The first time I ever ate at The Cheesecake Factory was in Las Vegas and since then we have eaten at other locations as well. First off, I was hesitant about going there, because I don’t like cheesecake and I am probably the only person in the world that is like that. The other reason is that the restaurant founders are originally from the Detroit area, and for some grudge they never opened a location here for decades, until only recently, and then not where it was expected to go. Be that as it may, from the first time that I tried the place, I have to admit that I like it. The menu is a book and there always seems to be extras on top of the huge selection that is there norm. There is something there for all likes, and if you plan on going there, make sure that you are hungry, because they are not afraid of generous portions. We have taken the families there and it is probably a nightmare for the servers, because with all of the kids, there were constant sharing orders.

On this last trip while we were out walking and shopping, we decided to have a quick lunch and we chose The Cheesecake Factory to have a nosh, as one could even see our hotel from there. We made it short and quick and kind of went with a soup and sandwich idea, but we had the Onion Soup and we had some Chicken Quesadillas. I mean the menu is very diverse and we were just trying to slake our hunger until we had dinner with the families. We also passed on the cheesecake, though my Bride is a fan of that dessert.

When we looked at the wine list, they have a very nice selection of popular labels and I am sure that they move quite a bit of wine without even trying. There were a couple of wines that caught my attention, not that they were so dear or special, but I am just a sucker when it comes to proprietary house wines. We had The Cheesecake Factory California Chardonnay 2014. I have found over the years that if an establishment goes to the point of having their own labeled wines that they are usually a step above the common bulk wines that are usually encountered. This was true again, and while it is a California Chardonnay, meaning that the fruit was harvested from anywhere in the state, it is made for them by the Robert Mondavi group. The wine was just what one would expect from a “California” Chardonnay for the masses, not a lot of nuance, but some nice buttery, oaky flavor and it was just perfect with our light lunch.