RESTAURANT REVIEW:

It’s not really surprising that I have never been to a Cheesecake Factory because the restaurant has two things that have little interest to me.

The first is the cheesecake. It’s never been one of my favorite desserts. Even the decadent New York style you get in some of the famous delicatessens in Manhattan fails to woo me.

My taste in sweets have always leaned toward the cake variety, with some apple or peach pie thrown in when I am in the mood.

So the 31 varieties of cheesecake does nothing for me. I am not going to be lured in with key lime cheesecake or Snickers bar chunks cheesecake. Both of those actually sound a little gross.

But I am sure they have their fans, just like the chain restaurant has its admirers.

That is the second issue: I am not a fan of chain restaurants. It was a belief instilled in me by my mother, who would turn up her nose when I asked if we could go to Sizzler or Loves for dinner when I was a kid.

My friend Tod is a chain-restaurant kind of guy. He is married and has a child, and when you have a young boy, you don’t really have the luxury of being exotic. Eateries need to have reliability and comfort, which is what most chains offer.

So when he came up to visit recently and I asked him where he wanted to go to lunch, his options were three chain restaurants in Fashion Island. I threw in Daily Grill and Café R and D, but I knew that would be fruitless.

As I expected he picked one of the chains, and, ever the optimist, I climbed the ornate staircase up to the second story of the restaurant.

The one thing I must say for most chain restaurants is that the hostesses are usually extremely polite and attentive. This was no different. We were warmly greeted by the hostess and then by our server.

The voluminous menu at Cheesecake Factory is used for both lunch and dinner. There are 19 pages, though some have advertisements for other products and services.

It is difficult to figure out what are truly specialties at the restaurant since the word is atop most of the pages. The waitress was very helpful though and made a couple of suggestions as to what is popular with diners.

The appetizers were variations of standard starters, though the avocado eggrolls looked unique. I couldn’t talk Tod into those and instead we split the roadside sliders.

The mini-hamburgers were quite good, with ground beef that tasted like Kobe, but wasn’t. They were simple, adorned with grilled onions, pickles and ketchup.

Tod ordered wild mushroom soup as part of the Renee’s Special. The soup and half sandwich was a pretty good deal at $9.95 and part of eight lunch specials served until 5 p.m.

The soup was outstanding, creamy with a rich flavor and plenty of mushrooms. The portion was also generous, much more than a cup.

There are two choices of sandwiches, and Tod picked the turkey over the chicken salad. The turkey was fresh and moist and barely needed any condiments.

My choice for lunch was one of the restaurant’s specialties. I had the white chicken chili and was impressed.

The chicken was tender and the white beans were cooked really well. The green chiles, white onions and garlic were all subtle.

The garnish of a white rice tower and salsa was not needed and I ended up taking it off so I could focus on the chili.

The meal was filling enough, so when the waitress asked us if we saved room for dessert we both could not answer the bell, which kind of disappointed me.

With my meal as enjoyable as it was, I might have changed my opinion of cheesecake. I know I have softened my stance on chain restaurants.

CHEESECAKE FACTORY

ADDRESS: 1141 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

PHONE: (949) 720-8333

CUISINE: American

SPECIALTY DISH: Chicken Madeira

ALCOHOL SERVED: Full bar

ENTRÉE PRICE RANGE: $7.95 to $16.95

FAMILY FRIENDLY: Yes

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: American Express, MasterCard and Visa

RATING: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at [email protected] or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.