We Try Every Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory

In the middle of a fine June day, we embarked on an epic quest: to eat our way through the Cheesecake Factory's entire cheesecake menu. It gets you thinking in epic terms.

O, Muses, o everlasting genius, help me now! O memory, that etched on paper what I tasted; here, your grandeur shall be known! This article was not my idea, not my wish, not my choosing; rather, this was my destiny. Those Fates, those Editorial Fates, spun my web...

Few have attempted to try all 33 different flavors of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory; fewer have succeeded without medical assistance. But we've boldly gone where no others have gone before.

The staff at the Hackensack, New Jersey Cheesecake Factory* were tremendously kind, though understandably unsettled by our mission: "The cheesecake is good, but these three are going to eat every piece?" Perhaps they didn't believe that we could do it when we proposed a mission to sample every kind of cheesecake. After three rounds of two pieces, the other patrons gawked at us. After five rounds, they definitely thought we were gluttons. But you've got to ignore them; you've got to get in the zone.

*Thanks to Cheesecake Factory corporate for going along with our harebrained scheme and supplying more cheesecake than we could eat comfortably.

What makes a good cheesecake? During a past cheesecake taste test, we came up with these qualifications:

"It's smooth and creamy, just sweet enough, with a hint of tartness. If there's a crust, it adds something extra without overwhelming the taste of the cheesecake itself. And it's rich enough to seem a bit decadent, without going down like a cement pour. You should want to keep eating—at least, for more than one bite."

And we did want to keep eating after one bite. Even two. Ten. But 33 was a little rough.

The Landscape

How to come up with 33 different versions of cheesecake? The Cheesecake Factory gets pretty creative, though the long list breaks down into a few basic constructions:

• Topped Cheesecake: Variations on the classic, adding toppings and sauces like strawberries, fudge, and the like.
• Flavored Cheesecake: Other flavors added to the cheesecake batter itself, such as chocolate or key lime, to make the base cheesecake taste different.
• Layered Cheesecake: Layers of mousse or thick crusts accounting for a large portion of the height and thickness of the cake; you might also see Oreos, ladyfingers, or caramel.
• Layered Cake-Cheesecake: a towering version with cake layers interspersed with the cheesecake.

Within those categories you'll find pretty much every possible permutation. Looking for candy? There's a cheesecake with Reese's, one with Snickers, and another with Butterfinger. More of a straight-up chocolate person? There's an intense Chocolate Mousse version with shaved chocolate on top, a Chocolate-Raspberry Truffle cheesecake for those who crave raspberry-filled bonbons, and for the truly obsessed, a luxurious Godiva cheesecake with a layer of dark chocolate ganache. There are a number of cheesecakes that that riff on classic desserts: a fresh banana cream version for banana pudding lovers, a red velvet cake cheesecake, a retro pineapple upside-down cheesecake, and an ambitious carrot cake cheesecake with cheesecake in the place of frosting. (Except there's also frosting.)

The Attack

The other pressing question was just how to eat these pieces of cheesecake—the Factory serves up some mighty large portions. The natural inclination is to eat a piece of cake from front to back, or from point to outside crust. However, sometimes the best part of a cake or cheesecake is the back—or in its bottom crust. Thinking of cheesecake from point to back is one-dimensional, and disadvantages the oft-forgotten parts of cheesecake. My recommendation? Explore the cheesecake. My favorite method? Knock it over on its side, and attack from all angles! Take a bite off the back, grab a mostly crust part off the bottom, or carve out a yellow-only fluffy cheese bite.

The Highlights

With such a wide range of options, you'll probably want to narrow your order down by genre: are you into fruit, chocolate, candy, cake, or coffee? Once you've narrowed that down, you can zero in on the winners.

Best for Chocoholics: Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake

This intense dessert has a base of flourless dark chocolate cake. On top of that, you'll find a layer of chocolate cheesecake, a layer of chocolate mousse, and a thin layer of deep, dark chocolate ganache. The square of Godiva chocolate on top is a nice touch. Despite having already tasted 30 cheesecakes before we got to this one, our tasters all loved it. It's intensely flavored and not too sweet. (Cheesecake prices range from $6.75 to $7.75; premium cheesecakes like this are at the higher end of that price range.)

Best for Fruit Lovers: Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake

Two words: raspberry puree. We worried this would be a candy-sweet cornstarch-thickened gluey mess, but the raspberry sauce was tart and freshly flavored, perfectly offsetting the ladyfinger-studded tart lemon cheesecake and lemon mousse topping. Though not all our tasters loved the ladyfingers, the combination of lemon cheesecake and tart berry sauce made for a refreshing treat.

Best Presentation: Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake

You eat with your eyes first, and this one's a showstopper. It's like a tuxedo in two ways: black and white, and good-looking. Starting on the bottom, this cheesecake has a layer of fudge cake, a layer of chocolate cheesecake, a layer of creamy mousse, and a final layer of chocolate ganache. The chocolate cheesecake, like the Godiva, blends the chocolate and creamy cheesecake seamlessly. What really made it stand out was the swirled band of chocolate syrup and marshmallow cream on the plate around the cake. Definitely one of the best looking desserts on the menu.

Actually Like Another Dessert: Key Lime Cheesecake

Just what it sounds like. The crust is a thin layer of crushed vanilla wafers, with a tart Key Lime cheesecake filling and whipped cream. Thinner than the other cheesecakes, about as tart as you want Key Lime Pie to be, and had just the right amount of sweetness. The lime brings out the natural tartness of the cheesecake—it's easy to devour quite a bit of this one.

Coffee Addict Award: Tiramisu Cheesecake

Like the Italian dessert, coffee-flavored cheesecake and mascarpone cream sit atop a thick crust of Marsala-wine-and-espresso-soaked ladyfingers, which had a real hit of java. Not too sweet, great coffee flavor—after 22 pieces of cheesecake, it was the pick-me-up we needed.

Most Decadent: Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

This beautiful monster had layers of chocolate fudge cake, salted caramel, and classic cheesecake with pieces of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups inside. If that weren't enough, there were chocolate chunks all over the back of the slice. The caramel was gooey and lightly salty, setting off the peanut butter nicely. This one's a lot of desserts in one.

Best Cheesecake for Cake Lovers: 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

I couldn't help but fall for this cake, which has four alternating layers of fudgy chocolate cake and classic cheesecake. The slice is then topped with a chocolate cream icing, and the back of the slice is finished with crunchy chocolate pearls. The chocolate fudge cake was moist, fudgy, and not too sweet, and the crunchy pearls provide an interesting textural contrast. My favorite part, though, was the swirl of chocolate cream on top. Looking at it, I expected a sugar rush, like birthday-cake icing. Instead, I found a thick and silky, intensely chocolate-tasting frosting.

We had a few other favorites, too, and many cakes to go before we slept. Banana Cream Cheesecake: check. A must order for banana pudding lovers. Brownie Sundae cheesecake: check. Reminded us of an old-fashioned soda fountain dessert. Apple streusel cheesecake: check. More streusel and apple than cheesecake, but we needed a break anyway. How many of these have you tried? Check them all out below.

The Cheesecake Factory isn't really the cutting edge of pastry—and we didn't expect it to be—but these cheesecakes were quite tasty. I went into this challenge expecting creamy but overly-sugared, waxy cheesecake, and walked away with a very different impression. (And a very, very full stomach.)

It's easy to imagine a chain restaurant taking one cheesecake and just loading it up with 33 different toppings; the truth of the Cheesecake Factory is that these really are 33 different creations. Should you end up at a Factory, here's hoping you're now acquainted with whatever rendition might appeal to you. But if not, hey—you could always repeat the experiment yourself.

All The Cheesecakes

Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake

If you love banana pudding, you should be sure to order this cheesecake. A crust of crushed vanilla wafers is filled with banana cheesecake and pudding-like Bavarian cream.

Kahlua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake

Fudge brownie crust topped with Kahlua-swirled coffee cheesecake and coffee-chocolate mousse. More classic coffee cheesecake than the Tiramisu, but if we had to choose, we'd go with the Tiramisu. (We didn't have to choose. We ate both.)

Snickers Bar Chunks and Cheesecake

Original creamy cheesecake with tiny bits of Snickers candy bar atop a chocolate cookie crust. The whipped cream is topped with chopped peanuts and sweet caramel; with those two elements, the whole thing (not just the candy bits) really does have a Snickers Bar effect.

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

A thin chocolate crust filled with two layers—one of chocolate cheesecake, and another of lighter chocolate mousse—all topped with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. A bit less intense than the Godiva cheesecake.

Brownie Sundae Cheesecake

Walnut brownie topped with classic cheesecake, white chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache. All of this is topped with hot fudge, marshmallow cream, slivered almonds, and a cherry. It really does recall a sundae, a cheesecake, and a brownie all at once; whether that’s a good thing is a matter of opinion.

Craig’s Crazy Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Layers of carrot cake and cheesecake with toasted almond crust and cream cheese icing. Like a re-constructed carrot cake, with cheesecake as the icing. (Only there’s also icing.)

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

A thick vanilla cookie crust filled with vanilla cheesecake, vanilla mousse, and vanilla whipped cream; there’s more vanilla flavor as you ascend, capped off with vanilla bean bits. Though too perfumey for some, it was a favorite of one of our tasters.

White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

Chocolate cookie crust filled with classic cheesecake swirled with raspberries and white chocolate. Topped with white chocolate shavings.

30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

Four alternating layers of cheesecake and fudgy chocolate cake, topped with chocolate cream and crunchy chocolate pearls on the back. (There’s something great about paying attention to the back of a cheesecake crust. You can hear them thinking, “How else can we dress this thing up?”)

Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake

Vanilla cookie crust, a layer of caramel cheesecake, and a layer of sweet caramel mousse, topped with caramel and candied almonds. The cheesecake part was our favorite.

Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake

Classic graham cracker crust and cheesecake, topped with glazed strawberries. (Very glazed strawberries.) 50’s diner-style, but things are classic for a reason.

Original Cheesecake

Graham cracker crust; original, creamy cheesecake; a layer of sweetened sour cream. There are some cheesecakes that you need to dress up to make taste decent, but this isn’t one of them.

Low Carb Original Cheesecake Sweetened with Splenda

Graham cracker-walnut crust filled with original cheesecake that’s sweetened with Splenda, plus Splenda whipped cream. If they didn’t tell you the cheesecake had Splenda, you wouldn’t know—but in the whipped cream, it’s obvious.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

Layers of cheesecake with pieces of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chocolate fudge cake, salted caramel. The thing is, Reese’s don’t have caramel; the thing ends up tasting more like a Snickers bar.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Chocolate cookie crust filled with original cheesecake that has chocolate chip-walnut cookie dough mixed in. It’s tasty dough, but it almost forms its own layer—which is a bit excessive, even for us.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cheesecake

Vanilla cookie crust with a layer of pineapple-maraschino-cherry-swirl cheesecake between two layers of pineapple upside-down cake. It’s a lot of candied elements, a lot of syrupy elements, and a lot of sugar.

Dutch Caramel Apple Streusel Cheesecake

Graham cracker crust, original cheesecake with bits of apples, caramel, and candied walnuts swirled in, all topped with a caramel-walnut streusel and swimming in caramel. There’s much more apple and streusel than cheesecake in this one.

Mango Key Lime Cheesecake

Key Lime cheesecake swirled with mango and topped with mango key lime mousse, on a crust of vanilla coconut macaroons. Watch out if you don’t like coconut; there’s more than you’d expect.

Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheesecake

A coconut cheesecake with chocolate chunks inside, atop a crust of crushed chocolate macaroon cookies. The ensemble is topped with coconut custard, whipped cream, and coconut and chocolate shavings. (If you’re counting, that’s four kinds of coconut.)

White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake

A macadamia nut blondie crust topped with white chocolate cheesecake with huge macadamia nuts, white chocolate chunks, and caramel on top. For nut lovers only.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

A layer of chocolate cake acts as the crust, with raspberry-swirled chocolate chunk cheesecake, topped with chocolate mascarpone mousse. It reminded us of raspberry-filled bonbons; some tasters found it a bit too sweet.

Caramel Pecan Turtle Cheesecake

Chocolate pecan brownie base, sweet caramel cheesecake, candied pecans, and chocolate ganache. For the extreme sweets lovers only.

Wild Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake

Blueberry-swirled cheesecake on a blueberry crumb crust, topped with white chocolate mousse. The blueberry flavor is definitely present, but the sugar is, too.

Adam’s Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake

Cheesecake swirled with bits of Butterfinger candy bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. To top that off, more crushed Butterfinger bars. Surprisingly, it’s not nearly as sweet as it sounds, the nuttier elements helping it achieve a salty balance. Makes Butterfingers easy to ingest without sticking in the teeth.

Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

Alternating layers of dense red velvet cake and cheesecake, iced with cream cheese frosting. This one's hefty.

Pineapple Piña Colada Cake Cheesecake

Cheesecake, pineapple, coconut, and rum on a moist white cake. Sweet and tropical, just like the drink.

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake

Ladyfingers serve as the crust, and the lemon cheesecake filling is swirled with raspberries; it's all topped with lemon mousse, raspberry puree, and whipped cream. We were happy that it was tart and lemony, and neither the cheesecake nor the sauce was overly sweet.

Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake

Serious chocolate lovers: take note. This one goes all out: a layer of intense flourless chocolate cake, with layers of chocolate cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache.

Key Lime Cheesecake

One of their simpler desserts: crushed vanilla wafer crust, tart Key Lime cheesecake, whipped cream. Missing? Boat, Jimmy Buffett.

Chris’ Outrageous Chocolate Cake

Outrageous is right: layers of chocolate chip coconut cheesecake, chocolate cake, chewy brownie, and coconut-pecan frosting. If you like German Chocolate Cake, the flavors are similar here.

Oreo Cheesecake

The cookie crust is made with whole Oreos, and there are more of them suspended in the cheesecake. There’s a good texture difference between the smooth cheesecake and the crunchy cookies.

Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake

A layer of fudge cake, a layer of chocolate cheesecake, a layer of creamy mousse, and a final layer of chocolate ganache. If that weren’t enough, there’s chocolate syrup and ‘mallow cream.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

A crust of coffee-soaked ladyfingers topped with a coffee-flavored cheesecake and mascarpone cream. For grownups only.