5/30/2002

To be fair, we had to give the Cheesecake Factory another try at lunch, now that they've been open a few months to work out the kinks. It's consistantly one of the busiest restaurants in downtown Bellevue during lunch, so they must do something right.

The Navajo Sandwich was large, filling, and quite a novelty. On Native American style fry bread, it's a little heavy, but very tasty. The Hot Turkey Sandwich was also good, and about what you'd expect from the Cheesecake Factory - a large portion. The Fried Shrimp Scatter was very tasty, with lots of well seasoned shrimp. However, at a $15.95 price tag, it's pricy. Go for the Shrimp Po' Boy instead... almost the same amount of shrimp, plus the sandwich for less money. And finally, the service was good too. Overall, our last two experiences here have been very pleasant, with good food, large portions, and good service. Hence, we're re-rating it a 4.0, and encourage everyone to give them a try. With such a large and varied menu, it's hard to go wrong.

5/19/2002

Okay, we said we would give the Cheesecake Factory another chance, so we did. It seemed like a good candidate for a late night bite after a movie at the Bellevue Galleria. At least it seemed a little classier than Hooters.

The service this time was pretty good, so I'm inclined to chalk up our previous experience as a fluke. We went mostly for appetizers and desserts - great for sharing! The Avocado Eggrolls were quite good and a novelty. The Chicken Portabella Artichoke Pasta was good, if a bit fru-fru. We tried both the Adams Peanut Butter Fudge cake and the Fabulous Chocolate Mousse Cake, two of their many varieties of cheesecake. Both were good, but I think I would prefer both in non-cheesecake form better. Oh well, cheesecake is their headliner, so go with the flow.

1/21/2002

A new Cheesecake Factory restaurant just opened in Bellevue Square, so we decided to check it out for a weekday lunch. It was busy, but fortunatly the restaurant is large and we were seated immediately. The booth was comfortable and spacious. Thank goodness, because we ended up spending FAR TOO LONG there.

Cheescake Factory has nice interior decor, remenicsent of a nicer Vegas casino. Their menu is also extensive - much more than just Cheesecake - and many dishes at surrounding tables looked great. We tried the Meatloaf and Renee's Special - a combo of soup, salad, and half a sandwich. Both were good, but the turkey sandwich was a little heavy on the mayo and bland overall.

The worst part, however, was the wait and the service! After we placed our order, we were almost never checked on. We sat there waiting for over an hour, as tables all around us got their food and people came and went. To add insult to injury, we were seated next to a large table of employees-in-training who were getting to sample all the cuisine of the restaurant! Heaping plate after heaping plate of wonderful looking food arrived for these trainees, and all we could do was sit there and salivate. When we finally managed to flag down a manager, they tracked down our food, which apparently had been screwed up, put at the back of the order queue, and remade. It seems that making food for their own employees during peak lunch time is more important than us paying customers. Needless to say, we were very unhappy.

However, we may have been the exception to this poor service, as everyone else around was getting their food. To be fair, we'll go back soon and give them another chance, and maybe even sample some cheesecake.

Bottom Line: Fair food for the price, awful service (for us).