The Absolute Most Affordable Meal We Can Find At The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory is known for doing things big: It has an absurdly long menu that servers need to spend weeks memorizing, maximalist interior design, and huge portions. However, for a chain restaurant, it's not the most budget-friendly place (you're probably better off looking at fast food chains if that's your goal). Yet it's possible to get a meal cheaply if you choose right.

To figure out the cheapest meal at the Cheesecake Factory, we had to follow a couple of rules: Firstly, it needs to be substantial enough to pass as a meal — so, a minimum 500 calories, which is the minimum of what the average lunch or dinner for an adult should be. Secondly, and more subjectively, it needs to resemble a meal: This means no drinks, no desserts (even if you could eat cheesecake as a meal), and no side dishes, as a bowl of rice or mashed potatoes seems like a sad meal (although appetizers that meet the calorie requirement were counted).

So, with those criteria, the cheapest meal you can get is the New Orleans Cajun shrimp with Creole sauce and toast for $8.95 (but take note that prices vary slightly by location — for example, it's available for $7.95 in at least one Alabama restaurant). The kids' mini corn dogs came to $8.95 in some locations, but lost out because in other locations, their price was higher (plus, adults ordering from the kids' menu may be frowned upon, even if it's not explicitly forbidden).

If you're not feeling the Cajun shrimp, your next best bet is the baked Brie with truffle honey butter for $9.50. While these items have a meal's worth of calories, they're on the menu's "bites" section, so if you want something that the Cheesecake Factory considers an entree, you'll have to pay more. The soup of the day goes for $10.95 (it's either Mexican chicken tortilla soup, cream of chicken with artichoke and mushroom, or clam chowder, depending on the day), although it's officially an appetizer. So, count that out and you're looking at $13.95 for either the cheese flatbread pizza or an orange cauliflower bowl with snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, and rice.

If you're willing to bend your definition of "meal," it's possible to get something cheaper than the Cajun shrimp. Both the french fries ($6.95) and breakfast potatoes ($4.95) have enough calories to qualify as a meal. Then, if you're just looking to eat something — anything — even if it doesn't hit 500 calories, you can go even cheaper. The ricotta toast with orange honey, officially a "bite," is $6.95. But you can go cheaper still: Either an English muffin, toast, or a bowl of steamed brown rice will set you back $2.95, while the absolute cheapest food available is steamed white rice, for $2.50. But frankly speaking, heading to a restaurant just to order this seems sad — so the final verdict is that you need to spend around $9 to get something resembling a meal at the Cheesecake Factory.