Everyone knows The Cheesecake Factory for their namesake. And those people are also probably aware that The Cheesecake Factory is a full-on restaurant with a restaurant about as massive its portions. Sadly, when I went to Cheesecake in Beverly Hills, my stomach wasn’t treating me as well as it usually does. So naturally, as an unvegan, I turned to fried chicken. Yeah, that’s right.
So what fried chicken did I turn to? Cajun Chicken Littles.
At 13.95, these seemed to be well-priced and the sides of succotash and mashed potatoes seemed agreeable to my ways. But I have to say that this was not an easy decision. Like I said before, the menu is just immense and the portions are huge, so calling the chicken “littles” seemed perfect for a meal that I wasn’t very hungry for.
Well I was way off. While the pieces of chicken could (in some alternate universe) be considered little, the portion most certainly was not. On my plate I found a stack of 14 pieces of chicken. Yes, 14! Plus the mashed potatoes and succotash. No small portion indeed. I started my attempt to chip away at the chicken portion and realized I could do little damage, due to my hunger. Nonetheless, this did not get in the way of my enjoyment of the little I did eat. The breading had been fried to the perfect crisp and while these were essentially chicken strips, there was definitely a touch of Cajun spice in them. I would ordinarily have liked some stronger spice, but I think my tender stomach was happy the flavor was so subtle.
I was glad to see that the succotash was mostly corn and made sure to pick away at said corn while avoiding peppers, cucumbers and whatever other terrible veggies they decided to throw in. The mashed potatoes were packed with delicious skin and a flavor that needed no salt. They made a delicious side and certainly would have been a perfect buffer if the chicken had been spicy enough to require one.
So despite my stomach, I really did enjoy my Cheesecake Factory experience. The leftover chicken sustained me for two more meals and although the subsequently reheated chicken wasn’t as good as the original, I was still quite impressed. I’d love to head back to Cheesecake on a better stomach to tackle the Cajun Chicken Littles in one sitting, but this time I’ll be sure to ask them to add some more kick.