Philadelphia, PA - With more than 250 menu items made from scratch daily and over 50 signature cheesecakes and desserts, there is truly something for everyone to be enjoyed at The Cheesecake Factory. With a location right in Center City Philadelphia and King of Prussia, you’ll have to stop in soon and try out some of their newest additions to the menu. We were so excited to stop by and try these plates, and of course you know we ended the night with lots of leftovers to bring home.
Start off your meal with a signature cocktail. The Cucumber Mojito with Hendrick’s Gin and St. Germain or a Blood Orange Martini with Tito’s Vodka and Solerno Blood Orange Liquor were our favorite sips being light and fruity. If you like something a little darker, the Irish Coffee Manhattan or Espresso Martini are sure to quench your thirst.
We never miss ordering something from Cheesecake Factory’s “small plates & snacks” portion of the menu. These appetizers are great for 1-2 people if you don’t have a larger group to share with. Our favorite new small plate is the Chicken Taquitos with green chiles, corn, cilantro, onion, and cheese. Vegetarians will go wild for the Korean Fried Cauliflower (a play on crispy Korean fried chicken) which is battered, fried, and tossed with sweet and spicy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, and green onions. If you like something spicy, try the Nashville Hot Chicken Nuggets which are served with a pickle slice and side of ranch dressing. When you’re in the mood for something cheesy, the Truffle-Bacon Grilled Cheese Sticks will do the trick with creamy melted cheese, bacon, and truffle oil on artisan bread.
For your main course, there are 19 new dishes added to the menu. If you’re looking for to be healthy the Chicken, Mango, and Avocado Salad will surely leave you full with a portion that is easily shared or substituted as an entree. This beautiful salad is piled high with grilled chicken breast, mixed greens, fresh pineapple, tomato, cucumber, red peppers, onion, crispy wontons and almonds. We even got to witness a demonstration of how this salad is made and it can easily be duplicated at home! There is also the Skinnylicious Menu featured at Cheesecake Factory which lists more than 50 signature plates offering guests rich taste for 590 calories or less! The newest addition is the Skinnylicious Chicken Pot Pie filled with tender chicken breast, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, peas, and carrots in a cream sauce topped with buttery pastry. This is surely comfort food with less guilt.
Perhaps the most unique plate of the night was the Chicken Parmesan Pizza Style. You will have to see it to believe it, the masterminds in the kitchen have actually pounded a breaded chicken cutlet flat into a round pizza crust shape and topped it with marinara, melted mozzarella, and a baseball-sized ball of Parmesan cream pasta. If you love Chicken Parmesan then you MUST get this. We also enjoyed the Chicken Riesling is chicken breast with mushrooms, bacon, onions, and garlic in a white wine riesling cream sauce with buttered Parmesan pasta.
Other new additions to the menu include the Pasta Napoletana which we’d like to call “meat lovers pasta”. This plate is loaded with Italian Sausage, pepperoni, meatball, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and garlic in a tomato sauce over Parmesan cream pasta. One of our favorites is more of a southern dish, it’s called Truffle-Honey Chicken. This chicken is served lightly battered and fried finished with a drizzle of truffle honey for the great combination of sweet and salty. Sides of asparagus and mashed potatoes make this a MUST try.
With our love of seafood and Lent in effect, the Seared Ahi Tuna is sure to please crowds as its served chilled over rice with sriracha aioli, stir-fried vegetables, and a wasabi butter sauce that will leave you licking your plate! Asian flavors also inspired the Crispy Pineapple Chicken and Shrimp complete with snow peas, mushrooms, onions and peppers in a sweet and spicy sauce. We also enjoyed the flavors of the Carne Asada Steak Medallions served with fresh corn and creamy ranchero sauce.
Last but certainly not least is none other than cheesecake! Our bellies may have been full, but don’t you know that dessert is a different stomach? We indulged in the special Nutella Cheesecake, Cookie Dough Cheesecake, and Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake (this one totally wins the show for an outstanding presentation). And now you can share the love because you can even ship a cheesecake- Click here to send something sweet to your favorite dessert lover with 2 day delivery!
You must know the story behind The Cheesecake Factory began in Detroit, Michigan in the 1940’s. Evelyn Overton found a recipe in the local newspaper that would inspire her “Original” Cheesecake. Everyone loved her recipe so much that she decided to open a small Cheesecake shop, but later closed up shop to raise her two small children, David and Renee. She moved her baking equipment to a kitchen in her basement and continued to supply cakes to several of the best restaurants in town while raising her family.
In 1972, Evelyn and her husband Oscar moved to Los Angeles to make one last attempt at owning their own business. With the last of their savings, they opened The Cheesecake Factory Bakery and began selling Evelyn’s cheesecakes to restaurants throughout Los Angeles. Their hard work and determination grew the modest sized business until Evelyn was baking more than 20 varieties of cheesecakes and other desserts!
Their son David decided to open a restaurant to showcase his mother’s selection of cheesecakes and extensive dessert menu. In 1978, the first The Cheesecake Factory restaurant opened in Beverly Hills, CA and was an immediate success. Today you can find nearly 200 The Cheesecake Factory restaurants around the world!
