The late 90's was a time of abundance for everyone. People were making millions in the stock market, all businesses were booming, and it was a hey day for the "theme" restaurant.
Anyone who knows me, knows I started my career in the restaurant business and did a 5 year stint at Jekyll and Hyde, in NYC, so I know a little bit about what I am talking about.
One of the first theme restaurants was The Hard Rock Cafe. Centered around Rock and Roll and with units throughout the world in tourist heavy areas. The Hard Rock is still going strong. One of the strongest players of the theme restaurant heyday was The Rainforest Cafe. The buzz around this place was insane. Sitting in a fake jungle with fake animals you could enjoy average food surrounded by other parents with screaming kids. Fun! Other theme restaurants of the time were The Motown Cafe, The Harley Davidson Cafe, Mars 2112, Jillian, Dave and Busters, WWF, ESPN Zone and Planet Hollywood. These places were 25000+ square foot properties with some type of additional entertainment. Whether it be games, or music, or bowling, hollywood memorabilia, or a trip to Mars, each restaurant had some form of additional
entertainment, but like the Rainforest Cafe, the food was usually average and never the primary focus. Today you can still see some of these restaurants but many of their properties have closed, and it begs the question.. Will people keep coming year after year when you are serving average food because you've got some added entertainment?
Enter the Cheesecake Factory. In the late 90's I would say the Cheesecake Factory was just like all the other mega-themed restaurants. It was huge, it was centered around Cheesecake, sure they didn't have entertainment, but it looked the same to me. We even used to go into Cheesecake Factory to see what they did differently, and who we could recruit from their staff. It seems obvious, but the big difference between Cheesecake Factory and all those others, is, they focus on the food, and not how they can wow their guests with a plastic elephant in the corner.
I was in a meeting at work once and after a 3 day long seminar on Customer Service on "What the Customer wants" I heard the leader of the seminar say, "When people call support, they want to be helped!" How mind shattering! Was he kidding me? but then I thought about my own career when I was younger and I realized sometimes my focus wasn't always on the basics either. When people go to a restaurant, they want to eat good food.
Lou and I went to the Cheesecake Factory last weekend at the Atrium in Chestnut Hill. This place is always hopping, and always has a wait, so when we saw two seats at the bar open, we snagged them.
Our bartender/server was Brian, and he was on top of the service. He greeted us right away and set out place settings. I love that they place a napkin down as a place mat when they know you are going to eat. They also have very comfortable chairs at the bar. Bars aren't always conducive to eating, but this one is.
I decided on the Luau Salad as my meal and Lou went for the Catfish special. The Luau Salad has an Asian inspired feel with julienne vegetables, and crispy wontons, macadamia nuts and sesame seeds topped with sliced chicken breast.The portions are always huge at the Cheesecake Factory, so if for some strange reason you haven't been there, keep that in mind when ordering.
The Catfish special came with a crispy pecan crust and mixed vegetables that similar to a hot corn salsa. 
Both our meals were excellent. I get the Luau Salad often when I visit the Cheesecake Factory, and it hit me while I was there. Out of all the mega restaurants, this place is always extremely consistent with the food. It's not easy to do when you've got 150 locations nationwide, and 8 in the Boston area alone. What is interesting about the Cheesecake Factory, is they had humble beginnings. Originally it was a Cheesecake business run by the Evelyn and Oscar Overton. Their son David is who turned the family business into a restaurant. Intuitively he knew what was most important, good, fresh food.
Lou and I finished our meal that night with a slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake. It is one of the Cheesecake Factory's newest flavors and it is a keeper.
I don't really like writing reviews on chain restaurants. I feel like most people have been to the majority of them. Especially when it is a place like Cheesecake Factory, but it is nice to know this place had humble beginnings and for the most part stay true to those in their service and food preparation.
Also I mentioned our bartender earlier in my review, Brian. I need to give this guy a shout out on the service. He was on top of it, pleasant, and was working the service bar the entire time. He also totally up-sold us on the delicious red velvet cheesecake.
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