Cheesecake Factory

I do not like Cheesecake Factory.

I've been to the Cheesecake Factory severals times and I can assure you, I am never the one to recommend this restaurant chain. It amazes me to see how many people like this chain when, in my opinion, it must be geared towards people who want to eat big portions for overpriced mediocre food. I believe in quality over quantity. Do I sound snobby? Yes, I may be a little snobby but to be honest, I have no problems eating at hole in the wall restaurants as long as the food is good and I welcome tasty street food any day.

I remembered the first time I was introduced to this restaurant chain. It was my college years and the husband and I were at this restaurant to celebrate the husband's friend's birthday. I remembered ordering the Orange Chicken. I should have known that I cannot order Chinese food at a chain restaurant but whatever happened to Asian fusion? The husband (boyfriend at the time) ordered some pasta dish. When the dishes arrived, I just remembered watching in amazement how humongous everyone's dishes were! Each portion was enough to serve two if not three people! Needless to say I remembered my order but I can honestly say that my dish was not "yummy" memorable. I did not finish my food, I must have eaten about 3 pieces of chicken and I did not want to take my dish home either. That was the first experience at Cheesecake Factory.

Over the years, I have been back several times for business lunches as my colleagues like this restaurant. I'll admit that there is an abundance of items to choose from on their menu list but when the dishes come out, it's always oversized and mediocre. I remembered one time ordering the strawberry shortcake dessert and the strawberries were not fresh and the shortcake was hard. How can you go wrong with dessert?

As time progressed and when my friends and I had get togethers, sometimes they would want to go the the Cheesecake Factory. The fortunate thing is that there were usually several restaurants to choose from and Cheesecake Factory would be beaten out by other tastier restaurants except last month. I decided to give Cheesecake Factory another try as the time we were going was for Sunday brunch. Since it was for breakfast, I figured, you really can't go wrong with breakfast menu. Can you?!!??! I remembered ordering the Belgium waffle. Luckily, my friends ordered other items so we were able to share and get a taste of everything. Again, oversized portions enough for 2 plus people. My Belgium waffle was o.k. Nothing to note about.

So today, I was craving for breakfast food but I did not research for a restaurant so I ended up deciding on Cheesecake Factory, even though I wanted something more authentic. The husband and I headed over to the restuarant. I ordered the eggs benedict and the husband ordered pizza.

Again oversized portions, my eggs benedict which consisted of spinach, grilled tomato and bacon, was, one word, terrible. When the dish was brought out, it looked messy. The sauce, which I don't think was Hollandish sauce, was this eggy mess that was draped everywhere. (I wished I'd taken a picture.) Why must I torture myself with this restaurant? The food is just awful. I feel like I gain 5 pounds everytime I step into this restaurant. And for those who tell me that they like the cheesecake at this place - are they out of their mind? I've tried the cheesecake here. The filling is not moist, it feels as if you are eating a stick of cream cheese.

I must try to avoid this restaurant at all cost. By the way, I also dislike BJ's and Macroni Grill.

Going to Cheesecake Factory makes me miss Ramos House in San Juan Capistrano. :(