Tag Archive | American Food

The Cheesecake Factory – Waikiki, HI

I haven’t been to The Cheesecake Factory in forever. First, I don’t enjoy waiting nearly 1.5 hours to get a table. Second, the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center parking lot feels SO far from the restaurant. I mean the restaurant is literally at the other end and I for the life of me can’t stop getting lost within the shopping center getting back to the car. The parking validation doesn’t do much anymore – you still have to pay money. Still, it’s not a bad rate for parking as long as you don’t have to wait 2 hours to get a table. We did a take-out order and boy…it isn’t much better. You can only put in the order right when they open, no faxing and no online system. No curbside pick-up so I had to circle Waikiki until my co-worker ran back out with the food. Then, I still had to block up traffic to get her in the car! Oh and did I mention Cheesecake Factory is pricey? Yeah, it’s pricey. But you can’t beat the selection – there’s something for everyone! The cheesecake is expensive but tasty. Well, let’s take a look at the dishes we ordered!

140825-01

140825-02

Incredible Eggplant Sandwich with fries (not pictured) – $12.95

140825-03Lunch Portion Shepherd’s Pie – $12.95

140825-04

140825-05Lunch Portion BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad – $11.95

140825-06

140825-07Bistro Shrimp Pasta – $18.95
Ho the pricey! But delicious and huge portion!

140825-08Cuban Sandwich with Salad (not pictured) – $13.50

140825-09

140825-10

140825-11

Chicken Bellagio – $15.95
I can’t comment too much on the other dishes because this is the one I got! Doesn’t it look so good? This is the first time I tried it and I am so glad I did! It includes crispy chicken breast over basil pasta and parmesan cream sauce topped with proscuitto and arugula salad. It all works very well together!

Ryan’s Grill Happy Hour – Ward Center

The last time I went to Ryan’s Grill – it was such a forgettable experience. The service was severely lacking and the food was nothing that I needed to return quickly for. We decided to give Ryan’s Grill a try the other week and it was such a great experience! I am so glad we gave them another chance. Our server was awesome, the food came up in a timely manner and tasted great! Oops, I’ll be honest. I came here twice in 2 weeks because I had to try their happy hour too! This post is for the happy hour. The service for the happy hour was not as good as my dine in experience but I usually expect that…sadly.

140709-01Lilikoi Mojito – not part of Happy Hour…and not great. I actually enjoy the liliko mojito at Kincaid’s more (which you would think is the same since they are sister restaurants)

140709-02Jamaican Jerk Fries – $5.95
Delicious! Much better than I expected. I’m not sure what qualifies as Jamaican – I felt like the spices were reminiscent of Thanksgiving.

140709-03

140709-04Kobe Sliders – $7.95
Not bad – not great. Not something I would order again.

140709-06Kalua Pig Quesadillas – $6.95
Pretty good! The mango salsa is good too…would have been good if we had something to spoon it onto the quesadillas (yes, we did ask…haha)

140709-05Hot Crab and Artichoke Dip – $8.95
Delicious!! My favorite appetizer from Ryan’s. The dip is on point and the focaccia bread is nicely seasoned and super soft. Great dish!