Hi, intrepid eaters. We ventured to the CambridgeSide Galleria for dinner at the new Cheesecake Factory. Why did I do that? You may be saying. Well, I had a gift certificate, and I had only been there for lunch and I often can find something good about such places. The dining experience was like a bad dream, merging all the recent posts to this newsgroup. The food is good, I will give them that. BUT... The wait - "Oh, we're not giving out beepers tonite. It will only be about 10 minutes." So hubby and I crowd on to a bench and wait. And wait. And listen to the poor hostess calling out names. They did let us look at the menu, the only one I've seen with ads in it. Then 20 minutes later, they call us. We walk into the midst of the dining area, and the hostess says,"Oops. I need to check something" and disappears, leaving us standing there. And does not return. After a long minute being in the way, we go back to the bench. Now she sees us, and takes us to the same table we were headed to before. The drinks - The waiter came over and took our drink order, then disappeared for 20 minutes. When he brought the drinks, they were spilling over the sides, but he did not place them on napkins, just dropped them and dashed. The price of $4.25 for a fruit smoothie seemed normal to me. The noise - I think whoever said they design these places to be loud, thinking "bustling" is somehow pleasant, is correct. This place is brand new and loud. We could not hear each other across a small table on a Wed. night. The puny appetizer - I decided to have a treat and order the Maryland crab cakes. For $8.50 along came 2, yes, 2 small crab cakes. They were good, but not worth $4.25 each! Stick to the Tex-Mex egg rolls - you get 4 for $5.75. I told the waiter they should put a (2) in the menu. He was very nice about it. Have people ordered crab cakes elsewhere? Is this completely out of line? Dinner - great. For those of you who have been reading the newsgroup, you'll know I had to have the Shepard's Pie. It was delightful and huge, and not too pricey at $11.95. It was basically beef stew with a circle of mashed potatoes and parmesan cheese on top. Hubby had a big plate of jambalaya over rice. He liked it, but it tasted too smoky to me. It is spicy, as the menu warns. If it were up to me, I'd ask for half a portion of each dinner for half the price. But I understand that big is in. The cheesecake - it was good but not great. We had the Adam's peanut butter fudge ripple. It seemed too silky to me, more like a mousse. I guess I am a NY style cheesecake person - I like more a curd and texture to it. But there wasn't any left! So I won't be going back to the Cheesecake Factory. For less money I can get the quiet serenity, service and originality of Afghan food at Helmand down the block... Bon apetite! -B
Boston, MA