Claim Jumper

Rather than rehashing the sad corporate history of Claim Jumper, which was at one time a locally beloved, Irvine-based steak and rib chain with a reputation for big plates and incredible desserts, we’re only going to point out the very last thing that drew us into one of the eight remaining locations: the Motherlode Cake.

Motherlode is currently described by Claim Jumper as possessing “six decadent layers of chocolate cake and rich fudge icing, topped with walnuts,” along with a note that it was “featured on the Food Network as one of America’s top 5 most decadent desserts.” Entirely true: we have no idea how many calories one slice of that cake had, but it was likely the equivalent of five slices of standard chocolate cake, as the icing and cake were atypically dense, and the only real way to avoid taking some home in a box was to share a piece with others.