10款芝士蛋糕工廠漢堡排行榜：由最差到最好

我可以整天談 Cheesecake Factory 的起司蛋糕。畢竟它是連鎖店的同名招牌，而有35種口味可供選擇，話題不斷。我可以深入聊 Caramel Pecan Turtle Cheesecake 或 Ultimate Red Velvet 這兩款長久以來深受我喜愛的甜點。

然而，我得收斂我的甜癮，因為今天我要翻到 Factory 菜單的另一個篇章。我要轉向鹹味，聚焦於這家連鎖店的漢堡。對不起，它們實際上被稱為 Glamburgers。不是因為它們會在紅毯上亮相，而是創辦人 David Overton 宣稱裝飾料太過華麗，不能僅僅稱作普通漢堡。像 Factory 一切其他的產品一樣，這些漢堡都從自家現做的廚房出品，使用優質的 Certified Angus Beef。於是，接下來就更有趣了——各式各樣的配料、醬汁與其他點綴物堆疊在那厚實的肉餅上。

我最近品嘗了連鎖店的10款特色 Glamburgers，發現其中有些的確比其他更符合華麗的名號。綜合考量漢堡的品質、食材與整體體驗，以下是我從最不喜歡到最喜歡的排名。

部分建議基於我對製造商提供的宣傳材料與產品的一手印象。

The recurring theme across all The Cheesecake Factory Glamburgers is that they’re big. These are thick, juicy patties like you’ve never seen before. I’d say just one patty at the Factory offers nearly as much meat as a set of double patties at most other restaurants (certainly at most fast-food chains). Then, pile on a host of toppings, and suddenly you have a sandwich that any jaw would struggle to tackle comfortably.

Even the chain’s Old Fashioned Burger, which is the simplest of them all, makes a statement with its size. The charbroiled patty is joined by lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and mayonnaise, all squished between a sesame seed-studded brioche bun. It’s exactly what you would expect from an old-fashioned burger. It hits all those nostalgic notes, with savory beef and a crispy bun paired with pickle zest, tomato freshness, and plenty of onion pungency — man, those raw onion rings were applied thick.

There’s no denying it’s a quality burger, and you certainly won’t leave the table hungry. But next to all these turn-of-the-century burgers, it feels more dated than vintage. I hate to say it, but with humdrum mayonnaise as the only real condiment and just basic veggies, the flavor is a bit monotonous. It’s not dry by any means, but a tad bland. I’d label it as more of a gateway burger than the ultimate destination: great for picky eaters, but a snooze for a more adventurous palate.

Okay, I lied. This might actually be the simplest Cheesecake Factory burger — at least, in terms of toppings. It has those smash-style patties to give it some razzle dazzle and make it stand out from the crowd. And it really wants those patties to shine, so it doesn’t overcomplicate the other add-ons. Two slices of American cheese are thrown on, with a small pile of caramelized onions tucked at the bottom. From there, all that’s left is a bit of special sauce and pickle slices. Both come on the side in a DIY fashion. This is how the Factory serves many of its accompaniments, and I’m a big fan. That way you can add as much as you want, thus choosing your own burger adventure.

I like how this cheeseburger turns out, but I think it could do more. The smash patties didn’t turn out as crispy or as greasy as I was hoping for. I was waiting for those extra rich, savory notes from the Maillard reaction, and they never quite got there. For that reason, I actually think I prefer the chain’s standard pumped-up patties.

That said, the caramelized onions and special sauce (a creamy, pickle-y burger sauce) make this one more interesting than the Old Fashioned Burger. Just make sure to use every last drop of that sauce to really amp it up.

Oh là là. The traditional American burger gets a little French makeover. I actually thought this sandwich was the French Dip at first, given its long baguette-like bun. But mais non. I quickly realized there was nothing to dip it in (a vital part of a French dip), and it was the Bistro Burger instead.

On paper, it sounds like a winning recipe. A burger patty (shaped a bit differently here) is dressed up with caramelized onions, bacon, and arugula for a little pop of color. Plus, the toasted roll is slathered with garlic aioli on one side and housemade steak sauce on the other. There’s a lot happening here, and honestly, plenty of it is pretty good. The garlic aioli is creamy, the caramelized onions add some sweetness, and I actually really liked the bread. It’s soft but sturdy enough to hold everything together.

However, somewhere along the way, this sandwich lost a little of its je ne sais quoi. It feels like it’s building itself up to be a steak sandwich. Then, the ground beef and hard bacon crumbles throw it off. The steak sauce also leaned more barbecue than tangy and Worcestershire-based to me, giving it more of a Western identity than a Western European one. Fancy cheese would have helped. Something like melty Brie or Gruyère to make the French bistro concept click.

Did The Cheesecake Factory really need to create both an Old Fashioned Burger and a Classic Burger? No, but I’m glad it did. While the two burgers sound and even look similar, there are important differences that make the classic even better than its old school counterpart.

Let’s start with the patty itself. Just when I thought burger patties couldn’t get any bigger, this one shows up. It’s easily the thickest, juiciest, and, dare I say, the most flavorful of the bunch. The chain actually labels it a Chop House Hamburger, which suggests the use of more premium beef and more upscale toppings. I think that both could likely be true. On the toppings side of things, the slice of grilled onion gives it a more elevated feel. Actually, I think the idea here may have been borrowed from the hibachi onion volcano. Multiple layers of onion rings are thrown together on the grill before getting plopped right on top of the burger. You get a more complex, sweeter onion flavor than you’d get from raw onions, which works especially well with the cheddar cheese and classic fresh combo of lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

A garlic aioli also waits in the wings to be spread on the bun at your discretion. It’s creamy, savory, and alliaceous and trumps a basic mayonnaise any day, helping the burger taste both understated and well-done at the same time.

Toss a little bacon into the mix, and things start to look dicey for more traditional burgers like the Classic. But throw in a hearty supply of two completely different kinds of bacon, and it’s game over for simpler burgers. Yes, you heard me right. “Bacon-Bacon” isn’t just a clever moniker. It actually alludes to the fact that there are double the slices under this bun. You have two long strips of standard crispy bacon, which are tasty in their own right. Then you also have two short slices of thick-cut slow-roasted smoked bacon — aka the show-stopping slices. If bacon could be candied in a savory way, it would taste like this. It’s deliciously fatty, and it brings home the bacon for this burger.

The rest of the toppings are plentiful, though fairly average. There’s a respectable layer of both shredded cheddar and American cheese on top of the patty, and a pile of lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles sits on the plate waiting to be added on. As for condiments, some aioli is smeared on one bun, and Cheesecake Factory’s Secret Sauce sits on the other, though it just tasted like ketchup to me.

As far as chain restaurant bacon cheeseburgers go, this is about as good as you’re going to get. But I found other Factory burgers that were even more creative and appealing. This one is simply all about the bacon.

啊，正是我之前在找的肉汁 au jus。它裝在一個超可愛的小茶杯——那種你會想把它放進包包帶回家的小玩意（放心，我沒這麼做，但確實一度很想）。

除了這個迷你杯用於蘸醬外，我也很欣賞這款三明治是迄今為止最容易在公開場合吃得不會弄得一團糟的。 我也喜歡它如何相當自然地把芝士漢堡和法式浸牛肉三明治結合在一起。 材料本身相當直白：牛肉末煎至中等熟度，滿滿的融化奶酪，和焦糖化洋蔥。連鎖店還抹上了一點蒜味蛋黃醬（顯然它幾乎對每款漢堡都愛加這種醬），我甚至可以單吃那烤得香 buttery 的布里歐麵包。 你只要靠這款三明治，就能得到美味的鮮味與濃郁風味，而肉汁 au jus 會進一步放大這些風味。 它帶鹹香與牛肉肉汁般的風味——比某些餐廳提供的無味清湯要好得多。

唯一讓我感到有點突兀的是辣椒醬美乃滋。它讓這款三明治帶有一點亞洲風情，我認為其實並不需要，以及帶有辛辣刺激感，感覺有點格格不入。還是把它當作單純的安慰食品三明治比較好。這一步有點過頭，但總體而言，這仍然是個不錯的選擇。

如果汉堡阵容里没有烤味选项会怎么样呢？在几乎所有美式风格的连锁餐厅里，这都是一条传统，你几乎可以指望它成为菜单上最大、最乱的一份三明治。

Factory 的 Smokehouse B.B.Q. 汉堡正是如此。它是一款引人注目的起司汉堡，上面堆满切达起司、烟熏培根、生菜、BBQ 牧场酱和香脆洋葱条。连锁店对这一切毫不吝啬。洋葱条的数量几乎可以成一整份配菜，最棒的是它们提供了丰富的脆感与风味。裹粉时撒上的淡淡香料在面包外层带出咸香的烟熏味，配上洋葱的甜味。肉饼一如既往地出色，与那些培根和洋葱条一同咬下，你会获得一大把酥脆口感与油脂感。BBQ ranch 醬对我没有留下很深的印象，但幸运的是，旁边还附有一杯 BBQ 浓酱。其风味基本上偏甜，带有一些醋香，与这类厚重的三明治相得益彰。

它很合拍且符合主题，但吃下去会略显过量。 Factory 的其他汉堡在平衡 indulgens 方面做得更好一些。

好吧，我承認，美式 Cheesecake Factory 的 Americana Cheeseburger 與經典漢堡和老式漢堡有些相似。這三款就像漢堡的 déjà vu。但 Americana 的特定食材組合有某種特質，讓它成為典型的起司漢堡——只是多了濃郁的醬汁味。

你絕對不會再為起司而欠缺，因為一片美式奶酪和一片切達奶酪形成黏稠的凝塊，覆蓋在笨重的牛肉餅之上。然後，接著是必要的生菜、番茄和酸黃瓜組合。但醬料、焦糖洋蔥和馬鈴薯條使這款漢堡獨樹一格。是的，它們是馬鈴薯條，而非我原本以為的洋蔥條。它們有那種脆口與土豆香，使你感覺像把經典的漢堡與薯條結合在一口裡——大概是 Americana 最喜歡的部分。即便你本來想要洋蔥條，焦糖洋蔥的奶油香濃也能柔和那一擊。

在醬料方面，說明只披露了「秘密醬」，但我認為這裡使用了兩種不同的醬。上層麵包的口感像是酸甜、以酸黃瓜為主的醬，而下層麵包則更像基本的漢堡醬。不管它們究竟是什麼，它們都運作得很好，這也讓它成為我試吃過的最佳漢堡之一。如果你想要經典但不平凡，就選 Americana。

請跟著我走這條路。我知道所有喜歡吃肉的人像我一樣，可能會想直接跳過蔬食漢堡。不過我現在要告訴你，它值得你給它一個機會。當我到訪時，主廚甚至出來和我聊天，專門和我談這款漢堡。他說這其實是第三次迭代，連鎖店一直在努力把它做得恰到好處。現在看起來第三次版本似乎真的找到了訣竅。

該肉餅不一定要模仿肉味。相反，它由糙米、法羅穀粒、黑豆與香菇等製成，做成圓形。從遠看，它看起來就像普通的牛肉餅，但你品嚐時會感受到香料的絕妙混合，以及穀物與蔬菜的自然風味。實際上，我會說它比肉類更具風味，尤其在底下藏著一層焦糖洋蔥時。所有味道都非常新鮮，我也很喜歡上面搭配的融化白起司與酪梨片，增添豐富的奶香與綿密感。

生菜、番茄、洋蔥與酸黃瓜放在側邊，但收尾的是一點特殊漢堡醬——額外增添的風味讓這款漢堡成為我心中的高分選擇之一。

我學到過度起司的漢堡确實存在問題。像 Applebee’s 的 O-M-Cheese-adilla Burger 就教會了我這個道理。我也明白到，即使某些食材本身吃起來很美味，但不一定適合放在牛肉餅上。出於這些理由，我本來對 Macaroni and Cheese Cheeseburger 持謹慎態度。然而，不知為何，這款漢堡竟然全然可行。它是那種紙面上聽起來很荒唐，實際品嚐時卻出乎意料美味的漢堡。

起司通心麵部分是由一個煎炸的起司通心麵球完成，正好放在牛肉餅的正上方。這一部分是這款漢堡成功的關鍵。嚐一口時，就像咬到一個爆出濃稠起司與軟呼呼麵條的通心麵餅。麵衣在包覆著多汁的肉餅與額外的切達起司醬時，居然意外地保持了酥脆。它基本上不需要任何醬料，我甚至曾動過把生菜、番茄、酸黃瓜與洋蔥全部省略的念頭，讓牛肉與起司自己說話。

Macaroni and Cheese Cheeseburger 口感濃郁、鹹香，外層的酥脆感更是讓整體層次更加豐富。它剛好具備放縱感而不至於過度。十顆滿分，願意再吃一次。

我在美國俄亥俄州哥倫布市的 Cheesecake Factory 當地店，享用了一場由十款 Glamburgers 組成的盛宴——現行菜單上的全部漢堡，除去火雞漢堡。一至兩份會分次從連鎖店的現做廚房端出，讓我有充足時間逐一嚐試並同時做筆記。

每一款 Cheesecake Factory 的漢堡都相當龐大，你可以始終指望到厚實且質量上乘的牛肉餅。這在每一款漢堡上都保持著一致（當然 Veggie Burger 除外）。因此，排名其實取決於其他因素，如特定的配料、整體的連貫性，以及我個人的偏好。

即便是像 Classic 或 Old Fashioned 這樣較簡單的漢堡，在多數標準下仍然是美味之作。但像 Americana 或 Smokehouse B.B.Q. 這類選擇更勝一籌，因為它們引入了更高檔的裝飾，並在不過度的情況下，讓主題更加明確。它們提供了整體出色的風味，與肉餅和麵包互相輔映；最棒的漢堡還加入了某些質感元素，讓整體變得更有趣，例如 Veggie Burger 的脆薯條片或額外的牛油果奶油，讓口感更加豐富。你很難在 Factory 找到一個壞漢堡，但我確實知道自己心目中最華麗的 Glamburgers。