Picture it!

[Antisocial_Worker]

Go on, please do. Picture it. Picture it repeatedly, in fact. Do it over and over and over again, until the camera flashes are going off like fireflies in a field of summer night.

This was the situation my boyfriend and I found ourselves in when we accomplished a long-held goal of mine and ate at the Cheesecake Factory in Charlotte. For those of you who haven't been, this particular location of that chain restaurant is very large, very crowded, and because of that, very loud. Lots of tile and metal, just to make sure all those conversations keep bouncing from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor, and on and on and on. Also, it's very dim inside, to the point that you'll be holding the menu close to your face and squinting.

So, all in all, our meal wasn't off to a great start. The waitress couldn't hear us, we couldn't hear her, and we couldn't see the menu all that well. But, to judge from how loud everyone was, people there were basically in a fine mood.

To make matters worse for us, (and perhaps this could be considered a sighting of its own) the managers kept coming by to apologize for screwing up drink orders we hadn't made. That happened three separate times.

But what was worst was the fact that -- perhaps because the Cheesecake Factory is sort of a "special occasion" restaurant -- there were a LOT of people there enjoying special occasions. And they felt the need to document these occasions for posterity. So, there we were in a very dim, loud place, with camera flashes going off from every direction. One table of young women toward the end of our row (that's another thing -- the seating is a small step up from those enormous, long cafeteria tables you sat at as an elementary school student) was having a birthday party. Pictures were taken of this birthday party. A great many pictures... and a camera flash in a very dim restaurant goes a long way. All of a sudden I would see my boyfriend illuminated, and the light would spark off the glasses and silverware.

Then again, and again, and again. If you looked off toward the source of the flash, you'd see a shrieking burst of laughing teeth in the glow. It got the point that my boyfriend and I, and the people at the table beside us all turned toward the birthday girls and barked, "Would you STOP that?!" in unplanned unison. Kind of like the way you see happen in sitcoms.

But the birthday girls just laughed. Or rather, they ignored us and kept on laughing.

Then the waitstaff came round to sing the birthday song, because it just wouldn't be a birthday without a birthday song. Then, God help us all, a party in a booth not far away started taking pictures of each other, and the restaurant, and people in the restaurant, and people taking pictures of each other in the restaurant. That meant the majority of the flashes were coming from the other direction now.

Let me remind you though, that these were hardly the only two tables of people taking pictures of the inside of this special, special place on such a special, special day.

The manager came by to apologize for another drink that we hadn't ordered.

At that point, we finished our cheesecake and got the hell out of there. I really doubt that I'll be returning.

[Catwoman2965]

I'm not a fan either, although I do enjoy a nice slice of cheesecake every now and then. But I get mine to go, and come home and eat it in the comfort of my own home! The food is meh, the atmosphere as you described, and there are plenty of other places around that I'd rather eat at.

[Kheldarson]

I haven't been to the one in Charlotte (didn't even know Cheesecake Factory had restaurants until recently) but the one in Columbus, OH was amazing. Well lit, still mildly crowded, but the conversations weren't overwhelming. And the food was to die for. And I finally figured out a way that I like cheesecake. Or at least can stand it.

But sorry your experience was so horrendous, Lvl 9. But from experience, a lot of restaurants are like that in Charlotte >.< But my family really loves this German restaurant called the Waldhorn. Maybe you could go there whenever you next foray into Charlotte.

[firecat88]

Yeah, with Cheesecake Factory, the best thing to do is get the food to-go. Whenever we go to Denver and decide to get Cheesecake Factory, we call in the order from the hotel, and then my parents go pick it up. The only exception was when we were in Denver with some friends of ours because we were all going to see the same show (Riverdance), so we ate at the restaurant.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Odd, the occasions when I've gone to the Factory of Cheesecake for sit-down, it hasn't been that bad.

Now, my last two trips to get Curbside To Go weren't exactly fun, and prompted my folks to get it themselves.

My second-to-last CTG trip? For some reason, my cell phone could not actually go through. I'd call the number, and get a bunch of random beeping/static noises, and then a click and nothing. Call again, the same. Call again, nothing. I ended up going inside for the pick-up.

My last one? They answered, said someone would be right out, and then... nothing. I waited for TWENTY MINUTES before I got fed up and went inside. They had no record of my calling in.

Both of those trips were accompanied by hellish traffic and parking issues, which only made me angrier before the issues with the CTG response itself and prompted me to tell my folks, "I am NOT-- not not NOT-- going to go for pick-up for carry-out on Fridays EVER again."

[Gizmo]

ugh. Camera flashes!

In my early days of doing UK Sci Fi cons I ended up with migrane after migrane from the guest talks due to a constant barrage of camera flashes for the hour. Three talks later I was dead for the day and had to retire to the hotel room. Being very photosensitive and having a wider than usual peripheral vision I'd end up turning towards the flash before realising what it was.

What I don't get is why people have to take hundreds of photos of a meal in a restaurant? I've even seen a few take some of the empty table before they sat down... I can understand a few of the group at the end of the meal.

[Crossbow]

It's odd. I guess it all depends on where the restaurant is located. The one by me doesn't seem to have the same "special occasion" issue, or at least I've never noticed it. It's definitely dimly lit, but not hideously noisy, and I've never really been assaulted with flash blindness like you were.

I really do love the food there, and I can get two meals out of just about anything on the menu. The odd part is that I absolutely HATE cheesecake.

[BrenDAnn]

I have never understood dimly lit restaurants. Do they want us to bring our own flashlights in order to read the menus? Also, noise--I went to a local restaurant (non-chain) with my dad, sister, brother-in-law, and younger nephew recently, and WOW it was loud. I'm not sure why, either, other than maybe the tall ceilings and all made it that way. My nephew had to ask the waiter to repeat himself three times! The food was delicious, but the atmosphere (and limited menu) was enough to make me decide NOT to go back.

[fma_fanatic]

Our very first visit to the one near us gave us that impression too. You either have to be loaded or have an uber special occasion to go. They also make you guess as to where the heck you're supposed to get your name on the wait list. The obvious entrance isn't an entrance at all but a waiter station.

It was noisy too, and it was hard to read the menu. I'm not sure how they manage to get anything served correctly, but I think I'd only go back if someone treated me or if the husband were to get more gift cards (like we did the last time).

[RetailWorkhorse]

What I don't get is why people have to take hundreds of photos of a meal in a restaurant?

*Ducks head in mild shame and raises hand*

If it's something new, I take photos* and a whole LOT of notes (what it is, what I think is in it, how much it cost, where I got it and what time of day, what I personally think of it, what might be improved). I'm a MASSIVE FOODIE and want to start a Foodie Blog when I get the money to do it more than once a month.

...I even do it to food I cook myself, but only sometimes. Like when I cooked tuna steaks. Mmmmmm~.



*I use my cell phone and it has no flash. My phone takes surprisingly fabulous photos.

[Gizmo]

*I use my cell phone and it has no flash. My phone takes surprisingly fabulous photos.

You get a pass for that one. And your reasons I don't mind. At least you aren't bothering anyone else with camera flashes so its not irritating at all.

[Solumina]

The one nearest my mom is fantastic, it is a bit dim (but reading the menu isn't a problem thanks to the candles on the table) and isn't exactly cheap but I do love going there, the one nearest my current location unfortunately isn't quite as awesome, mainly due to the clientele acting much like those described in the OP.

[Shalom]

I have never understood dimly lit restaurants. Do they want us to bring our own flashlights in order to read the menus?

Larry Niven explained this in A Gift From Earth. According to him, when you look at something or someone that interests you, your pupils dilate slightly. People are supposedly hard-wired to notice this at the sub-conscious level, such that if someone looks at you and their pupils dilate, you feel better about being with that person (because they're interested in you), and you don't even realise it. Therefore restaurants and bars keep the lights down low, to cause involuntary dilation of the pupils (due to the low light), thus making their patrons feel good about being with each other, and therefore ordering more food/drink than they otherwise might have done.

Jester, you've been working in a bar long enough, can you confirm this, or is it as fictional as the rest of the novel?

Oh yeah, about flashes. I went to a wedding at Terrace On The Park once; the reception hall is mirrored, and the photographer had placed a huge-ass remote strobe near one corner (maybe there were two of them, I don't remember). Every damn time he shot a picture, that thing went off, and because of all the mirrors, no matter which direction I was looking I got it right in the eye. It got so where I wasn't even trying to look at the ceremony anymore, because it was like the Chinese water torture waiting for the strobe to fire again. Didn't help that since everyone went digital, they don't bother choosing their shots carefully anymore, they just shoot everything and figure they'll delete the nine tenths of the shots that they didn't need. Film is expensive, RAM is reusable...

[PepperElf]

Cameras
One of the most abused features on the everyday camera is the flash. I keep mine closed most of the time unless I really need it or I'm specifically using it for effect. often with a small filter to make the light look more diffused vs a giant spot light of hell.

Not to mention, when used indoors beyond a few feet it actually makes the photos come out darker.

Cheesecake Factory
My BF picked it because of TBBT. Unfortunately I don't think he's ever going to want to go back. And I don't think he believes me when I say the location in Buffalo is much nicer.

Dirty silverware (his), dirty table, short wait for the table but a long wait for food... to the point that I started wondering "If we leave do we need to pay for the meals, or just what we ate?" ... then his food showed up and mine was going to be a few more minutes, but it would be free cos they somehow lost or forgot it originally. (which kinda sucked cos *I* wasn't the one complaining about the silverware or table and kept saying "thank you" to the server for my drinks).

But food wasn't bad. prolly won't do that location again tho.

[Blade_Raver]

Note to self. When going to The Cheesecake Factory, bring a flashlight and a megaphone.