The Best And Worst Dishes At The Cheesecake Factory

Chain restaurants have long enticed diners to journey down under, get out in the neighborhood, and lean into that Friday feeling. The 2000s saw the golden age of these types of chains — like Chili's, Applebees, Red Lobster, and Outback Steakhouse — offer a plethora of easily accessible and wallet-friendly meals. The Cheesecake Factory was just one of these eateries, known for providing decadent desserts, along with pastas, salads, steaks (and more) on its menu. And, although some of these restaurant chains have succumbed to younger generations' distaste for such establishments, The Cheesecake Factory is hanging on. 

If you find yourself hankering for a bit of nostalgia and end up at a location of The Cheesecake Factory, you may want to think carefully about your food choices. Heavy, nutritionally-lacking dishes abound on the chain's multi-page menu, sometimes disguised as healthy options. And even if a rich and filling meal is what you're looking for, you may find that these dishes have too many big flavors to be enjoyed, resulting in some confusing bites. However, the chain also has some good options. If you need a bit of guidance in what to pick for lunch or dinner, here are six of the best and six of the worst dishes (in terms of health and taste) on The Cheesecake Factory menu.

Nestled in the small plates section is a delicious, light, and satisfying salad that can and should be top of mind if you're eating at The Cheesecake Factory. The Beet & Avocado Salad features a bed of peppery arugula topped with glazed roasted beets, super grain quinoa, creamy cool avocado, and fresh oranges. Drizzled over the whole thing is a honey-yogurt sauce.

The whole plate clocks in at only about 290 calories, with only 12 grams of fat. A lot of this fat likely comes from the honey-yogurt dressing, so if you like, you can ask for the sauce on the side and add the amount that's right for you. The salad is a nutritional powerhouse, thanks to avocado and beets — which offer health benefits like lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammation. Plus, if you eat the beet and avocado salad for lunch, you'll have room for a decadent piece of cheesecake for dessert. I mean, it is The Cheesecake Factory, right? You should go hard on the sweet stuff.

The best part about this salad is the lightness that allows each ingredient to shine. It's the perfect bite for a summer day and its wholesome ingredients will leave you feeling refreshed and satiated.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that a salad with the words "barbeque" and "ranch" in its name isn't the most nutritious. What may be a shock, though, is just how much calories and fat this item contains. In fact, of all of the salads on The Cheesecake Factory menu, the Barbeque Ranch Chicken Salad is the worst offender in these categories, containing 1,980 calories and 124 grams of fat (including 23 grams of saturated fat), as well as 2,710 milligrams of sodium. For reference, the average adult's daily intake of sodium should be around 2,300 milligrams. 

The only place this salad may be a winner is in terms of its protein content, as it contains about 62 grams. The daily recommended protein intake is recommended to be around 0.36 grams per pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 165 pounds, you should be eating about 60 grams of protein each day, according to The Mayo Clinic.

As for its ingredients, this salad contains slices of avocado, diced tomato, grilled corn, black beans, cucumber, and Romaine lettuce tossed with a barbecue ranch dressing. The whole thing is then topped off with crispy fried onion strings. The resulting overall flavor isn't great. The competing flavors of sweet barbecue, ranch, sweet corn, tomatoes, and fried onions make this dish feel heavy and odd.

It seems that the folks at The Cheesecake Factory at some point realized the need for a healthier section of the menu, and so the chain introduced a SkinnyLicious menu section, including everything from grilled protein plates to pastas to salads. The Cheesecake Factory's Asian Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos are part of this menu.

Crunchy lettuce, warm grilled chicken, and a taco vessel all sound delicious and pretty healthy for something found on The Cheesecake Factory menu. And, in terms of nutrition, the Asian Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos aren't all bad. The lettuce wraps only contain 450 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 1,040 milligrams of sodium — all of which are well within daily recommendations and parameters. 

These lettuce wraps feature crisp butter lettuce leaves in place of a taco's traditional tortillas. They're stuffed with grilled chicken, carrots, bean sprouts, cucumber, cilantro, and rice noodles. Finally, they're topped with spicy peanut and cashew sauces. Conveniently, you can add as much or as little of the sauces as you please. On their own, the wraps are crisp, cooling, and crunchy, but still able to fill you up — thanks to the fiber content of the veggies involved. But the best part about them is that they're easy to recreate. By grabbing a head of butter lettuce, you can offer up a tasty, customizable, affordable, and healthy dinner at home.

If you like nachos, you're probably aware that the dish isn't known as a health food. A meal of fried tortilla chips, meat, cheese, beans, sour cream, guacamole (and sometimes an additional cheese sauce) is going to be on the heavier side. So, you may see The Cheesecake Factory's Ahi Poke Nachos — which are made with tuna — and think they're going to be healthier due to the inclusion of healthy tuna. But you'd be incorrect. 

Ahi tuna is the healthiest part of this dish. A 3-ounce portion of Ahi tuna sits at about 109 calories with 24 grams of protein. However, that's where the accolades stop. A pile of crispy fried wontons form the base for these nachos, getting things off to a fried and salty start. From there, the nachos are drizzled with a sriracha aioli. They're garnished with spicy jalapeños and green onions, which offer nothing significant in terms of nutrition. The plate of nachos clocks in around 1,030 calories, which in the nacho world doesn't seem terrible. But the sky-high sodium content is the real issue here. These ahi tuna tacos contain about 2,340 milligrams of sodium, which is over the total daily recommended intake.

For taste, the beautiful, cool Ahi tuna is lost here, thanks to the heavy aioli and fried wontons. The avocado could be a saving grace in the recipe, were it not for the other mishmash of flavors.

If you're in the mood for a pasta dish, you can find a reasonably tasty and healthy one on The Cheesecake Factory's menu. The restaurant chain's Spicy Shrimp Pasta features rigatoni pasta with sautéed shrimp, fresh diced tomatoes, basil, garlic, and a spicy tomato sauce. 

The dish is a fixture on the SkinnyLicious section of the menu. It fits in here as it offers diners at The Cheesecake Factory a chance to have a pasta dish without exceeding the daily recommended number of calories — as the dish contains only 590. This is great considering that this dish feels substantial, comforting, and cozy. The biggest downside here is its sodium content, which is shockingly high (2,410 milligrams). So, make sure you're drinking plenty of water if you do order this dish.

As such, this dish reflects something to keep in mind about the SkinnyLicious menu offered at The Cheesecake Factory. If you order a dish from this section, even though the calories are lower, you may still be consuming higher amounts of sodium, sugar, or saturated fat.

If you're looking to order something fried from The Cheesecake Factory's menu, you're probably already aware that what you're looking for won't be the most nutritious. But some fried food options may still seem like they're better than others. For example, if you saw The Cheesecake Factory's Fried Shrimp Platter and chose to order it over a fried chicken platter, you may have the impression that you're doing yourself a favor. After all, shrimp is low in calories but high in antioxidants like astaxanthin (a component of algae that helps protect against inflammation, according to Healthline). Unfortunately, once you batter and deep fry said shrimp, those benefits are slightly overshadowed by some nutritional drawbacks.

The Cheesecake Factory's Fried Shrimp Platter has 1,920 calories, 104 grams of fat, and 3,140 milligrams of sodium, which makes it pretty heavy. It's even worse when you consider that the Fried Shrimp Platter comes with French fries and coleslaw. Although it's not a ton of food — it comes with maybe nine shrimp and a small handful of fries — these sides make for an overly salty, fatty-tasting meal you should either share among the whole table or skip completely.

If you're going to The Cheesecake Factory for a sandwich, the Grilled Chicken and Avocado Club is the best you're going to get in terms of nutrition. But keep in mind, the 1,080-calorie sandwich is still not great — it may just be the best for this particular restaurant chain's menu. For reference, a Deluxe McCrispy chicken sandwich from McDonald's is going to set you back just 530 calories. 

In terms of benefits, the club's grilled chicken is a protein powerhouse. This offering provides a good amount of protein, B vitamins, and zinc — all of which can help you feel satiated and will keep you going for the day. The avocado included here also offers high levels of protein and good-for-you fats which will help keep you feeling full after your trip to The Cheesecake Factory.

The Grilled Chicken and Avocado Club from The Cheesecake Factory offers a juicy grilled chicken breast with creamy avocado, crispy bacon, tomato, melted Swiss cheese, and an herb mayonnaise on top. This combines for a pleasing array of textures in which the vegetables shine through. The meal comes with French fries, but those can be easily swapped out for one of the healthier side options, for a lighter lunch or dinner.

In an entry that should surprise no one, the Bacon-Bacon Cheeseburger is probably one of the worst things you can order — nutrition-wise — from The Cheesecake Factory's menu. With 1,680 calories and 116 grams of saturated fat, this hefty sandwich has nearly three times the calories of a Big Mac from your local McDonald's. A Big Mac, for reference, clocks in at 590 calories, from its two beef patties, sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and sesame seed bun.

The Bacon-Bacon Cheeseburger features a charbroiled burger patty covered in melted cheddar and American cheeses. It's then topped with two types of bacon: crispy bacon, as well as thick-cut slow-roasted smoked bacon. It's also made with a secret sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. Of all the burgers on The Cheesecake Factory menu, the Bacon-Bacon Cheeseburger is the most missable, due to its greasy and over-the-top recipe.

Even the French dip cheeseburger — which features a charbroiled cheeseburger on a brioche roll with grilled onions, sriracha mayonnaise, and au jus — is 1,620 calories. This is not far off from the Bacon-Bacon Cheeseburger, but it's still not as overly-filling. The Bacon-Bacon Cheeseburger should give extra pause due to its high amount of bacon, as this protein is especially high in saturated fat and cholesterol — which should be consumed in moderation due to their connection with heart disease.

It may come as a pleasant surprise that you can have a steak at The Cheesecake Factory — and that this offering is on the healthier side of the menu items you can order from the beloved restaurant chain. The company's classic Filet Mignon comes with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes, and the entire plate — sides and all — will only set you back 870 calories. You can even modify the dish to include even more of your daily greens by swapping the mashed potatoes for sides like broccoli or grilled asparagus. Additionally, the mashed potatoes have about 450 calories while the green beans only have about 140, so swapping out the mashed potatoes for something else will bring down the overall calorie count, as well.

The filet mignon is a great choice to order from The Cheesecake Factory, as it's one of the healthier cuts of steak and it tastes great. By comparison, a filet mignon has less fat content than a cut of steak like a ribeye. Filet mignons also have a good amount of potassium and plenty of protein. 

A menu item called "Chicken Bellagio" may sound fancy, so we're naturally drawn to it. And it has everything that a restaurant chain dish should have: a creamy sauce, a giant piece of chicken, the addition of a pork product for some reason, and a mound of pasta. This dish sounds like it should be topping out the menu at other Italian restaurant chains, like Brio Italian Grille, Olive Garden, or Macaroni Grill, but it's nestled into the specialties section at The Cheesecake Factory. But this plate contains 2,020 calories, 116 grams of fat, 4,230 milligrams of sodium (almost double the daily recommended amount), and 395 milligrams of cholesterol. So it's a doozy, and might be better shared — or not ordered at all. 

So, what is it, actually? The Chicken Bellagio starts off with basil pasta — we're assuming this is meant to be a nod to pesto — topped with a parmesan cream sauce. Then, a deep-fried chicken breast is perched atop the noodles and crowned with prosciutto. For good measure, The Cheesecake Factory adds arugula on top. Unfortunately, the overall taste is not great. The competing flavors in the Chicken Bellagio make it a confusing mess. Plus, the cream sauce is overtly rich, covering up any delicate herb notes from the pasta. The prosciutto is just salty, and does nothing, really, for the dish. 

This is The Cheesecake Factory, isn't it? If you're going to head to a spot named after a dessert, it makes sense to save a little room after dinner for the sweet stuff. If you do choose to do so, the best you can do is the Original Cheesecake. This stand-by menu item consists of aclassic creamy cheesecake in a graham cracker crust, crowned with a sour cream topping. One slice will set you back about 830 calories. However, if you look on the bright side, this offering does contain 12 grams of protein.

The Original Cheesecake dates back to the 1940s, when Evelyn Overton saw a recipe in the newspaper for one of these creamy desserts. After putting her own spin on it and receiving glowing reviews from friends and neighbors, she and her husband opened a small bakery, and the rest is history. If you're going to do dessert, go for this delicious option. The balance between the classic cheesecake and its sour cream topping helps to offset the sweetness, plus a classic cheesecake is something no one can turn up a nose at. 

If you've thrown caution to the wind and want the absolute richest, most decadent, calorie-laden cheesecake on The Cheesecake Factory's menu, then order the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake. One slice is 1,580 calories — and, when you look at the overall makeup of this cake — it makes sense. Instead of a graham cracker crust and a filling, this red velvet version is actually a mashup of the two desserts: cheesecake and red velvet cake.

The cake alternates layers of rich red velvet cake with original cheesecake for a multi-tiered creation. The whole thing is then covered in a cream cheese frosting and further topped with white chocolate. With 122 grams of sugar (the daily recommendation is about 25 grams, according to The American Heart Association) and 350 grams of cholesterol, the red velvet cheesecake is the worst offender of this fast-casual restaurant's desserts. Since it's so heavy, the best way to consume this cake would be to share it amongst the table. In terms of taste, it's also overly rich and cloyingly sweet. There's simply not enough tang from the cream cheese frosting to help dilute the sugar-on-sugar mouthfeel you'll get from this.

We created this ranking based on both nutrition and taste. We asked ourselves: Did something taste good and allow us to feel satiated, or did it make us feel like we scarfed something down that wasn't tasty, was too filling, and exceeded the daily recommended value of certain nutrients like calories, sodium, or saturated fat? At the end of the day, it seemed that the dishes that had the least amount of competing ingredients and flavors came out on top.

The Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake is one example. The cream cheese frosting should help offset the dueling cake's sweetness, but it just ends up a confusing slice that's also not the best for you nutritionally. The same goes for the Chicken Bellagio, which combines basil pasta with cream sauce, chicken, and prosciutto — as this is just too many strong, competing flavors to enjoy. By contrast, the Avocado & Beet Salad was appreciated for its nutritional information, lightness, and freshness. Items like these also presented a harmony of flavors that made them worth ordering.