The Cheesecake Factory

Today we went to the Cheesecake Factory in Walnut Creek. It wasn't planned, we just kind of ended up there. If you're not familiar with the Cheesecake Factory, they're a mid-ranged, chain restaurant that specializes in big portions and, well cheesecake. The irony, of course is that the portions are usually so big that you have no room for dessert. I ordered the Double BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger. It's served with fries for the very reasonable price of $10.95. It's described as, "A Double-Decker with Barbecue Ranch Sauce, and Crispy Onions." So here's the funny part. Along with the menu came a calorie guide. This burger with fries comes out to about 2300 calories. 2300!!! That's like drinking 16 and a half cans of Coke. I start second guessing my order. Then it came, and it was big. Check out the top picture. Under the fried onions, bacon & cheese there are 2 big beef patties, a bun, some lettuce and BBQ sauce. Appearance: intimidating! I start to de-assemble the tower of calories. I cut it in half and dug in. I'm usually not a double-patty guy. It's just too much beef. This was pretty good. The beef was juicy, the bacon cooked well and the cheese was not too gooey. The burger held together better than I expected. Like I said, this burger was pretty good and not a bad value. I ate half and took the other half home. 1200 calories is a number I can live with.

The Cheesecake Factory, 1181 Locust St., Walnut Creek, CA 94596