Cheesecake Factory

 

1

44

Aaron H.

Boulder, CO

Cheesecake factories are all the same. Overpriced but decent food and drink. Gimicky and chainy. In boulder there is so much good food that this is hardly worth your time. Why three stars then you ask.? It is because of one spectacular appetizer. The Buffalo blasts(pic included)! For $8.99 they pile your plate ridiculously high with the fried, triangular beauties. filled with shredded chicken buffalo sauce and maybe cheese. Served with a side of hot sauce and blue cheese. These are the only reason to go the the cheesecake factory in boulder.

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27

91

michelle c.

Kihei, HI

I get a tid bit nostalgic when I am on Pearl Street at the Cheesecake factory.. memories of college brunches, lunches and dinners roll through my dome and I smile.

Being back in Boulder for a short visit, I happily ended up here for dinner.  The menu was awesome and abundantly full of options, even for me with all of my food allergies.  

Brit, our server was AMAZING!  I can't even recall the last time that I had such good service.  She was especially accommodating of my allergies, so I made sure to tip her well.  

We ordered the sliders for an appetizer.  They were incredible.  Until last night, I had forgotten how damn good sliders are!  No joke, I am now thinking of hosting Friday slider night.  The drinks were well endowed with liquor, and the latte was just what I needed before hitting up the Pearl Street bars.  The quesidilla and orange chicken entrees were good, but we might be more adventurous with our selection upon the next visit.    

I love Boulder and I think that it has the best Cheesecake Factory of the entire chain.. at least from what I have experienced.

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Elite '08

98

182

Harmony O.

Boulder, CO

1.11.08  SECOND REVIEW

This is a first for me, I am pretty sure.  I have upped this Cheesecake Factory in Boulder from my original 2 stars to 4 stars.  Went there for a celebration with a large group on Friday, and the food and service were actually spectacular.  I could not help but be impressed.  With my prior experiences at this restaurant still etched in my memory, I had to admit that there has clearly been measurable improvement here on every level.  Food and service.  Cleanliness and atmosphere were always ok.  Since there were 20+ people at our table, and pretty much 20+ satisfied customers,  there is much evidence that my satisfaction was not unique.    I ordered a turkey burger.  You can sub a salad for fries here at no extra charge, which I did.  Good salad, generous portion.  Good turkey burger, gargantuan size, enough to bring home half of everything to eat for lunch the next day.  Incredible server.  So nice to each and every one of us on our end of the table (the other end had a different server) and even though it was the end of his work day he was full of energy, and even though a tip is built-in with such a large group, he still went out of his way to give us world-class service.  People sitting near me tried various menu items....the wasabi mashed potatoes looked good and I heard no complaints about them.  Someone near me got a side order of broccoli and it looked like enough for 4 people.  Someone else got a cheeseburger on a long narrow sourdough bun and liked that.  No-one on my end got anything particularly gourmet, but all seemed to like their food.   A few of us had cheesecake.  Our end of the table shared a generous slice of key lime cheesecake and barely remember it, as it was gone so fast.  I don't eat much sweets but did relish that cheesecake.  Mostly we all just loved our server.  He made our interlude at the Factory such a pleasant one.   And now, here is my angst-ridden prior review for you to compare experiences:

******************

FIRST REVIEW

Oh, I have been here plenty of times.  With friends, with family, with people I barely knew who dragged me along, and soon to go again with some relatives who have a gift certificate.

I have never been impressed with the food here.  The atmosphere is ok.   Nothing particularly unique,  since it is a chain.

The Portabella Mushroom Burgers are fairly decent, and since I have had some bad experiences with other items on the menu, I just stick with the Portabella and then make it through ok.

And yes, I've tried their namesake items, cheesecakes, in a flavor or two.  OK, but nothing to write home about.  Not as good as other cheescakes I've tried.  Not as good as cheescakes I've made at home.

I don't really like writing negative reviews.  It does not float my boat.

I should get up from the computer and go out into the real world now.

People will always go to restaurants like the Cheescake Factory and think they're having a fantastic experience, and maybe in their own minds they really are.

May they live long and thrive...

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Elite '08

14

59

Mark M.

Boulder, CO

How incredibly disappointing - the big chain pulls through with a very good meal.

My son stared at my wife and I in disbelief , wondering who had invaded our shells - we wanted to go try the Cheesecake Factory.  The ethnic, local, organic, mom and pop, crew was going corporate.  

I went with an open mind and was surprised by my experience.  Greeted by a team 5+ bubbly teens who quickly and efficiently seated us in a window booth that proved to be quite and comfortable. Down side was the kiddy mess smashed into the window from the prior party.

Waitress was quick with water, (2 no ice - one with with out batting an eye)  specials of the night and our drink order (local fix of  Fat Tire).  Our initial drink order was accompanied by the prompt reply of "Noooo Problem" our first of night of her seemly universal response to any request , order or question.   But I got used to it
"Nooo Problem".

With only three people and the knowledge that the portions were huge we ordered three things.  All came out quickly. I put aside my snooty chain predisposition and realized that everything we ordered was great:

Tuna Salad Tataki - Very rare seared tuna with lettuce, big beefsteak tomatoes (ripe mid-winter after a blizzard of 06), and avocado in a light Asian dressing.  

Ranch burger - Big - bigger than big - giant.  Cooked med-rare. Great flavor texture with thick crispy bacon, mushrooms, and cheese.  The portion of fries seemed diminutive compared to the burger.

Chicken wraps - Grilled chicken, beautiful bib lettuce, grated carrot and marinated cucumber, and noodles.  Three sauces for dipping each rated very good compared with other "real" Asian restaurants.

None of us like cheese cake so we did not sample the name sake.  

Overall better than even my low expectations would have thought.  I will go back for the times when like the other reviewer state "you want to make sure everybody comes out happy".

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7

31

David Z.

Boulder, CO

Well, it's hardly a local business, but with the huge menu of mostly hit (not miss) dishes, it sometimes "hits the spot."
Try the fried avocado egg roll thingies for appetizer, if you are not on a diet (other than Atkins!).
Also good are breakfast burritos and some of the pasta dishes.

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