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The Cheesecake Factory Happy Hour By Tara Redfield
Dear Love,
Happy Hour wasn't even on the agenda for my shopping day at the Grove with my boss, (who by the way is not gay and we are not dating), me in pursuit of sunglasses, he white jeans...I swear he's not gay! By 4:30 after hitting up Nordstrom, Gap, Forever 21, and Zara I was tired, hungry, and craving a cocktail. It was his suggestion that we find a happy hour. "Perfect, where should we go?" I asked. "The Cheesecake Factory actually has a decent happy hour." He replied. "What?? No they don't. Really?" I was honestly amazed. This was big news to me.
It was such a beautiful day and we were forced to sit in the dimly lit indoors, because The Cheesecake Factory does not have patio seating for the bar (they need to work on that!). However, once I had a menu in my hand I seemed to forget all about being inside. "Are you kidding me?" I said with the enthusiasm of a kid at Disneyland for the first time, talking to myself and anyone else that wanted to listen. There were probably over 20 food items on the happy hour menu all around $5.00. Our waitress reacted to my amusement, "They're not small portions either." Wow.
Specialty cocktails were an even five bucks. I ordered a mojito, one of my favorites on a summer day. My boss kept it clean with a vodka soda from the well. Deciding what to order from the nearly never ending options was tough, but it had to be done. We got the sweet corn tamales, beet and goat cheese salad, tuna tartare, and mini mushroom pizza.
The waitress was not lying, the portions were huge! The tamales came out dressed up for a dinner for four. They were layered with sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and pico de gallo. They impressed me in appearance and blew my mind in taste. The beet and goat cheese salad was my second favorite. It's consistently a pleasing flavor combination. I would rate the mushroom pizza my third, good, but nothing unexpected. The tuna tartare? It's extremely difficult to say that any raw fish is amazing after being exposed to Katsuya. Sorry, that's just how it is.
We lost to the huge portions and didn't finish all of our plates, but you bet I took home the leftover tamales! Talk about having your cake and eating it too!
xx, Tara
The Cheesecake Factory at The Grove 189 The Grove Drive (323) 634-0511
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