Cheesing at Cheesecake Factory

Another pasta restaurant graces the halls of this blog, and it is with a happy heart I tell you that will not end anytime soon. This classic restaurant is the beacon calling many lost family members seeking a place to treat their moms for Mother’s Day, a feature on Aubrey Graham’s 2016 classic, “Child’s Play”, and home to the Skinny-Licious menu and brown bread.

I’m not here to hate on anything Cheesecake Factory related. Tween girls all over the country are die-hard supporters and so am I, so no think pieces on their food will be accepted here. Instead, let me show you the wonderful meal I had with a friend!

First, we had bread. Delicious, showstopping, wonderful. It’s a satisfying feeling starting off with fresh bread. No picture because we demolished everything.

We also had pasta and split a cheesecake. A worthwhile experience everytime I go, truly. No surprise at all that the food was demolished, but I’m not here to even focus on that.

I’m here to tell you a story of what Cheesecake Factory means to me. As per usual, it starts with 8 year old me, taking trips to the mall with my mom as she ran various errands (and stopped in more stores than we needed to). And, as we walked through the mall, there would always be a tantalizing aroma following me from the jewelry stand all the way to the JCPenney. It took several trips to realize it was coming from the Cheesecake Factory interior entrance that was nestled in between a random hallway on the far end of the mall. I made very desperate pleas to my mother to eat there. I definitely thought I had made a convincing case with a “Can we please eat cheesecake from there?” and “My friends say they eat Cheesecake Factory twice a week!”. Unfortunately, I fooled no one, including myself.

But when the opportunity presented itself to go in the form of my friend’s birthday party, I strategically dropped hints that Cheesecake Factory was the place to be for a 9th birthday party. And so, after many debates during recess and ensuring I was in my friend’s good graces for that week, I put on my Sunday best (my mom made me) and showed up to Cheesecake Factory.

I had no devices to my name, so I had to go through the overwhelming process of looking at the menu. So many options, and I knew I had to maximize flavor.

Once my friend’s mom declared we could “order anything y’all want, girls!”, I went ahead and formed my game plan. It started with an innocent question: “I’ve never been here before, what should I try?” and ended with the birthday girl also being so excited to try everything that we ordered several meals and had a family-style level gluttony.

Years later, I will admit that by the third bite of pasta, I was incredibly full from the brown bread and lettuce wraps. I can also admit I had a terrible stomachache afterward from the sugar in the strawberry lemonade. But I can also admit that it was a landmark experience in my life.

I got to spend time with my friends, eat at the Cheesecake Factory, and enjoy the achievement of a goal.

So for me, Cheesecake holds such fond memories that remind me of childish laughter, discussions of American Girl dolls, and begging my mom to let me spend more time with my friends.

I know not everyone loves this restaurant, but I hope everyone has a restaurant, food, or even snack that takes them back so fondly the way CF does for me. And while I can admit their pitfalls as much as the biggest hater (I’m looking at SEVERAL of my friends), there is a childhood love that growing up simply can’t erase.

So I enjoyed this moment at the Cheesecake Factory- years later, in a different city with a different friend in a different phase of my life- the same way I did as a child.

“Why you gotta fight me at Cheesecake, you know I love to go there” - Drake