Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory is more than just great tasting cheesecakes.  For many Canadians who flock down to Buffalo, the Cheesecake Factory is the one place most Canadians love to frequent.  With long lineups just to get a slice of cheesecake, patrons are willing to wait for about to 30 minutes for their slice.  Their lunches and dinners however are also worthy of a go.  Often after sitting in the car for an hour or two just to get to Buffalo, a nice afternoon lunch at the Factory certainly wouldn't hurt at all. And so, on a Friday afternoon, we decided to head on out over there.  The place was half full and there was no lineup at all to get in. If this was the weekend, I'm sure a totally different scenario would be played out.  We were given a booth right away and the server gave us our drinks and menus.  We scanned the menu quickly and after a few minutes, decided to share 4 dishes of which 1 of them was a kid's meal.

First to arrive was the Pepperoni Pizza.  This pizza was loaded with pepperonis.  You definitely got your money's worth if you are a meat lover.  The pizza itself was simple with cheese dripping off to the side mixed with the pepperoni.  The thing that impressed me the most was the size and crispiness of the pizza.  This was a "kid's meal" but I could assure you that there was no way my three-year old was going to be able to finish even half of it on her own.  Every bite of the pizza was mouth watering and crispy.  The pepperonis were a tad bit spicy to the point where my daughter actually got rid of all of hers when she was eating the pizza. Still, the pizza was better than some of the other pizzas I have had in the past, and this was right to the crust.  

Pepperoni Pizza

The Seared Tuna Tataki Salad was next to arrive and this was basically five or six pieces of perfectly seared tuna served with four slices of tomatoes and a bunch of leafy vegetables and avocado.  The tuna also came with its own dipping sauce.  The only problem with this salad was that with so few leafy vegetables that it was almost impossible to split amongst the four of us.  Even for a single person did I find the salad to be a little bit on the small side.  The dish itself was excellent however as it hit all of our taste buds in a positive way and the tuna was nice and fresh.  I just wished that it contained a few more vegetable leaves in it to make a true salad.

Seared Tuna Tataki Salad

The Da Vinci Pasta looked really yummy and appeared to be quite filling.  Mixed with garlic, onion, chicken bits, parsley and mushrooms, this pasta was definitely one of my favorites for the afternoon.  The key to success and taste to this pasta was the red wine that was also added to the pasta.  The combination of all of these ingredients really brought this pasta out to the forefront.  The colors were vibrant and one could definitely taste the red wine in the pasta.  With a small sprinkle of cheese on top, this pasta really filled you up and in a very good way.  The individual penne pastas were all well dressed and none of it was overly creamy and sticky. This pasta is a very good choice to have if you do visit the Cheesecake Factory in the very near future.

Da Vinci Pasta

Last to arrive that day was the Firecracker Salmon Rolls.  These rolls contained a chili sauce mixed with spinach and salmon pressed tightly together in a crispy roll.  The rolls were a little spicy but truthfully they were not that spicy at all.  The pepperoni in the pizza was more spicier than these firecracker salmon rolls. The lack of zip in them really took away the "firecracker" in them in that there just wasn't any wow factor to these rolls.  They tasted good however I personally was expecting a little bit more especially with a name firecracker attached to it.

Firecracker Salmon Rolls

In the end however, lunch was still very good and was quite satisfying.  We actually were so full that none of us even attempted a piece of cheesecake that day.  We've them before many times before and I can assure that the cheesecake here is some of the best.  Next time we won't order as much food so that we can save our stomachs for a little cheesecake.   Other than that, the people were very friendly and it was definitely a very satisfying lunch for all of us.  Overall I give it a 4 out of 5.  

1 Wallden Galleria
Cheektowaga, New York

(716) 685-2600