Cheesecake Factory is the place where there’s like 2 or 3 different types of bread in the bread basket, right?
I’d totally go for an abattoir! I imagine it’d be like some American version of a churrascaria.
Depends on who’s rating it. Some brits seem to almost frenzy at the idea of a Cheesecake Factory, and never really realise they know the name from The Big Bang Theory, one of the cleverest product placements in a TV show.
I’ve also known people who NEED to visit Dennys, in places like Vegas. I ask if they were Married With Children fans… Seems the only valid reason, and as far as I remember, MWC was more slating them than advertising them.
Personally, the four or five places I’ve seen one, we ate somewhere else locally. If they’re the only real option over a local local restaurant. Initially I’d never heard of them in Vegas, but I was put off by the long queue, so confirmary evidence there. I didn’t look closely in SF, Denver or San Diego.
But if they opened one in the UK, there would probably be a riot on the first day.
We went a couple of times several years ago. There has long been one at the mall >10 min from our home. Seems to always be crowded.
We do not go there for 2 reasons mentioned above:
-The room is incredibly loud. I’ve heard that some restaurants intentionally make their spaces noisy, as it is supposed to result in higher spending. Not from my wife and me.
-Also, the menu is full of very tasty offerings which are (in our opinions) extremely unhealthy - both in terms of ingredients and size. We find it easier to simply choose a different restaurant (or cook at home), than to try to figure the least unhealthy selections, and then bring at least half of it home. The food section in our local paper occasionally has articles listing some of the most unhealthy restaurant dishes. Something from TCF ALWAYS makes the list.
The calorie counts at CF are high because the portions are very large - I always take half of it home in a takeout container. I don’t consider that a bad thing. But they also have a reasonably extensive “lite” menu which includes lower-cal versions of some of their regular items, and they’re not bad.
The actual cheesecake slices are large enough to share 2 or 3 ways, and they’re very good. If you knew the calorie counts at all the places you dine at, they’d also have alarming options. Or did you think desserts at other restaurants don’t have calories? CF has other dessert options. You can get a bowl of ice cream if that’s all you want.
I find it laughable that CF gets put down for serving large portions (at pretty reasonable prices considering). Nobody’s forcing you to cram it all down your throat.
The noise is a problem, but it’s a problem pretty much any large restaurant I go to.
The bead baskets have warm sourdough bread and brown bread, with butter.
I’m still struggling with the idea of going to a chain restaurant in Waikiki.
I’m always surprised to see a McDonalds and a KFC when we drive around Sint Maarten. My gf always reminds me that there are people living on the island, working minimum wage jobs, who don’t want to or can’t spend a couple hundred dollars on a meal.
The one we live in is on the fancier side inside (it has the Egyptian motif with the eye of Sauron light fixtures).
I really don’t like most of the food there, almost everything they offer has a better version at some other chain. We go there a few times a year and I get their club sandwich. It is constantly packed and rarely under a 15 minute wait even on slow days.
Nice place to go if you want some atmosphere and don’t want to spend a lot of money.
I’d laugh off a menu being too big, but I’ve been to China. We visited multiple restaurants that had literal BOOKS as menus. I couldn’t believe any one place could make such an insane variety of food. We fended for ourselves a few times (and did rather well, for not speaking a word of the local language), but had a guide in Beijing who did most of the ordering for us without even having to glance at the menu. But holy shit, I’m not exaggerating about those menus. They were enormous.
After finding McDonald’s, KFCs and Dairy Queens in Shanghai, I am no longer surprised to see them virtually anywhere.
Those are expensive compared to Chinese street food, though, whereas I think kayaker was pointing out that they’re low-cost options in other places.
I do think their large menu contributes to the wait. With such a large menu, it’s a popular place for groups because there’s something for even the pickiest eater. Plus, many of their restaurants are in tourist areas as well to help contribute to the crowds. For example, there’s just not much in the immediate area around the one in Chicago. There’s some fairly nice dining and some fast casual. But Cheesecake Factory will meet the needs of tourists staying at a nearby hotel.
The empty tables but having to wait is a particularly sore spot of mine having worked in restaurants. Yes, there are tables open but the restaurant host can’t conjure up servers with a magic wand. I know it’s easy to believe a conspiracy exists to make you spend money at the bar or show how cool the restaurant is by making you wait, but that’s almost never the case. Servers are only human and staffing restaurants in a tip based culture is an art, not a science. Having 5 extra servers sitting around just in case means they’re making $2 an hour or whatever.
As far as the food, it’s fine. When I lived in Arizona, my ex bf and I would often see a movie around 6 or 7 and then pop over to the Cheesecake Factory across the street for a late dinner. We already knew ahead of time that we’d have lunch leftovers for the next day.
Cheesecake Factory is definitely better than more common major chain restaurants (Chili’s, Applebee’s, Olive Garden), but you definitely need to remember to pack a cooler for all the leftovers. The local one has the typical Egyptian/deco theme; it’s always loud, but so is any crowded restaurant (to me, anyway). The addition of ads to the menu was a cheap and tacky move, but there are still more than enough options…I guess they have to pay for all of those supplies somehow.
I find the menu pretentious, but it’s a good place to take your Mom
We LOVE the place, they make stuff far beyond our capabilities. $8 a slice for cheesecake is a lot, but I can’t ever resist taking a piece out of the case - to go. If my mom was still alive she would be in heaven.
This reminds me of one of my favorite throwaway gags on The Simpsons: a reference to a restaurant called “The Texas Cheesecake Depository.”
Do you have the same meaning for pretentious as the rest of us do? It looks like a bunch of Sysco stuff to me (I say that having never eaten there).
Pretentious as in overwrought, all those pages, just put in all on one large sheet or condense into a 4 page menu.
Yes, and it’s quite good. There was a dark bread that was really tasty, but I don’t know what kind it was. I’m not much of a bread connoisseur.
I guess it’s all relative. That’s dirt cheap for Hawaii.
As for long waits, the Factory was packed with no empty tables. There was a pretty large crowd waiting to get inside, but it took us only ten minutes to get our table.
It’s been a long time since I ate at a CF but I liked it. But the nearest one to me is about seventy miles away, more’s the pity.