The Cheesecake Factory

I ordered the pear and endive salad with NO blue cheese to pick up. When I got home it had blue cheese all over it. My husband drove back to get a new salad with no blue cheese. I was so disappointed. The chicken was cold and tasted like it was out of a can and the pears were soggy and also out of a can. I can’t believe I not only paid for this but drove twice to get. Horrible job Cheesecake Factory

It was a little busy but we found a place at the bar. And boy are we glad we did! A young man by the name of Patrick was our bartender– he was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu– thank god because there was a lot to choose from! I had the Ruby red sunrise and my partner had a Pineapple Moscow mule. It was a special visit for us mainly due to the outstanding service! Great job Patrick & the Edina Cheesecake Factory!

We called in the morning to make a reservation at 5:00 for a birthday gathering for my wife’s father, but Cheesecake Factory said that they wouldn’t take reservations. My wife and were told there wouldn’t be any problem getting in at 5:00. We arrived at 4:45, and there was a one and a half to two hour wait. Needless to say, our plans were ruined. They shouldn’t have told us that we could get in; we could have made other plans. My recommendation: don’t go here on a weekend evening unless you’re prepared for, and don’t mind a two hour wait.

This place is always packed since it’s the only one in the city. I think of it kind of as an upscale family restaurant, that’s neither really good at one thing or the next. We waited 40 min for our entrees on a Sunday night. Food portions are decent, but overall you could probably find better versions of their items at different restaurants, ie pasta at an Italian restaurant

I always take longer than my friends to order so my first time being here I picked something quick and random which ended io being the chicken salad sandwich. It was plenty big and the salad on the side was delicious. Wish the bread was a little less buttery though and it was a bit salty over all, ended up being full after five bites.
Dessert– Lemon and Raspberry cheesecake.: ⁴⁄₅
Vanilla bean cheesecake.: ³⁄₅

I love this place! I live 30 minutes away and always make a trip to get some of their red velvet cheesecake. The service is average but the food makes up for it. Some of my favorites: fried zucchini, Louisiana chicken pasta, and brown bread (free). The menu is very large and it is easy to get overwhelmed.

One of the greats when it comes to chains. All Cheesecake Factories deliver consistently on service and food. There always seems to be a wait for this place, but unlike in SF, the wait is generally around 30 minutes to an hour. Ambience is the same as any other Cheesecake Factory, strangely pleasing despite being a chain, they’ve really got the design and experience down pat!
We got the grilled salmon (comes with mashed potatoes and broccoli) and the chicken bellagio (lightly crisped chicken breast on top of pesto spaghetti, prosciutto, and arugula). I’ve never been let down with any of the dishes I’ve had here, their pastas are always delicious (if you’re not expecting hand made pasta), their avocado egg rolls are amazing. I’ve never had anything sweet or savory that I regretted here, so it’s a safe choice and a great place if you just want a good, reliable meal without figuring out where to go.
This is located in the Southdale Mall, so if you don’t want to wait you can try the other restaurants they have in the same mall (PF Chang’s, Rojo’s, an Italian fast food place) or you can go catch a movie @ AMC. There’s always shopping! But remember that their buzzer doesn’t work anywhere outside Cheesecake.
The only thing they could do a little better is to have a bigger bar area to have a place for people to hang out before they get their tables — it gets way too crowded in there.

PLEASE READ: AN HONEST AND IMPORTANT REVIEW!!!
I have never, in all my years, had as horrible of an experience in a restaurant as today. The female manger was completely rude and unprofessional and our food arrived far beyond late. I live in California and came to Minnesota to spend the holidays with my family. Needless to say, our time was rather precious, so imagine our huge disappointment with the atrocious service we received. Sit tight because there is quite a story to tell! First off, our server was a really nice guy, but he did put in the order for our appetizers late. We get it, it’s New Year’s Day, it’s going to be crowded, but after waiting for an hour to get our table, we were not expecting this. Even with the late order, the appetizers arrived exactly 50 minutes after ordering. Our appetizers not only took this long, but came one by one! Our first appetizer (the avocado egg rolls) was brought by a man who, after hearing about how long we waited, rudely responded by saying «do you want it or not». Our appetizers soon followed after 2 hours dedicated all to this restaurant. Oh yeah, the food! The two tables sitting next to us all received their food even after coming at least twenty minutes after us. One of our family members had to leave because he had to work!!! Our food came and it was fine, but at this point, we lost our appetite honestly. The manger, Jennifer, was INCREDIBLY RUDE. She took two appetizers off out of an order from a group of seven people and made far too many rude comments. She said that she would take care of the food of my family member, but we didn’t realize she would take it off completely! When we asked to order it, she said that she would have to charge us. Really?!? He left because we had waited far more than an hour, and know we have to pay?! At this point, we were livid and wished to speak to the general manager. As Jennifer left, she said that she had been here for 12 years and was experienced for the job. She has been here for 12 years; that doesn’t mean they were good years! Absolutely horrible. Anyway, in short, the general manager came, but none of the «reductions» could fix this horrible experience. I will certainly be contacting the main facility as this was beyond absurd. The food was fine, but the process to get it was beyond crazy. The manager was absolutely rude and the length for food arrival was absurd. On a side note, the general manger was nice (he came after Jennifer) and did compensate us, but like I said, this was a horrible evening all together!

We love Ashley!!! Best bartender ever !!!
She is kind, educated about the menu and always has amazing recommendations. It’s like she can read your mind as far as what you desire and don’t on the menu.
My boyfriend and I go almost every Monday for date night. We love sitting at the bar. The passion fruit margarita is fabulous. My boyfriend loves the coffee selections.
The Cheesecake Factory has a very extensive menu and something on it for anyone ! I enjoy the salads and I special order the Chicken Di Pana with extra broccoli.
I believe that, if you want to search for the bad in something you will find it. Fortunately the worst thing I have to say about the staff and menu at the cheese cake factory is that it’s amazing. That’s it guys ! Check it out with an open mind and make sure to sit at the bar and have an amazing experience with Ashley or Ivan.

Food was good, but not for the price. Really expensive, for two adult meals, one kid meal, non-​alcoholic drinks, and two pieces of cheesecake, bill was about $ 80. I’ve had better food at Applebee’s. Service was good though. The wait was long, but that was expect used since it is a popular place to visit. The restaurant was clean and neat, bathrooms were also clean.

We have been here once before and the food was great! My husband and I went out to lunch today and decided to get a loaded tater tots appetizer. We were happily munching on said tots until my husband found a bolt/​screw in the one he just popped in his mouth. Thankfully he discovered it before biting down too hard. So we flagged down a manager, just wanting for them to be informed of what we found in our food. He was very apologetic, took away the plate and asked if we wanted a new one, we declined. Our meals came and as we were eating the manager came and told us our whole bill will be comped.
We didn’t tell him about the screw to get a free meal, we actually felt bad eating for free so before we left we put down a generous tip ($ 20) for the server, because it wasn’t his fault. We were about half way to our car when the server chased us down to tell us what we put on the table didn’t cover our bill so Aaron said «Talk to your manager. I found a bolt in my food and he said we didn’t have to pay» so my husband followed the server back in and told the server to get the manager.
Unreal that the manager didn’t communicate to the server what happened. That is the first thing that should have been done was to show the server the plate with the screw on it and to zero out our bill. That way we wouldn’t have been chased down like dine-​and-​dashers. I told my husband after we left that he should have asked for the tip back.

Luke was our waiter tonight and he was fantastic! We ordered drinks, apps, entrees and last but definitely not least cheesecake.
Wait time was 40 minutes and seemed to move quickly.
I ordered the avocado egg rolls, chicken Madeira, salted Carmel cheesecake and a Georgia peach. Everything was perfection. I actually split the children Madeira with my friend.
My mom got meatloaf, crab bites and salted Carmel cheesecake. Said her food was delicious.
Sister got loaded baked potato bites and apple crisp for dessert. Apply crisp was bigger than each of our plates.
I only got a picture of the chicken Madeira and one lonely egg roll.
Cheesecake Factory is always a favorite. Thanks Luke for being so much fun tonight! Your sense of humor was necessary for the evening!

I love The Cheesecake Factory. I love the decorations, how large the portions are, how unhealthy and delicious everything is, and that the desserts are as big as my face. If you get the apple crisp, it is bigger than my face.
When I go to this restaurant it is definitely a treat. I usually order from the skinny menu because I can’t get myself to order from the regular menu. Well, that’s also because I would rather eat dessert than the main dish anyway.
During this visit, I shared the apple crisp and strawberry cheesecake with a few people. As mentioned before, the apple crisp was HUGE. I do think they have cut down on cheesecake slices. I remember them being so huge a few years back, but recently they are quite small and possibly not sharable.
I’ll be coming back here to treat myself from time to time. Everything is so delicious!

The hostess’ and manager were terribly rude, we waited over 40 minutes to be seated… people that came in after we did were seated immediately! We had originally asked for a booth but we’re told they had no wait staff for booths, we said a table would be fine then and we still were not seated!
The manager said we could call corporate to complain but that was all he could do for us.
Our waitress however was wonderfully pleasant and knowledgable. She bought us coffee because of the way we were treated when we first arrived.
I will say my food was good and so was my cheesecake.
I don’t know that I’d ever visit this location again though…

We stopped in tonight for a single slice of cheesecake; let me tell you, they had a ton of options which well made me indecisive (as a piece of cheesecake is a huge commitment to someone with lactose intolerance). Anyway, I made my decision selecting the lemon raspberry with a raspberry drizzle. Overall, it was delicious had I been able to taste anything other than lemon; it was extremely rich which can be nice, but this was overkill. I could have saved myself the 7.50 $ and just squeezed a lemon into my mouth.
Even with my lactose, I am a sucker for cheesecake and will definitely return; just not for the lemon raspberry.

Quite possibly THE unhealthiest restaurant in America, but man, some of the dishes here are done extremely well, have quality ingredients and are tastefully presented!
My favorite being the Chicken Bellagio on their Specialties menu. Angel hair, basil pesto sauce, crispy fried chicken breasts and my favorite part, the prosciutto and arugula on top. Wow.
Their Chipotle Chicken Pasta is also good, and their Avocado Egg Rolls are delicious for an appetizer. Having a husband who does not eat avocados, they are all mine! Yay.
Their hamburgers are good, probably similar to what you would find at Applebee’s, not Red Cow. The Mac and Cheese burger is a yummy choice if you are looking for something different. Their French Fries are thick and fresh! Probably some of my favorite restaurant fries ever.
The bread they serve with the meal is a French baguette and a Wheat Oatmeal loaf. Very good. For dessert I would recommend their Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake, Godiva Chocolate, Lemoncello cheesecake and this seasonal one I tried yesterday, the Mango Key Lime Cheesecake. Everything about that last sentence screams incredible and you should try them all if you are a cheesecake lover!
What this place does best is utterly behemoth portions that last 2 – 3 days in the fridge and you can get lots of leftover meals from it. Cheesecake included.
It looks like Vegas inside, with lots of ceiling decorations and painted walls. Reminds me of the Luxor and Caesar’s Palace, very pretty. You will probably need your stretchy pants and a nap when you get home. It’s the only Cheesecake Factory in Minnesota so enjoy in moderation!

I don’t get it!
This place is not always busy, but always has a excessive wait time. Saturday nights it’s not uncommon to see a wait time of 2 hours.
The menu is huge. But it is so big that I think it creates the long wait time since you have to go through the book trying to decide what to order.
Every time I’ve eaten there, I feel like the food is the same as a Applebee’s, but why did I wait so long for it? I just don’t get it!
Is there a page I’m missing from the menu for delicious awesomeness? Because I feel like I’m missing the reason people wait so long.

Entrees are very lacking flavor wise so if you’ve never been and are wanting to try the place out, I suggest going for a couple appetizers and then dessert of course! Can’t go wrong with any of their cheesecakes… Out of the few i’ve tried including oreo, and s’mores, the mango key lime cheesecake is by far the best! If you’re into fruity tasting stuff than this will hit the spot! I’m tempted to stop by tomorrow on my way back from work to get a slice! It is that good!

I love the décor! It is stunning. It kind of reminds me of the mall in Las Vegas with the painted sky ceiling and the dim lights.
Happy hour drinks:
J.w.‘s pink lemonade: Skyy Citrus vodka, raspberry licqeur and lemonade $ 5.50 — tasted like watered down lemonade but maybe it’s a good thing it didn’t taste strong. This is a popular drink that many people enjoy.
Margarita: Classic margarita with gold tequila, triple sec and fresh lime $ 5.50 — this was strong but not too bad!
Happy hour appetizers:
Soy glazed edamame $ 4.95 — I’m not sure why they give you the option of having it plain or with soy sauce. Most restaurants offer edamame with soy sauce on the side. I wish that was the case here but it was good. If I had to order it again, I would take it plain.
Portobello mushroom avocado and zucchini fries $ 6.95 — I liked the texture of it except the fried avocado was not my favorite. I think it was too soft for my preference but the batter was fried perfectly and it tasted very crisp.
Entrée:
Miso salmon about $ 19 — delicious! I only ate half of it and saved the rest for lunch tomorrow. The sauce it as glazed in was sweet. This meal came with a few vegetable peas but I wish it came with broccoli or more. It comes with white or brown rice. I’d recommend this dish at least once to try.
Dessert:
Lemon raspberry cream cheesecake — hands down light, fluffy, smooth, and all worth it! I’m so glad I tried this and I would get it again. It was mostly cheesecake with a lemon cake type of crust. At least that’s what I think I tasted :)
Waitress:
Tara — hands down the best service I’ve had in a long time. She checked my birth date on my ID and noticed that my birthday was a couple days ago. So she gave me the cheesecake with happy birthday decorations on it. She recommended everything that I ordered, and she checked up on my table every once in a while. If you get her as a waitress, you will enjoy your dining experience!

Yes I am reviewing the Cheesecake Factory which is the chainiest restaurant ever but it has good food. There might be thousands of calories in one single meal but I have yet to order something that turns out to be average. Their happy hour deals are awesome with the app specials so I would highly recommend stopping there between 4 – 6 on weekdays.
Here are my go-​to items:
–Avocado eggrolls (creamy, sweet, salty, rich)
–Buffalo blasts (chicken in buffalo sauce wrapped in a wonton wrapper deep fried in batter i.e. a super fatty app but delicious)
–Pasta bellagio (angel hair pasta served with pesto cream sauce, fried chicken, and prosciutto served over bed of arugula)
–red velvet cheesecake (amazing cake and cheesecake hybrid, not too sweet)
So just because I am recommending this place, does not mean you should go here every day!!! The portions are huge and the meals are very rich… moderation people!!! Side note, the menu has way too many items on it and sometimes I feel like I am reading a catalog when all I want is a quick bite to eat. I know, #firstworldproblems.