Who shouldn’t eat at The Cheesecake Factory?

Ok, so what’s the food like? The Cheesecake Factory started out as a bakery and it still turns out some of the best-baked goods in LVNV. I dream about the homemade breads that arrive steaming along with your menus. I could make a meal of the dense brown wheat bread sweetened with molasses. I like its heft.

The sourdough bread transported me back to San Francisco; this chewy bread with its crunchy outer crust made me want to look outside to see if the fog was rolling in.

We had a terrific pizza at The Cheesecake Factory. I was surprised at first, but thinking about it, who knows how to make a perfect pizza crust better than a bakery? We tried thespinach and tomato pizza. The colors were as vibrant as an Impressionist painting. The mozzarella had melted around the tomatoes and spinach, making them look like fossils. The veggies were baked until they had just a little give left, preserving their vegetable fresh flavors. A hint of garlic added a sharp edge to this mellow offering.

The jumbo chicken chop is a huge chicken breast with the drumstick bone still attached – it pierced the air like a flagpole. I thought this thing was a turkey breast it was so large. It was encrusted in tangy Parmesan cheese – and that’s all it needed. The bird was perched on a bed of roughly mashed potatoes. They were covered with cream gravy peppered with bits of Tasso ham. This dish had a lot of testosterone – I felt like I could conquer the world after just two bites.

As an appetizer, we tried the buffalo blasts. Chicken and cheese are wrapped in dough, cut into triangles and then fried until crisp. The two sauces – very yin and yang -- make this dish. First there’s the cooling blue cheese sauce. Its partner: a fiery Thai chili. One ignites the flavors, the other puts out the flames.

I love the mango iced tea at the Cheesecake Factory. It’s a mixture of mango and passion fruit that marries into a refreshing fruitiness. It’s a wonderful fire extinguisher for the spicy offerings like the buffalo blasts.

Dessert in the desert: My favorite cheesecake has to be the original flavor. The thin graham cracker crust is packed tight like snow. The filling is creamy, cheesy in a well-behaved yet flavorful way.

As card-carrying chocoholics, we also had to sample the chocolate Oreo mudslide cheesecake. The first thing you notice about this one is its thickness. It’s a veritable wall of chocolate. Chopped almonds added an extra veneer of nutty flavor. The pulverized Oreos made a surprisingly sweet crust.

History: In the late 1940’s, Evelyn Overton opened a small cheesecake shop in Detroit. As her children grew older and she needed more time with them, she closed the shop and continued baking cheesecakes in her basement kitchen, supplying local restaurateurs with her popular confection.

After her children were grown, Evelyn and husband Oscar moved to Los Angeles in 1972. They sold their cheesecakes to wholesalers from Santa Barbara to San Diego. In 1978 the Overtons opened their first restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, in Beverly Hills. Today there are 61 restaurants in the publicly traded restaurant chain.

The last word: I predict the Cheesecake Factory will celebrate its 50th anniversary too. Its perfect price point and its extensive menu mean it will remain popular for the broadest diner demographic. Other restaurants take note: having your own bakery makes a big difference in the quality of food and desserts you can turn out. The Cheesecake Factory is a real bread winner!

Where is it? There are two Cheesecake Factories in LVNV. There’s one in the Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Boulevard South. 702.792.6888. It’s located next to the Aquarium. There’s also a location in Summerlin at Boca Park, 750 S. Rampart Boulevard. Phone: 702.951.3800.

Also, don’t forget that Grand Lux Cafe at The Venetian Hotel is their concept too!!!!! www.cheesecakefactory.com

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