197 Riverside Square Mall
Hackensack, NJ
Bergen County
Tips: I haven't had to wait in line for a table in years because I...a) never go here with more than four ppl; b) avoid going on weekends and peak hours; c) always sit at the first come first serve bar area where they always have a handful of high tops. Don't resist their warm fresh baked bread, especially the whole wheat one. They offer a fabulous happy hour M-F, 4-6 PM with $5 cocktails, wine, and decent sized portions of some of their appetizers. If you're an American Express holder and gain points, you can redeem a gift card.
Food: Now this is where foodies who are strongly quality over quantity may have a problem with this establishment. They use quality ingredients in their dishes, but their pastas are sometimes overwhelmed with oil, tamales topped with too much sour cream, and guacomole made with pre-frozen tasteless avocados. However, there are still really delicious dishes to have here. The chicken samosas (which can be ordered from their cheap small plates menu) bursts with flavor; the tamales (which is part of the $5 happy hour menu) with the sour cream on the side has a fantastic pieces of sweet corn; the chicken littles are perfectly fried pieces of boneless chicken breast with a great spice; and their thai lettuce wraps come with a delicious variety of dipping sauces. I always enjoy a good fish taco, and while you won't necessarily find the freshest of fish here being used, it's good enough. Their mashed potatoes are also creamy goodness, which just enough chunks of potato, and their non-acoholic strawberry lemonade rimmed with sugar is perfect on a hot summer day.
I don't often leave room for dessert, but have no problems grabbing a slice of something to go. Now everyone often picks the cheesecake - how can you resist, there are a variety of flavors ranging from white to chocolate to red velvet cake to peanut butter cheesecake, but I've started reaching towards their almost foot high speciality cakes, specifically their Black - Out cake. You must love chocolate, because it also includes chocolate chips, but it's also finished on the side with crushed almonds. Whichever dessert you go with, you must make sure they include blobs of their whipped cream. I'm not sure if it's homemade, but it is extra creamy (and probably fatty) and delicious!
Final Thoughts: True, there's probably no need to write a blog entry about the Cheesecake Factory and it might even discount me as a foodie, however hopefully my tips above are some helpful suggestions of how to manuever this monster and enjoy the vastness of the Cheesecake Factory!
Happy Eating Bergen County, NJ!
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