KRISTA: I am a shameless lover of salads, so I had high expectations after seeing the presentation of this beautiful plate of healthy eats. The lettuce to toppings ratio was exquisite, making every bite delicious. It has a nice light Vinegarette dressing that complimented the apples and grapes really well. In the picture, it doesn’t look like much, but this salad is massive. Definitely worth the $17.95 and I definitely would order it for a meal if I was in the mood. It’s refreshing! On this “salad scale” rating, it gets an 8/10. KRISTA: No lie, I was 100% sure I was going to like the other salad better for the simple fact that I don’t like bacon and I am allergic to avocado (I know, a true tragedy). That being said, something about this salad sent me over the moon. I think it was the eggs — they weren’t just hard-boiled, they had like a deviled eggs taste to them, and the green beans paired nicely with the shrimp that was also in the salad. Again, in the picture, you can’t tell but this salad is really big as well. It surpassed my expectations and for that, I will rate it a 9/10. KRISTA: I’m one of those people who saw the Cacio e Pepe woman on TikTok and ran straight to Trader Joe’s with excitement to taste the sauce. However, my excitement quickly faded when I realized the sauce was just a glorified jarred alfredo sauce with lots of pepper. It’s not BAD, it’s just worth the hype in my opinion. And that’s how I felt about this dish. It’s not bad, but it didn’t have that “wow” factor to me. I feel like I could have made this at home with the jarred Trader Joe’s stuff. And, I agree with Chris, it was on the drier side. 6/10.
KRISTA: This dish was taken to the next level with its spicy, velvety sauce. I am a huge marinara person and this sauce was perfection. It wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too creamy. I also loved the thick Rigatoni noodles. I do, however, think this dish could have benefitted from a protein like shrimp or chicken. But, it is still an A+ meal I would order. 8/10.
KRISTA: I love sushi, but I struggle with the texture of sashimi and other raw fish, so this one wasn’t as appetizing as the others. I will say it did have really great flavor and the rice paired nicely with the dish. You can take Chris’s word on this one if you’re into seared tuna! 5/10.
KRISTA: I was really loving all the flavors in this dish and the fact that the chicken wasn’t dry at all! The sauce was great, the chicken was cooked perfectly, and the asparagus was a nice touch. 8.5/10.
KRISTA: I agree with Chris here that the shrimp in this dish initially threw me for a loop. But, I was pleasantly surprised when my tastebuds said, “NOPE THIS COMBO TOTALLY WORKS! To me, it’s mildly spicy (like really not at all for someone who can handle the heat) and the marinara isn’t anything out-of-this-world amazing but it is really, really good. 7/10.
KRISTA: The presentation of this pizza was ON POINT but the execution of the honey drizzle was not. I was really excited to have honey on my pizza but I just couldn’t taste anything but meat, specifically sausage as Chris said. There were even huge chunks of garlic on top of this pizza but I didn’t even taste them because the meat overpowered everything. But, hey, this was still pizza so it gets a 7/10.
KRISTA: Well, for someone who just talked crap on the Cacio e Pepe sauce, I am going to say PLEASE FORGIVE ME. This pizza is pretty dang delicious. The cheese and sauce just complement each other so nicely. It works. 8/10. KRISTA: I don’t think I’ve met an elote I didn’t like and this is definitely not one of them. Tangy with all the right flavors. I stan some good corn. And now I have that dang corn song stuck in my head…it’s CORN, I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing. 8/10.
KRISTA: The dip for this is a HELL YEAH. The breading on this asparagus was perfectly fried and coated and not soggy at all. The parmesan on top added a yummy touch and I really just loved this appetizer a lot. 9/10.
KRISTA: And once again for me, it was just OK. I mean, don’t get me wrong I LOVED the crispy rice, but the raw tuna on top wasn’t my fave. The flavor was good and the sauce it was sitting on was really, really good. 6/10.
KRISTA: Even though the ahi wouldn’t be my first choice for topping, it worked on this because the chips were fried wontons. It has the same sauce as the spicy tuna appetizer and that made it even better. I agree with Chris that it needs to be consumed right away while it’s hot!!! 7.5/10
KRISTA: Honestly, I could just eat the free table bread at Cheesecake so it’s no surprise everything really surpassed my expectations! I can say with total confidence that if you order any of these dishes, you won’t be disappointed. It’s hard to pick a favorite because it would depend on my mood that day, haha. Today I feel like the Lemon-Herb Parmesan Chicken would be my favorite but tomorrow I might be feeling the Cacio e Pepe Flatbread with some of that fried asparagus…and who knows the next day I will probably want one of those salads! Thank you, Cheesecake Factory, for the gift of another page of delight in the novel that you refer to as your menu.
