The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Sterling

I've come in a couple times in the past couple weeks for different things, but I have been here quite a bit before. One was on a Wednesday night by myself and the other was on a Sunday night with my parents for my mom's birthday.

Both times I've come in, I appreciated the service. I sat at the bar the first time. The second time I came in, we were seated upon arrival. Orders were taken fairly quickly with the food arriving in a timely manner. The wait staff checked in on us and topped off drinks when needed. When I came in with my parents, we did wait a little bit longer for our entrees to get there. I'm assuming, it was because it was Sunday night so it was a busier night. It wasn't too bad because our waiter (I believe their name is Junior) brought us another serving of bread and butter.

The time that I was on my own, I ordered a calamari, a Long Island Iced Tea and spaghetti and meatballs. When I came in with my parents, we ordered calamari for appetizer, shrimp with angel hair, chicken marsala and mushrooms and chicken piccata.

The calamari is okay, but if you have a craving, it'll be satisfactory enough. I liked both the spaghetti and meatballs and the shrimp with angel hair dishes. They're pretty basic, but hit the spot with that craving. My parents loved the chicken marsala and mushrooms and the chicken piccata. The chicken marsala and mushrooms is served on bowtie pasta. My dad thought the bow tie pasta was a tad bit too al dente, but the couple pasta that I tried were perfect. So it might not have been uniform (or my dad just prefers a more cooked pasta). My mom was very happy with her chicken piccata. They also brought out a sundae for my mom because we were celebrating her low-key birthday for this week. They brought out a decorated plate with a small sundae. It was a really good dessert!

I have to give Kudos to the bartender that was working when I came in on Wednesday night who made my Long Island Iced Tea. I didn't catch her name, but that drink was everything! It was so good!

The only thing I think I think they could improve on is the lighting. The restaurant needs to not dim the lights too much. Some customers who come in may have a really hard time reading the menu because the lights are so dim.

There's plenty of parking as well that is shared for people who are going to the mall. The parking area closest to the restaurant can get quite crowded though because people will park behind parked cars to grab their online orders if the pick up order spots are all taken. Also, lots of people would prefer to not have to walk too far. haha.

Overall, pretty satisfied with my...

My family drive two hours here to celebrate my youngest daughter’s birthday. Originally we had planned on having dinner on her birthday but had to reschedule to a Saturday afternoon. Both timesI called, I spoke with Jazelle. She was professional, curtious, accommodated our request for a semi-secluded, half booth/half table for a party of seven. She suggested that we make the reservation for 2:45pm as that is between the brunch and dinner hours when the restaurant is the busiest. The time worked perfectly for our family. When we arrived, the young, dark-haired hostess could NOT find our reservation and was somewhat curt with me and another family member. Thankfully a manager came out and was able to immediately find our reservation and the notes that Jazelle had made. The table was exactly as I had requested and worked for my family. After sitting for a few minutes, our server approached, introduced himself and took our drink and appetizer/small plate order. He returned fairly quickly with our drinks and took our food order. The appetizers and small plate item came out quickly and all items were delicious. We tried the buffalo bites, wing dings, and fried-cheese bites. Two of us had ordered drinks from the bar. Both drinks came fairly quickly and were well-made. Next came our selection of burgers, salads and entreés. My granddaughter ordered the children’s Mac and cheese which she devoured. All of the portions were quite large and all of the food was good. The only issue was that my one son had to wait about ten minutes for some mustard for his burger. Our server was a bit busy so we over-looked it when we had to ask him twice for mustard. After everyone was finished, we ordered slices of assorted cheesecake to go. The atmosphere of the restaurant is lovely and Egyptian themed. It was our first visit to a Cheesecake Factory restaurant. We had read the numerous reviews and had heard of this chain before so were anxious to try it. Overall the service was decent and we did have other servers assist our server with refilling drinks and removing plates. The food wasn’t exceptional but it was good and the portions are huge. The cheesecake definitely was delicious and everyone enjoyed it. I don’t know that I would drive two hours again just for this restaurant but if I’m close to one I...

Alright so let's start by saying there was a Long wait. It was on Mother's Day so I get it (another late upload)... We also had a table of 7 too 🤷🏾‍♂️. Now off to the food. I ordered Fried Chicken and Waffles Eggs Benedict. It came with fried breakfast potatoes. I also ordered a potato soup. Generally speaking I like fried chicken so I know un seasoned chicken when I taste it. And that's a shame because if just a little bit salt or pepper, the dish would have been better enjoyable. The meat was fresh and hot, also juicy. Did I mention it was chicken strips? I'm use to chicken and waffles being "bone-in" chicken or maybe that's just me. So yes chicken juicy and fresh. Much appreciated on this part. The waffle, the waffle was dry my guy. Only came out with one little condiment cup of syrup. Like yo, I'ma needs more ya dig. Sure I could have asked for another but why should I? One cup is not enough. Perhaps at least two should come with the dish and then you ask for more if needed. The egg was poached and hollandaise sauce was served on the side, sure that's fine. Poached egg was uhmmm how can I say this, over poached... It was more like a boiled egg. The egg didn't run slightly or anything it was exactly like cutting into a boiled egg. Basically dried out. Oh, also no season. Now I had a potato soup 🍲. This bad boy was delicious 😋. I loved the creaminess of the cheese and the potatoes was nice and soft. Whatever it was seasoned with was right on point. Maybe I should have just ordered two soups. 🤔 No complaints from the soup, just compliments to the chef. This probably sounds like a 2 star review but what saved them was the service and kids had lots of fun. Even when waiting for about 1hr. Our server was nice and he kept his eye on us and was there if we needed anything (other than syrup). Cheesecake Factory is enjoyable on average but this is a 3 star review. Oh, got the kids some mac and cheese, they loved it. I didn't try it but they looked...