Originally Posted by BearX220
Another vote, or non-vote, for the Cheesecake Factory. Crap food, ridiculously huge portions, big tab. It's like an Applebee's on steroids.
One mark of a real cow town is when they open a Cheesecake Factory there, maybe to anchor some new urban mall, and there are immediate lines out the door, and the buzz around town is all about how cool the Cheesecake Factory is. Bunch of rubes.
P.F. Chang's at least has the ambience down. I think the spaces are well-designed and inviting (I've been in three or four of them, always dragged in by clients). So you think something nice is going to happen. Then the food comes and it's just bland, crap Chinese takeout arranged on a fu-fu plate and marked up 300%. Those stupid lettuce wraps look and taste like dog food.
Ruth's Chris, though, I've never had a bad night in... and at least one excellent one, in Toronto.
Particularly annoying is the people milling about in front of the Cheesecake Factory in Honolulu. With the construction at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, there is a bottleneck on the sidewalk!
Never been to P.F. Changs, but with Red Light and Ben Pao in Chicago, don't see a need.
I was at the Ruth's Chris in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and the filet was nothing less than outstanding. The prices are outrageous, however.
As to places like Charlie Trotter, one who doesn't have eclectic tastes is going to be disappointed. I mean, if sea otter and venison are being served and you can't stomach them, and you're not going to get enough of something you really like, you're not going to like CT or any similar place with a degustation menu.