delicious Cheesecake! Often, I give her half of mine and she gives me half of her’s! That way we both get to eat some of each other’s different Cheesecake! Hope to win! My Mom’s birthday is on July 1st. Would love to celebrate by taking her out and having another memorable experience at The one and ONLY Cheesecake Factory!! Reply Doreen June 27th, 2009 I bet ya some people will be making up some of these memorable experiences. I know mine wasn’t anything extravagant. 🙂 Reply Catherine June 29th, 2009 …I met Dr. Dre at The Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey. Also happened to be the first time I ever had cheesecake. All in all, it was a good night. Reply JamieSusan June 29th, 2009 I was not a fan of cheesecake as a child. I would watch my mother make it with much terror and wonder if she was going to force me to eat some. But then one day much later in life a dear friend introduced me to REAL cheesecake and I realized that my mom (and I love you mom) was making some awful amaretto cream cheese pie nonsense that tasted like a sugar headache and she was just calling it cheesecake for funsies. Parents you must be careful with that kind of thing. You can’t just throw around random names like that. You’ll mess a kid up. Reply Jason July 11th, 2009 I was at Cheesecake Factory tonight, I picked up the bottle of ketchup the waitress handed me, and when I shook it, it ended up all over my shirt,pants, table, and 4 month old daughter. The waitress gave me some towels and called a manager. the manager said im sorry. THATS IT. No offer to clean my clothes, no comped dinner or dessert, I was so disgusted with what happened, I didn’t even eat the food, then to top it off I was givin an 80 dollar dinner bill. I will NEVER step foot into that place again. Reply Leave a ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Current ye@r * Leave this field empty
erin June 24th, 2009 i LOVE LOVE cheesecake! its my favorite! several years ago, my boyfriend (who is now my hubby!) decided to surprise me by making me dinner and dessert for one of our first dates. the dinner was absolutely delicious! then he said he had a surprise for me for dessert (he knew it was my favorite and was trying to impress), and when i saw what it was i was so excited! then i took a bite and it was AWFUL!!! so, now that we are married, we make a terrific team – he cooks, i take care of dessert! Reply
Kulby June 24th, 2009 I was obsessed with cheesecake as a kid…my most memorable experience would have to be making a slice of cheesecake out of clay in 6th grade art class — clearly, I always had food on my mind Reply
Bear Silber June 24th, 2009 I LOVE cheesecake (the dessert) but frankly hate The Cheesecake Factory….granted their namesake is delicious. I just can’t stand how they have such huge portions, and it’s really hard to get anything healthy there. My most memorable cheesecake story…I guess when my mother first offered me cheesecake (to a 9-year old it was cheese cake), I was not wanting this at all. I could only think about a cake made with a big block of cheddar. I didn’t even try one until I was about 20…I feel in love…and now I make the best darned one around 🙂 Reply
Megan June 24th, 2009 Ummm I don’t really have a memorable experience with cheesecake. Except this one time a friend and I went to Cheesecake factory and shared an appetizer, ate salads, drank a bottle of wine and made fun of this waitress with insanely huge hair. My friend even slyly took a picture with her phone so she could show another friend. Also a tip – the banana cream cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory is awesom…and I don’t even really like bananas. Some of their flavors are really sweet and rich so you take like one bite and you’re done. The banana cream is light and fresh…not as rich etc. It’s my favorite. Reply
matt June 24th, 2009 I always get cheesesteaks and cheesecakes confused. So one time I asked the folks at Cheesecake Factory to make me a cheesesteak. They said no, but I think it was because I told them I’d put it down my pants. I haven’t checked with the Cheesesteak Factory in Georgetown to see if they’ll make me a cheesesteak that tastes like cheesecake. Reply
Kristen June 24th, 2009 My mom is known for making bomba$$ cheesecake (strawberry or cherry topped and a graham cracker walnut crust). They are requested at every family party way in advance and she’s happy to oblige. One year a fight broke out over the last piece among the adults…let’s just say mom makes two cheesecakes nowadays. Reply
Brett June 24th, 2009 I love the cheesecake factory – i love the BIG salads, and how careful they are with food allergies. also the actual cheesecake is pretty good, too. Reply
Skiff June 24th, 2009 My friend and I noticed that one of our neighbors was away and had been delivered a cheesecake. We didnt want the cheesecake to go bad so we ate it. (also because we’re horrible people that steal cheesecake) The next day a new cheesecake had arrived, so we had to eat that as well. This went on for a while until one of us dropped the cheesecake and we realized how horrible we were and stopped stealing cheesecake. True story* *By true story I mean a horrible episode of Friends, because I’m the worst. Reply
Michelle June 24th, 2009 making my 1st cheesecake & to this day… still using the same recipe as a base haven’t turned back since! Thanks for the drawing. m Reply
Julia June 24th, 2009 When I was a kid, I wouldn’t have eaten cheesecake if you held a gun to my head. (Yes, I was that kid.) Then one day at college, I had to eat some because everyone else was (yes, I was that college kid), and it was unbelievable! It’s one of the few desserts that I think is actually better in its non-chocolate form. Reply
Amanda June 24th, 2009 Not a huge fan of cheesecake, but… I do LOVE frozen slices dipped in chocolate. They sell them at our state fair. It is a huge refreshing change to a plain ol’ iced tea or lemon shake up! Reply
mike June 24th, 2009 I hate cheesecake, but i love cake. Hatred toward cheesecake is my only experience. Reply
Erin June 24th, 2009 My boyfriend and I went to Cheesecake Factory for our first date becuase, as college students, we loved the feel of a nice restaraunt, but at an affordable price. It was pouring rain that night and he was so nervous that he dumped the umbrella full of water on me on our way in (I still remind him of that every chance I get!) We sat in the booth and talked for hours while sharing a slice of cheesecake and missed our movie! Now, we celebrate every anniversary there! Reply
Brian June 25th, 2009 I’ve been to Cheesecake Factory once. Believe it or not, I didn’t have any cheesecake. Usually when a see a restaurant that offers many different types of cuisines on its menu, I always fear the worst. A lot of places can’t even get one cuisine right. How can I expect them to get 5 right? Surprisingly, Cheesecake Factory wasn’t bad at putting together a decent plate of tacos. I expected something bland. Reply
Indianapolis Eater June 25th, 2009 I absolutely love cheesecake. I could eat it all day long if I wasn’t so concerned about the fact that I’m basically eating plate of fat as I’m doing it. Also, only been to The Cheesecake Factory once and it was okay. There was nothing bad about it and there was nothing good about it. It’s one of those places where if I went there, I’d be satisified. As for my best cheesecake story: Around Christmas time five years ago, I received a suspicious package at my front door addressed to a former resident of my condo. Not knowing what the package was or how in the world to get a hold of the actual addressee, I figured I’d open the package and check it out (I saw the return address was a mail order dessert company) so that it didn’t go bad. Yes, this sounds like that Friends episode, but this one is true. Much to my surprise and delight, I opened the package to find a cheesecake sampler wheel of eight different kinds of cheesecakes! I tore through about half of that thing in the next five minutes and then “gradually” finished the rest over the next two days. It might have been the greatest random thing to ever happen to me. Reply
Bear Silber June 25th, 2009 @Indianapolis Eater – That’s awesome! Sounds like you had a visit from St. Nick early. “It might have been the greatest random thing to ever happen to me.” – Love it! Reply
Jess June 25th, 2009 My cheesecake story is pretty cool, starting in France and ending in an emergency room. So here’s the deal. I was in France for a bit, exploring around and checking out the provences, honing my skills and testing out different foods. I see an advertisement, hand-lettered, for “cheese cake”, in English, in a small cafe. I am elated. I go in and order the cheesecake, excited to eat something familiar and sentimental to me, and it arrives. It looks normal, and smells okay. So I dig in. It tastes a little funky, which probably should have tipped me off, and halfway through, I realize it’s a cheese cake. Cheese. As in, blue cheese, highly sweetened, with mushrooms. Here’s where the ER comes in. I am highly allergic to mushrooms, hives, swelling, the whole bit. Realizing this, I blurt out as much of an explanation as I can, all the while cursing the gods that I couldn’t just find a damned Cheesecake Factory and that cognates weren’t a little more simple. To make a long story short, I spent the remainder of my vacation recovering. It sucked. I can no longer trust hand-written signs advertising cheese cake. Gotta be one word from now on, guys! Hope I win… Reply
Ellie June 25th, 2009 My most memorable cheesecake incident was when my boyfriend and I read somewhere that you could add tofu to your cheesecake to decrease the fat and add some healthy. What a sacrilege and a lie! It was the only cheesecake, EVER, that I have not chowed on. Most memorable, but most disgusting. Reply
Kim June 25th, 2009 Strawberry cheesecake is by far my favorite. And I absolutely can not get enough of the Cheesecake Factory. I’ve never had a bad experience there. <3 Reply
amhancock June 26th, 2009 Been to the CF on the bay in Baltimore..it was an ending to a wonderful day with my in-laws. They’ve since opened one in town, but haven’t had the chance to go. I would love to try it again! Reply
Doreen June 27th, 2009 I love, love, love the Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory! I’m Lactose intolerant BUT I love my cheese and that WON’T stop me from having my Cheesecake!! Nothing will! No diarrhea, nothing!! 🙂 I love all kinds of cheese but Cheesecake is my fav. My Mom and I love eating Cheesecake together. It’s nice to catch up and chat over eating some delicious Cheesecake! Often, I give her half of mine and she gives me half of her’s! That way we both get to eat some of each other’s different Cheesecake! Hope to win! My Mom’s birthday is on July 1st. Would love to celebrate by taking her out and having another memorable experience at The one and ONLY Cheesecake Factory!! Reply
Doreen June 27th, 2009 I bet ya some people will be making up some of these memorable experiences. I know mine wasn’t anything extravagant. 🙂 Reply
Catherine June 29th, 2009 …I met Dr. Dre at The Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey. Also happened to be the first time I ever had cheesecake. All in all, it was a good night. Reply
JamieSusan June 29th, 2009 I was not a fan of cheesecake as a child. I would watch my mother make it with much terror and wonder if she was going to force me to eat some. But then one day much later in life a dear friend introduced me to REAL cheesecake and I realized that my mom (and I love you mom) was making some awful amaretto cream cheese pie nonsense that tasted like a sugar headache and she was just calling it cheesecake for funsies. Parents you must be careful with that kind of thing. You can’t just throw around random names like that. You’ll mess a kid up. Reply
Jason July 11th, 2009 I was at Cheesecake Factory tonight, I picked up the bottle of ketchup the waitress handed me, and when I shook it, it ended up all over my shirt,pants, table, and 4 month old daughter. The waitress gave me some towels and called a manager. the manager said im sorry. THATS IT. No offer to clean my clothes, no comped dinner or dessert, I was so disgusted with what happened, I didn’t even eat the food, then to top it off I was givin an 80 dollar dinner bill. I will NEVER step foot into that place again. Reply
