The Cheesecake Factory Is The Favorite Crappy Chain Restaurant

If you grew up in the suburbs of any major city like I did then your dining options were limited. It was either fast food, some local weirdo restaurants only frequented by old people, and the big chain restaurants out by the mall. You know the ones I'm talking about: Chili's, Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Red Lobster, etc. These establishments became even more crucial when you started dating. An evening at one of these places and then a movie was an acceptable date. How many times did you romance a girl, (or boy), over a basket of free breadsticks? But there was one place that was ALWAYS guaranteed to be a hit: The Cheesecake Factory. In a recent survey conducted by Nation’s Restaurant News, Cheesecake Factory came out on top. It's easy to see why. The reason I always liked going to The Cheesecake Factory on a date was not because I liked the food, (it was pretty mediocre). It was because it solved that age old problem, "What do you want to eat?"

Cheesecake Factory has every kind of major food category you could want. Salads, burgers, Asian, Mexican, pasta, you name it. It was a simple solution to a complex problem. Plus if you bought your date a raspberry iced tea it made you look more impressive. While I now live in New York City, one of the great culinary capitals of the world, I sometimes miss the simplicity of the limited choices of the suburbs. It made you appreciate what you had more.