The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Kentwood

TLDR: The cheesecake is, of course, amazing, and so are the cocktails. The menu is incredibly extensive- they’ve got something for everyone, and omelettes are served all day long! What more could you ask for!?

I’ve never had a bad cheesecake experience!

On this visit, we came to split a piece of cheesecake (because as a responsible adult, it’s probably not great to consume 1250 cal in one sitting…alone… just in dessert) and enjoy a cocktail, but I’ll most likely update soon with a dinner- follow me for updates!

We split the CHOCOLATE TUXEDO CREAM® CHEESECAKE (Layers of Our Fudge Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse and Chocolate) and it was fantastic! I’ve enjoyed every flavor of cheesecake I’ve tried here, but this one is one of my favorites because it includes chocolate fudge cake along with the cheesecake.

For cocktails, we ordered THE OLD FASHIONED (Angel's Envy Bourbon with Black Cherry and Fresh Orange - Classically Prepared) which was thoroughly enjoyed- we love the Angel’s Envy 🤤. We also ordered the PASSION FRUIT MOJITO (Don Q and Sailor Jerry Rums Muddled with Mint and Passion Fruit), which was perfectly balanced with sweetness and Caribbean flavor. I’m fairly easy to please when it comes to cocktails- I love sweet as well as bitter, so this one might be a bit sweet for the average person, but I loved it!

I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere at the Cheesecake Factory, from the fanciful architecture, to the lighting, to the open kitchen where one can see their food prepared, it just feels fancy within an affordable budget. That said, it’s still a bit pricey from the last time I’ve visited- I think we spent $60 on one piece of cheesecake and two cocktails- which is kind of a lot in my opinion. Worth it? Sure! But more like a “sometimes treat”.

They’ve got a skinny menu, which is a great way to counteract the copious amounts of calories you’re intaking from the sumptuous cheesecake 😅. I’ve heard quite a few people knocking this chain, but honestly, I don’t understand why… the menu is incredibly extensive with a full page for salads, two pages for chicken dishes, a page for steaks, a page for pasta, a page for seafood- like there’s no excuse why one couldn’t find something they’d like off the menu!

For this location, I’ve noticed that the cheesecake display is always full- which is exemplary of a location where they keep up on cleaning, stocking and presentation. Good on them! I highly recommend this location.😎

UPDATE: we came back to try the Skinnylicious menu and were pleasantly sated 😅

I got the skinny MOJITO-Bacardi Rum Handcrafted with Fresh Mint and Lime on the Rocks- which honestly I couldn’t tell if there was any distance between that and a regular mojito, so… great!

We tried the CRISPY CRAB BITES - Bite-Sized Little Crab Cakes Served with Mustard Sauce- and they were awesome! I’ll definitely be ordering those again in the future.

The SKINNYLICIOUS® SOFT TACOS -Three Soft Corn Tortillas Filled with Spicy Chicken or Shrimp, Avocado, Tomato, Onions, Cilantro and Crema, served with Escabeche Vegetable Salad- were perfect and filling, and the LEMON-GARLIC SHRIMP -Sauteed Shrimp, Basil, Tomato and Lemon-Garlic Sauce, served with Asparagus and Angel Hair Pasta - was also perfect; exactly what I expected (and I love getting exactly what I expect 😎).

We split the FRESH STRAWBERRY -The Original Topped with Glazed Fresh Strawberries- and overall the meal was the perfect size, finished off with a delicious dessert. We didn’t feel too full, and didn’t feel like we were subjected to “diet food”.

UPDATE: We visited again in February and this is what we ordered:

AVOCADO EGGROLLS (Avocado, Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Onion and Cilantro Fried in a Crisp Wrapper. Served with a Tamarind-Cashew Dipping Sauce).

AHI TUNA & SHRIMP CEVICHE (Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna and Poached Shrimp Tossed with Green Onion, Cilantro and Lime Juice. Served on Guacamole with Crispy Corn Tortillas).

The SKINNYLICIOUS® SOFT TACOS - see description above ⬆️.

Everything was...

We visited last night, with a table of eight. We got some apps and salad; also drinks, as well as our main entrées. I will only speak to my own personal experience. I ordered Chicken Bellagio, which is described as having “basil pasta in a creamy sauce.” As a chef, when I order basil pasta, I expect basil pasta. What I got was angel hair pasta that had flecks of what I’m assuming was dried basil, and it was, indeed, served with a creamy sauce. This dish also comes with two flattened, breaded, and fried pieces of chicken. Presentation was lovely, the dish itself was well plated, and attractive. I didn’t make any adjustments or special requests for the dish other than asking for an addition of spinach. I was very specific about that; however, when the dish came, I was given a large side dish of cooked spinach and had to mix it into the pasta myself. I mean really no big deal, but it’s those little details that separate a good dining experience from a great one. This was not a great one, for many reasons. I found that only one of the chicken breasts was cooked in such a way that it was tasty and tender. Now again, in all fairness, it was a huge portion and so I did bring the second chicken breast home. It was not cooked correctly. It was rubbery and tough. I thought that the breading on the chicken was actually quite lovely, however… It was very oily, though, which for me is not at all appetizing. The dish had arugula on top of it, which was very nice and I thought complemented the dish as a whole quite well. I ordered a Mai Tai to enjoy while we were waiting for our meal to be served, and it was amazing; well-measured and mixed, and visually stunning. I ordered a simple side salad, and that too was very good; I ordered it with the house, blue cheese dressing, and that was very, very good. I ordered the cheesecake that has lemon meringue and also lemon cream on it, and ironically, enough, the cheesecake was far and away the absolute worst cheesecake I’ve ever had. Again, I did not eat it until I got home, so that means I ate it within about an hour of receiving it. What I found was that instead of being dense and creamy, and just having that slightly tangy, cheesecakey, reward, each bite was…at first I thought it was “grainy” but that’s not it. It’s more like the cream separated, so it had sort of a mealy, very unpleasant mouth feel. Each bite was honestly worse than the last; the meringue was decent, and I believe it had some lemon to it, and there was lemon curd, which was really very good. I’m super choosy about lemony things because I like them to be SUPER lemony, and as far as that is concerned this fit the bill… But again, what a disappointment to get a low quality piece of cheesecake from the actual Cheesecake Factory. I would like to compliment the size of the portions. In that sense I feel that we very much got our money’s worth. Our server was Matt, and he was perfectly attentive. He took such good care of our table, but we were still able to visit without interruption. Matt is an excellent server and he had the rhythm down perfectly. That is something our entire table agreed on, was how much we appreciated the fact that he was always available and none of us lacked for anything, but again, we were able to visit and talk without constant interruption. After Matt rung us up and it became evident that we were all gonna sit there for a while and talk and just sort of let our meals settle, he made sure to come by and ask if he could get us anything and he continued to care fo us even though we had cashed out and technically weren’t his responsibility any more. The highest of compliments to Matt! That being said, I just honestly will not be going back to the Cheesecake Factory. The service was excellent, and the restaurant was clean. It was decorated nicely, very well appointed. But all of that, for me, is not enough when the food is lacking, and this food was...

I don't like to give 1 star reviews but I'll explain why. This was my first time eating here. I was excited. My party of 3 was seated very promptly. Within 5 minutes. Which was great. Our waiter came quickly as well. Very nice. Younger black man. He was super nice, funny and we really enjoyed him. We ordered 1 appetizer. It took approximately 30 minutes to get the appetizer. We order our food. It took over 45 minutes to get our food. Once I got my chicken sandwich I was very disappointed. The chicken had no taste or season. The buffalo sauce had no flavor or spice. My food was not good. But our waiter was still great. I didn't complain to him about wait time or food quality because I know that's not his fault. We order 2 desserts. After ordering dessert our waiter tells us his shift is over. He has to leave but another server will take care of us. I asked him will he get the tip I leave. He said no. The other server will. I didn't like that since he waited on us the entire time. I didn't have any cash on me to tip him before he left. He was so nice and fun he actually accepted a coupon I had in my purse as gratitude from me in place of cash. Another server brought out the dessert. Then the replacement server came and told us she would finish taking care of us. She brought us boxes and the bill. That's it! I felt bad our orginal waiter wasn't getting our tip after waiting on us for over 2 hours. I did not think the replacement server deserved a tip so I didn't leave one. I never, not tip my server. But it seemed very unfair to tip her based off his hard work and personality. Before leaving I went to use the restroom. The restroom was disgusting. The stall floor was wet. The toliet paper wasn't on the roll. Just sitting on top of the metal holder. One of the soap dispensers didn't work and neither did one sink. There was also a roll of toliet paper sitting on top of the light fixture. At this point I would give a 3 star review. But, there's more. As I driving home, I started to not feel well. My stomach was hurting. Went to bed. Woke up about 3 hours later feeling sick to my stomach and urgency to use the the toliet. I ended up vomiting violently. I felt ill and sick until I was able to fall back asleep. There is my experience and why a 1 star review was given. I will not have dinner here ever again. I might get a slice of cheesecake to go in the future because my dessert was good. I also wish I remembered my waiters name because I would like to go and give him some cash to give the proper tip he deserved. I am very disappointed in my experience here because I was very excited based on how amazing other people think The...