cheesecake factory

Tonight i'm going to the cheesecake factory with some friends, i've never been there, and i've heard its not exactly diet friendly.

I want to be good, but don't need to be a saint tonight, does anyone have any ideas for healthier (and hopefully lower calorie) options at the cheesecake factory?

Thanks in advance for you help!

the thing about that place is they have GIANT portions.  Whatever you get just make sure you eat only half of it... think of it as buying two meals, take the rest to go and have it later... I think they have a secton of the menu with salads under 700 cals... everything else on the menu is going to be upwards of 1000 though.  Skip bread/appetizers too.  Good luck

I second what morganbclaw says. The portions are ridiculous. They have a salad I like there (barbeque chicken salad). It comes with beans, avocados, chicken, etc. I get the dressing on the side and it's seriously enough for three meals. I just automatically box it up before I eat. 

Stay away from the cheesecake   Really there is only one that is not ridiculously high in calories.  The dulce le leche cheesecake is over 1000 calories a slice.  EEEK  !!! 

From dwlz.com

6 Carb Cheesecake (1 slice, no whipped cream or berries) (610 cal/29 g fat/0 g fiber/6 g carbs) 15
Brownie Sundae Cheesecake (960 cal/62 g fat/96 g carb) 24.5
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake (1 slice) (1090 cal/72 g fat/3 g fiber/102 g carbs) 27.5 
Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake (1010 cal/71 g fat/84 g carb) 26.5
Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake (860 cal/61 g fat/70 g carb) 22.5
Keylime Cheesecake (710 cal/49 g fat/64 g carb) 18.5
Low Carb Cheesecake (made w/Splenda) (420 cal/38 g fat/12 g fiber/35 g carb) 9.5 (11)
Original Cheesecake (640 cal/45 g fat/54 g carb) 17
Plain Cheesecake (1 slice) (315 cal/20 g fat/0 g fiber/25 g carbs) 8
Snicker's Cheesecake (1 slice) (920 cal/63 g fat/2 g fiber/84 g carbs) 23.5
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (870 cal/62 g fat/69 g carb) 23
White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle (910 cal/61 g fat/81 g carb) 23.5

Good Luck and enjoy : )

I haven't been there in years, but the other posts are correct. The portions are ginormous! Eat about 1/3, not even half. You can easily have two left over meals. Of course, no cheesecake for you!

I just went there on Friday! I got the ceasar salad with the dressing on the side, no cheese with added chicken. I just used a small amount of dressing on my fork. So I ended up eating a large portion of romaine lettuce with chicken. It was very tasty and it filled me up without feeling overly full. :)

It's on calorie lab's hall of shame.. :(

http://calorielab.com/index.html

oh boy sounds, like a diet nightmare. I guess i'll be putting my menu scanning skills to the test tonight lol. Thanks for all the advice guys, i'll update you on how it went.

you probably left already, but I wanted to tell you that having a salad would be a good idea. You can get rid of the calorie dense ingredients (cheese, cranberries, dried fruits, nuts) and just go for a simple salad. This wont be high in calories. That way, you could even have a slice of bread, which happens to be very good at cheesecake

The salmon seafood salad and tuna seafood salad are both under 600 calories for the whole plate, and PACKED with protein.

The chicken salad is 490 calories, probably the best thing on the menu.