Calico Cheesecake Company

BEST CHEESECAKE EVER!!! The people were so nice! I am SO sad they are gone :(Wah

I MISS YOUR CHEESECAKE JOE!!!
And the Rueben that I never got to try!
:’(sniff sniff

Sad to say that Calico Cheesecake Company is Closed! THEY HAD THE BEST CHEESECAKE EVARRR! =/
Having a bite of their Vanilla Bean Brulee Cheesecake was Heaven…
The Owner was really great at what he did… They didn’t invent the Cheesecake, they just perfected it…

So sad that they’ve gone out of business :(This place was truly lovely.

Now it makes sense…
I’ve been trying to taste their grub, but everytime I have rolled on by… no lights on, no one home — which means no grubbin reviews by me!
Thanks for posting this business is closed. Great location, too bad the hours sucked.

I WAS a big fan! I went here with Guy N. a few weeks ago (you can read his review about the food we enjoyed) and we were looking forward to treating a friend for breakfast this morning as a Thank you! for picking us up at the airport on Friday night. Sadly, we drove up to find that the doors had closed permanently! It’s really terrible to loose such a great restaurant option in our little downtown area of Renton… AND I was really looking forward to the Tri Tip Dip
Bye bye Tri Tip Dip :(

UPDATE November 8, 2009: Headed here for brunch this Sunday morning only to find a note on their glass (uploaded) saying they’ve gone out of business.
My girlfriend and I stopped by Café Lure for lunch. I ordered the caesar salad with grilled chicken which they serve with a very tasty homemade caesar salad dressing. She ordered the tri tip dip sandwich which had a killer combo of caramelized onions, gruyère cheese, and au jus sauce. Both dishes were excellent. We topped it all off with a couple of cheesecake selections, pumpkin and vanilla crème brûlée. As already noted in other reviews, their cheesecakes are not the traditional dense, cream cheesy kind you might get at a New York deli, but more like a thick mousse. Nevertheless, they were quite good.
We will definitely be coming back, especially to the Tapestry Saloon which stays open later and apparently makes the full menu available until they close.

All the low ratings mist be cheesecake snobs. I don’t really care if it’s traditional cheesecake or not, but this stuff is the best stuff I’ve ever put in my mouth. The dark chocolate raspberry exploded with flavor and I foun the texture to be perfect. The bonus is you can order a slice from the saloon next door while you sip on a wonderful beer.
P. S. If you go to cheesecake factory over this place you not only lack taste but also soul

So, being someone that LOVES cheesecake I was dying to try this place when they opened a larger shop on 3^rd. I walked into the café type store where I was greeted by a very knowlegable staff member. I purchased the plain cheesecake. When it got to my table, it was warm, gooey, and not cheesecake-​like.
I shared it with my tablemates who agreed. If you want good cheesecake that never fails, try Cheesecake Factory. Pumpkin Cheesecake in the Oct-​Dec months is excellent!

If you like cheesecake, you’ll find this to be YUMMY stuff!
If you don’t, well, what can I say. The name of the place sort of told you what to expect.
Try the Almond Roca cheesecake — it is the one everyone at the table will be fighting for a bite of.

There has been no customer service training for the young lady behind the counter. The ‘cheesecake’ is more of a mousse, and come in complicated combinations. There are no labels in the case, and asking the young lady anything about the flavors is painful. The banana /​rum /​coconut was good, but the fudge /​Kahlua /​espresso had too much espresso in the crust for me (and I like my espresso strong).
I came across this shop by accident and didn’t realize that that the seating area through the door was a café. I would go back to try the café food and try ordering the cheesecake from there.

First of all, I hope the young lady that was behind the cheesecake counter was new — she had no idea what she was doing! When I asked about «something to drink» (as in, what are the choices) she suggested that I talk to someone in the attached bar. I was looking for coffee or water or soda or milk or SOMETHING — and as a pretty-​obviously pregnant woman, the bar’s offerings weren’t helpful. I could see the coffee and tea service set-​up behind the cheesecake bar but apparently you have to know some special way to get her to tell you what it all is!
When we visited, the place was completely empty. The owner and one of the bartenders were in the bar — and happy to help once they realized we were looking for somewhere to sit and needed something other than cheesecake to drink. The owner even stopped by halfway through our slices to ask how the cheesecakes were.
Don’t expect traditional cheesecake here. I’ve had some fabulous New York Style cheesecakes and some fabulous Old-​World style savory cheesecakes — these are neither of those. The sweet offerings provided here are cheesecake-​like desserts. I wouldn’t say there is a better term for what these are, but don’t expect traditional cheesecake of any variety.
The chocolate hazelnut was tasty — if almost overwhelming. The crème brûlée cheesecake was a more traditional texture and weight — with a pretty pleasing flavor and a fabulous crust.
I’d definitely visit again — hopefully I can find out what I can have to drink between now and then.

Wow…
One word says it all. I’ve NEVER had cheesecake quite like this! I stopped in for dessert with my friend on a Friday evening and it was the BEST dessert choice!!! We would absolutely make the trip back to Renton for this. The chocolate hazelnut cheesecake was super moist, fresh, and DELICIOUS! You MUST go here!!! You won’t be disappointed!

I ordered their Orange Crème Brule cheesecake for Easter by email. Couldn’t be easier. Best cheesecake I’ve ever had — hands down.
The front counter clerk could use some training on how to greet and interact with customers though, so they lost a star. Sorry, but that’s how it works for me.
$ 40 for a whole cheesecake is an OK price for the quality. Because their cheesecake was such a hit and everyone enjoyed it so much, I’ll order again. Next time I’ll wear my thicker skin when I pick up my order so I don’t notice that the whole transaction is essentially nonverbal.

Calico Cheesecake has moved and is now around the corner on S. 3^rd Street and Main in old town Renton. They added Café Lure and the Tapestry Saloon. We have tried to eat her three times since they opened in Nov of 08, but they were always closed or had private event or just looked closed.
Finally, we went in to the Tapestry for happy hour. The beers were good and only $ 3. The food is excellent; we had the clams and the antipasto platter.
I’m not sure what the cheesecakes like now, but I’ve had it twice before and it’s okay. To be fair I should try it again and then decide, but the food is a WOW!
I read they were now open for Breakfast on Sat & Sun — I’ll be trying that next!
ISSUE: They need to look open and be open.

I remember driving by this place one afternoon and decided to give it a try after dinner one evening with my family and let me tell you, it’s not that great! Personally I was quite intrigued by the layout of the business, on one end there is the cheesecake shop then in the middle is the café, with a saloon at the end! What a great combination! However like I said I just thought their cheesecakes were nothing out of the ordinary.
We ordered the mini sampler and the andes mint cheesecake. The mini sampler consist of lemon meringue, mango raspberry, and some sort of chocolate one. We thought the lemon was too sour, mango was ok, and the chocolate shell was too firm and smoosh cheesecake. Personally I’d feel more content getting a cheesecake at Safeway rather than here.

Calico is a true gem in the heart of Renton’s growing downtown area. The cake itself is delicious — usually there are some normal-​ish flavors which are great, but the true hero’s are flavors with mulled-​wine-​poached-​pears.
The owner/​chef almost shines brighter than what he is selling. He’s cute (so that is a plus) and he goes out of his way to make you feel right at home. He’s always there with extra water, an offer of coffee/​tea, and some warm chatter to make the experience really special.
I should also note, that many Renton restaurant’s and caterers are using Calico as their dessert specialists. I think that the storefront is more of an «on the side» thing — but don’t let that dissuade you — Calico is a delicious and worthwhile experience!

Calico’s cheesecakes are outstanding. There’s a variety of interesting flavors, and some more boring ones if you’re into that kind of thing. We chose raspberry/​chocolate for our first slice. When we had a hard time deciding among key lime, mango raspberry, or I can’t-remember-what-else for the second slice, he offered us the chance to try a new creation, on the house. That one included a lightly almond base with sherry-​poached pears and a sherry reduction. It was delicious.
The proprietor is friendly, generous and funny. I’d go back just to talk food with him. The shop is cute and well-​decorated, though the covers on the fluorescent lights don’t hide their fluorescence quite enough. It’s not quite dim and dusky enough for a date with somebody you’d like to seduce. If you want to seduce someone using Calico cheesecakes, take them, and your date, back to your place.

Five stars for the cheesecakes, and three stars for the ambience (that is, if you’re looking for a post-​dinner dessert spot). I guess I expected a little more, but the shop really is a pick-​up spot rather than a dessert café. There are some bar stools along the wall and some comfy seating for about 4 – 5 people. But the store doesn’t really have an inviting atmosphere, so we just took our cheesecakes to go.
We tried the Almond Roca and Black Razberry cheesecakes… loved them both, although Almond Roca was a little too sweet for me. I was tempted to get the white chocolate slice, but at $ 5 a slice, we limited ourselves to one each. For those of you who have the Entertainment book, there’s a coupon in there!

This is a sweet little dessert shop in downtown Renton, perfect for an after-​dinner stop post Whistle Stop Café or Armondo’s. I’ve tried the Mango Raspberry, the Tiramisu, and the Oregon Chai (ingenious!) and found them all to be quite good, though $ 5/​slice was a little more than I was expecting. Still, I found it to be fair after tasting the product.
The hours make it difficult for me to visit, but I try to stop in on occasion just to see what new and exciting cheesecakes he’s come up with.