Is the Cheesecake Factory Worth the Wait?

It’s perhaps the busiest restaurant in Sacramento. But is the Sacramento branch of the chain eatery The Cheesecake Factory located at Arden Mall worth the wait? I had to go see for myself.

The Cheesecake Factory is marketed as casual dining for people of all ages. Walking into the restaurant, you receive a warm welcome from the staff members. The restaurant’s décor is elegant,; Egyptian décor mixed with upscale furnishings shout comfort.

After waiting for a table, typically 15-30 minutes but sometimes more, you are greeted promptly by the server. Starting with drinks, the kids have a variety to choose from, such as the strawberry or raspberry lemonades, ciders, milk, and sodas.

For adults, the bar menu is full of liquid options too. For example, the “Georgia Peach” has a soothing taste of peach liqueur and tastes just like a peach. It is a splendid choice for both men and women.

Immediately after putting in drink orders, the server brings complimentary sourdough and whole wheat bread to munch on as you look over the mult-page menu. The options are overwhelming. The Cheesecake Factory has literally hundreds of items, starting with small plates and snacks ranging from $4 to $10 to full-scale dinners in the $15 range. Portions are hefty.

“When I first looked at the menu I had to study for this restaurant, I thought it was going to be so hard,” says server Megan Jones. “However, the Cheesecake Factory makes you go through a server class consisting of a full week of six-hour day, to learn every detail about each dish, dessert, and beverage. The class helped me to become the best server I could be.”

Our order, suggested by the server, was the most popular dish, known as the “Chicken Madeira.” This dish is a grilled chicken dish soaked in a delicious mushroom Madeira wine sauce, with mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side.

After the dinner, we were introduced to the restaurant’s signature cheesecake specials: dozens of types of every cheesecake imaginable.

“The original and fresh strawberry cheesecakes remain the most popular since the restaurant opened,” according to our server Morgan Jones. “However, we are specializing in our 30th anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake, a dessert with two layer of original cheesecake, and two layers of our fudge cake, surrounded by beautiful chocolate Verona pearls on the outside. It’s personally my favorite, and one of our top cheesecakes at this time.”

With a fond farewell to end the day and a glimpse at the cheesecakes on the way out, the Cheesecake Factory continues to fulfill its mission statement: “To create an environment where absolute guest satisfaction is the highest priority.”

The Cheesecake Factory really is, worth the wait.

Editor's Note: The Sacramento Press contacted the author of this story to confirm that she is an employee of The Cheesecake Factory. She wrote this article as an assignment for a journalism course. For the sake of full disclosure, we felt it was necessary to inform the readers of the author's affiliation with the company she is writing about. This was brought to our attention by Josh Fernandez of the Sacramento News & Review, in this article http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1002640