Sugar, spice, and everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect pumpkin cheesecakes. 

As the weather cools, new seasonal dessert items have been added to the Cheesecake Factory menu. The restaurant recently released its fall cheesecakes in early September, announcing the return of its pumpkin and pumpkin pecan cheesecakes. These desserts have since become available at all establishments and face mixed reviews, so I took some friends to try and get to the bottom of this cheesecake controversy. 

We visited the Cheesecake Factory around 7 p.m. on a Tuesday. Seeing that it was a weekday, we decided to test our luck and not make a reservation for the seven of us. To our delight, they were able to seat us immediately and had our drink orders ready in under five minutes. Additionally, they gave us complimentary bread and butter before our meal, which was delicious and quickly devoured. 

For this trip, we decided to order only cheesecakes, as the restaurant can be pretty pricey for a teenage budget. Once we got the menu, we flipped to the dessert pages and decided on which four cheesecakes we wanted to split. We knew for sure that we wanted to try the pumpkin pecan cheesecake since it was new, and we also landed on original cheesecake, chocolate mousse cheesecake, and white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake. We chose the three other cheesecake options since they are our regular favorites in case the pumpkin pecan was not fulfilling. 

All cheesecakes are priced around $9 to $11, so in total, we spent around $40, split seven ways. The whole ordering and arrival process took less than 15 minutes, and when they arrived at our table, we were excited to dig in.

We started with the pumpkin pecan cheesecake since that was the reason we went to the restaurant in the first place. The cheesecake looked exactly as it was pictured with two swirls of whipped cream accompanying it. Rereading the description of the cheesecake only intensified my excitement. The cheesecake is composed of a layer of pecan pie, topped with a layer of pumpkin cheesecake, and finished with a layer of caramel and pecans, all set in a pastry crust. 

We all scooped up a piece of the cheesecake and tried it at the same time. Based on initial reactions, I understood why it faced mixed reviews, since there were mixed emotions at my table. A couple of us enjoyed the dessert, while the others were indifferent to it, and some strongly disliked the taste, refusing to indulge in another bite. I mostly enjoyed the cheesecake because of its novel texture, which included pecans, even though I usually dislike them; however, the pumpkin flavor was a bit too strong in my opinion. The cheesecake tasted more like a pumpkin pie than any cheesecake I have ever had, so for fans of pumpkin pie flavor, I would definitely recommend this treat. 

In contrast to some of our favorable opinions, many of my friends strongly disliked the overwhelming pumpkin flavor and the texture of the pecans, which was surprising, given that those friends typically enjoy pumpkin. Overall, we all agreed that the other three cheesecakes were far superior in taste. The white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake was a unanimous table favorite, with the original being a second favorite. Additionally, as a table we decided that the pricing of one slice is a bit absurd, especially if diners enjoy an entree with it. This cheesecake experience is fun with friends but would be a better option for a family outing due to pricing. But if the goal is just to try a fun cheesecake, the pumpkin pecan one is sure to be a conversation starter.

The pumpkin pecan cheesecake embodies fall with its flavor, but I am not quite sure if that is a good thing yet. When asking the waitress if she enjoyed the cheesecake, she much preferred the original pumpkin rather than the pumpkin pecan, so maybe this is another opportunity for me to explore some more fall fun at the Cheesecake Factory.