Glamor isn't so easily obtained

Monterey Cheeseburger, a photo by jaceman4 on Flickr.

Well, now that Cheesecake Factory has a whole page dedicated to its self-titled "Glamburgers", I'm not really sure what to make of it. On one hand, they're pretty good, and they're something I'd consistently get at Cheesecake Factory should I consistently go, on the other hand, they're not as good as the single Kobe Burger item that was on the original menu. Nonetheless, I applaud their efforts in making their menu more appealing to the masses.

The Monterey Burger pays its homage to the state it references, California, with its large hunk of avocado on top. It's supposed to also be topped with arugula, monterey jack cheese, and a chipotle mayo I believe. Overall, I enjoyed the light char of the burger, and the meat quality was excellent. The bun was well toasted, the arugula fresh, the cheese melty, and the avocado smooth and creamy. However, despite the excellence of each individual component of the burger, it is the combination of these components that really determined the quality of the burger, and that unfortunately, is what makes this burger only mediocre. It was really hard to taste the chipotle mayo over the creaminess of the avocado, additionally, the way the avocado was sliced, made the burger itself somewhat difficult to manage. Furthermore, the Monterey Jack cheese was far too mild to compliment the arugula, while the avocado helped a little with the texture, to match the crispness and slight bitter flavor of the arugula you really need a crumbly more pungent cheese, such as gorgonzola or bleu cheese (and I typically don't like bleu cheese). While the ingredients and execution of each individual part was excellent, the burger was inherently flawed at the foundational level of the concept.

You can get sweet potato fries with their burgers here, which is a plus, but that being said, you're not reading this blog for the fries but for the burgers. It's Cheesecake Factory, so you know you'll go there, or at least you know that NBA players will. Burgers are a safe bet here, the Monterey Burger wasn't for me, but maybe you'll like it, personally, I don't recommend it. Unlike many of the other burgers I've reviewed, it was the idea, not the execution that fell short this time.