Happy Hour at the Cheesecake Factory

(un-)Happy Hour at the Cheesecake Factory

Yesterday, I was with my mom and we regularly go to happy hour at the Cheesecake Factory.  I used to think they had a great value menu, but this time it was different.  If you're familiar with the Cheesecake Factory, you know that they have ridiculous portions.  A salad there could cure hunger in India.  Ok, I'm exaggerating, but you get the point!

Their $5 happy hour menu includes...

roadside sliders, hot spinach and cheese dip, avocado eggrolls, fried macaroni and cheese, Sweet Corn, tamale-cakes, fire-roasted fresh artichoke, Vietnamese shrimp summer roll, made-to-order guacamole, Tex-Mex eggrolls, fried calamari, factory nachos, buffalo blasts, Southern fried chicken sliders, chicken pot stickers and crispy crab wontons.

Their drink specials include...

$5 specialty cocktails (Mojito, Long Island Iced Tea, Margarita, J.W.’s Pink Lemonade and Cosmopolitan); $5 select well drinks; $5 select wines by the glass. and $4 draft beer.

As you can see there was nothing on the menu that was Dukan-friendly.  Everything was breaded or drenched in some sauce.  Since, I was planing to have dinner at home later, I didn't want to order any entree, not that I probably could have anyways, so I checked out their side dishes.  The only thing I could order was the broccoli.  "OK!" I thought..  I'll beat the system and get my super-sized plate of broccoli....WRONG!!!  

When the food came- I had a TINY plate of broccoli at $3.95, and my mother had a HUGE plate of fried calamari at $5----SO NOT FAIR!!!!!!

PEOPLE LET ME TELL YOU ....THE SYSTEM SUCKS!!!!

my plate "looks" bigger b/c it's closer

Not only did I feel totally ripped off with my tiny plate of broccoli, which- if I might add- grows FREE on the ground.  Not like the bread that actually was free that had to be made and baked, or the calamari that needs to be caught and then processed, sliced, and be breaded-- but I was like why am I paying more than half what my mom is paying - for her Long Island Ice-T (which has tequila, rum, gin, triple sec, sweet & sour mix and coke-  for my WATER????? That's right...I had a seltzer, which is basically water with gas.  

LIGHTBULB!!!! Why is there an obesity problem in the USA????  THIS IS WHY!!!!
Well, I learned my lesson!  I am not going with the system no more!  I realized yesterday that in this country, you can not think about saving money when it comes to food.  Save on shoes, save on electricity, save on car insurance,,, BUT please don't save on food.  You will only pay for it later!  This sentence is addressed to me as well.  Choose the food that makes you who you want to be--- and pay with pride!!!!