The Cheesecake Factory - Fairfax

I ordered the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wrap, but unfortunately, they forgot to include the chicken and lettuce in my order. It was a disappointing dinner experience for me.

Unfortunately, they did not have cheesecake available during my visit. However, I did enjoy the crab cake bites and asparagus, which were delicious as usual.

My first time back in the US since Covid, and a long-awaited trip back to The Cheesecake Factory. We had originally planned to go to Tyson's Corner, but ended up going to Fairfax instead, which was easier to get to. We were excited for a treat. Unfortunately, my wife's Chicken Madeira came with raw mashed potatoes. She informed our waiter, Skylor, who was very apologetic and helpful. He took it back to the kitchen, but the chef insisted that the mashed potatoes were supposed to be "lumpy"...lumpy is fine, but this had raw chunks of potato! The manager then came over and agreed that it was unacceptable. He comped the meal and offered a free slice of cheesecake. However, by that point, my wife's night was ruined, the rest of her meal was cold, and she couldn't enjoy it. The manager blamed staff shortages, but that is no excuse for raw potato. We won't be in a rush to return.

After hearing so much about it, we finally decided to try the Cheesecake Factory. There were three adults and a toddler in our party, and we had made dinner reservations. We were seated quickly and had a great server named George. He was one of the best servers we've had in a while. The service was quick and attentive, the menu had a great selection, and everyone enjoyed their meals, even the toddler. We also got cheesecake to go and continued to enjoy it at home later that evening. Overall, it was a great experience at the Cheesecake Factory.

The atmosphere at this Cheesecake Factory was unlike any I've experienced before. The staff appeared to be slouching as they walked and stood, and the table we were seated at was small and uneven, with some strange residue dried on it. The silverware also had food dried on it, and to our surprise, the cups were plastic. The fruit in my smoothie tasted freezer burnt or close to expiring, and the servers were not attentive enough. Water spilled on our table due to overfilled cups, and there was smoothie dripping down the side of my glass. Despite all these issues, my vegan burger was good so I still left a tip. It seemed like the servers and staff either didn't care or gave up trying to improve our experience once they knew we were bothered.