Cheese cake factory

Food snob? No just uneducated &/or unwilling to learn or try new things.

There's gold to be found just about anywhere (except McD's)

Cheesecake Factory is one of those golden moments. I am a foodie. I cook some of the most elaborate dishes as my everyday eating. My son is a CIA trained chef and he said a lot of it was remedial for him when it came to the cooking part, not the restaurant running part.

Food is one of those things you don't mess with in my world and heaven forbid the restaurant, waiter, etc. that gets in my way when I'm hungry so unless I'm planning ahead to go to a special place I'm not willing to wait for my food either. But we wait at the Cheesecake factory, mostly for the cheesecake tho.

The Pappas chain of restaurants in Texas is another one of those that's worth the wait. They are into everything and with one or two notable exceptions, it will be some of the best food in the area. Huge portions tho. I'm not a fan of that. I want to try multiple things.

http://www.pappas.com/home/

ditchdigger wrote: I want to taste the flavors of your region

This line just struck me as hilarious.

I agree with the sentiment though, try new things and sample the local restaurants.

carguy123 wrote: Food snob? No just uneducated &/or unwilling to learn or try new things. There's gold to be found just about anywhere (except McD's) Cheesecake Factory is one of those golden moments. I am a foodie. I cook some of the most elaborate dishes as my everyday eating. My son is a CIA trained chef and he said a lot of it was remedial for him when it came to the cooking part, not the restaurant running part. Food is one of those things you don't mess with in my world and heaven forbid the restaurant, waiter, etc. that gets in my way when I'm hungry so unless I'm planning ahead to go to a special place I'm not willing to wait for my food either. But we wait at the Cheesecake factory, mostly for the cheesecake tho. The Pappas chain of restaurants in Texas is another one of those that's worth the wait. They are into everything and with one or two notable exceptions, it will be some of the best food in the area. Huge portions tho. I'm not a fan of that. I want to try multiple things. http://www.pappas.com/home/

I actually like the bacon habanero quarter pounder they have right now. It's not spectacular, but it's a lot better than their standard fare.

Speaking from experience: The Cheesecake Factory is awesome if:

1. You're 16, it's Prom night, and you're trying to get laid.

2. You've never eaten at a good restaurant (see above.)

3. You've never had really good Cheesecake.

Seriously. Are they "good" in the way that Crapplebees or whatever "E36 M3 on the walls" place is good? Sure. Are they good in a "Locally owned, non-chain, my life depends on how good my food is for the same price or less" good? Apples to apples (NOT saying every non-chain restaurant is good...most suck ass,) No.

YMMV. Even in our tiny hick/tourist town, we have indy restaurants that people BEG to go to when they come up.

I got a half-chub at "61 Main" in Jasper a couple weeks ago. One of the best meals/service I've had in YEARS!

^this

When my wife and I moved out of greater Vancouver, we went nuts trying to find good restaurants in our town.

Two years later, we know most of the good places. We tried a new Indian restaurant this afternoon, I hope they do well, the food is great.

Most of what is out here are the "Crap on the walls" family restaurants like Red Robin, Applebees, etc. Fake italian places like Olive Garden or "Breastaurants" like Milestones, Earls, Sammy J Peppers, Moxies, Browns Social House.

Breastaurants are the worst. Mediocre food, not much of it, a snobby atmosphere and high prices. They think having some tart with a boob job serving it to me makes up for the price.

Shawn

That said, Taco Mac is my berkeleying joint. They will go worldwide at somepoint (which reminds me...I need to buy some stock.) Rotating beer menu with hundreds of beers. Decent wings. Decent burgers. Good "Sports bar" type atmosphere, yet family-friendly before the time kids should be in bed anyway. Killer onion rings. Great service.

mndsm wrote:

carguy123 wrote: There's gold to be found just about anywhere (except McD's)

I actually like the bacon habanero quarter pounder they have right now. It's not spectacular, but it's a lot better than their standard fare.

If'n I want grease laden chopped cardboard I'll dig a few pieces out of the trash and make them myself. I'm not paying someone to poison me.

poopshovel wrote: That said, Taco Mac is my berkeleying joint. They will go worldwide at somepoint (which reminds me...I need to buy some stock.) Rotating beer menu with hundreds of beers. Decent wings. Decent burgers. Good "Sports bar" type atmosphere, yet family-friendly before the time kids should be in bed anyway. Killer onion rings. Great service.

I've tried to go to Taco Mac twice. The first time to the one in Chattanooga, everybody got too drunk to go out. The second was in Atlanta, the wait was an hour so we found a little sports bar up the road that happened to have a local sports talk radio station live on remote going on. That was a good time.

pretty much the only chain restaurants I frequent (not all that frequently at that) are steak houses .. mainly 'cause there aren't any Mom & Pop steak houses around here ...

In reply to carguy123:

I live about three miles from CIA so we are spoiled to have a lot of places in the area owned or staffed by grads and students. How the berkeley an Olive Garden stays open is beyond me. I am not a snob either but when I'm going to spend some money out I'd rather take a chance on some mom and pop. Not every meal is a great one but it's very rare that I come out of a diner and say I should have gone to TGI AppleTuesday.

Slippery wrote: Man, I'm hungry

Thinking the same damn thing.

I've only been to Cheesecake Factory a few times, and can't say I was particularly impressed, although I guess it's a bit better than most chains. It's the kind of place you end up if you're on business or going to a funeral or something in one of those cookie-cutter towns with nothing but chains (at least not readily apparent to out of towners). Some places really don't have much else to offer, like Sacramento, which I recently spent a few years in. Good independent ethnic food, especially Indian and Middle Eastern, and a few places that were trying to be a bit too hip, but otherwise just about everything was low-grade crap aside from a few expense account-grade places that catered to the politicians and lobbyists.

Now that I'm back in LA I wouldn't think of going to a Cheesecake Factory or anything else similar. One downside to this city is that there's a wait for everything worth eating, but at least it pays off, and you can get just about anything you could want. I have yet to find worthwhile Indian food in my area though.

Food websites (Yelp, urbanspoon, tripadvisor, etc) make separating the wheat from the chaff in an unfamiliar area much easier. It is actually the primary reason I switched to a smartphone.

ditchdigger wrote: , OR to Raleigh, NC When folks visit Eugene I make sure to take them someplace to get a unique experience, not the Red Robin/applebees/outback/whatever.

Let me know if you're going to be in town again, I'll tell you a few places to go and buy you a beer.

BTW if all you want is cheesecake, you don't have to wait in line.

They have the cheesecake by the front door. Just choose the 40 or 50 you like.

The diner at the Rugby club in town here makes some of the best burgers and chicken sandwiches I've ever had. Plywood floors, mismatched chairs and all.

I haven't been to a Cheesecake factory in well over 10 years (I don't even know if the one in Providence, RI is still in business, for that matter).

We tend to avoid chains, but the occasional Chili's trip happens (although it's been over a year since the last visit). We used to be regulars at Smokey Bones, but that was because we were friendly with the bartender. She left and we stopped going.

RI is a foodie paradise--too many great independent restaurants to bother with the chains much.