Saturday, May 25, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013

Cheesecake Factory in Center City?

CCRA hears plans for 15th and Walnut.

85 comments

Cheesecake Factory in Center City?

POSTED: Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 10:48 AM

Would a Cheesecake Factory in Center City be a good thing?
Yes! It will help prove that Philly is a tourists' destination.
No! It's another chain.

Center City could be a step closer to getting a Cheesecake Factory.

That decision is now in the hands of the Center City Residents' Association's zoning committee, which Tuesday night heard a redevelopment plan for the southeast corner of 15th and Walnut Streets.

The plan calls for the demolition of the strip of retail businesses along the east side of 15th Street from Walnut Street to Chancellor Street - previously a bank, hair salon, coffee shop, and restaurant - as well as two adjacent properties on Walnut Street. A new building, to have a green roof, would house the popular restaurant as well as retail.

Cheesecake's name came up in testimony, the first time its plans have been aired in public. It's been rumored for nearly a year.

The zoning committee's decision, due shortly, carries great impact with the city's Zoning Hearing Board, which would have to approve the plan before the wrecking ball arrives.

85 comments
Comments  (85)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:56 AM, 01/23/2013
    I am always amazed at Philadelphians. Everything and I mean everything is negative. The Cheesecake Factory is without question the best chain restaurant in the country. Why are people waiting for an hour to eat? Because the food is so good. This is absolutely a positive for the city and will be a huge attraction for tourists. No wonder the city has an image problem, it's residents see the bad in everything.
    syddan26
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:31 PM, 01/23/2013
    Maybe, but why limit yourself to chains? Suburbanites love Yelp: why don't they just pull out their smartphones and pick one of the eleventeen thousand fantastic independent restaurants we have in this city, instead of going to the same place they do every Friday night back in Overland Park, KS?
    Thad Lawrence
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:35 PM, 01/23/2013
    Don't get me wrong: from an economic standpoint, this is a good thing for the city. I just don't get it, that's all.
    Thad Lawrence
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:33 PM, 01/23/2013
    Actually, NO, this is NOT an economic good thing for the City.
    All it amounts to is more money being taken FROM the City by another hoard of carpetbaggers, to coin a term! Go to local places and keep the money at home!
    BEMiller
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:32 PM, 01/23/2013
    Flawed argument. You realize The Cheesecake Factory makes an average of $950/sq ft per day, right? Imagine the taxes.
    NT
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:05 PM, 01/23/2013
    Demo the shopping strip on Walnut and build a new one for Cheesecake!
    Aces high
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:06 PM, 01/23/2013
    "higher-end customers".......seriously? I am sure CC Residents will do the right thing here for themselves, local chefs, entrepreneurs, our architecture and our city.
    Earl J
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:17 PM, 01/23/2013
    I'm particularly amused by RandiRN who says she's never been to a Cheesecake Factory but knows how much the food costs and how it tastes, even down to the frosting they use on their cheesecakes. I like a variety of restaurants, some chains, some mom&pops. Some upscale, some casual. Overall, this would be good for the Center City district.
    jcsnj
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:49 PM, 01/23/2013
    i bet randi secretly stops at the Factory in cherry hill on her way home from work, scarfs down a whole peanut butter cheesecake in her car, then goes home to voorhees and bashes the place to her cats
    hannibal barca
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:22 PM, 01/23/2013
    Nooooooo !

    Been there three times and the food is average at best. It's like a glorified Applebee's. Granted, the cheesecake may be good (I don't eat cheesecake), but for their actual food, Philly can do a hell of a lot better than over-priced chain food.
    Bradley85
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:24 PM, 01/23/2013
    Hey - remember that almost all the people that post on here hardly 'represent' Philadelphians - just the few that take the time to spout something negative to make them feel better about their own tired miserable lives.
    mikmars1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:27 PM, 01/23/2013
    I am always amazed at Philadelphians. Everything and I mean everything is negative. The Cheesecake Factory is without question the best chain restaurant in the country. Why are people waiting for an hour to eat? Because the food is so good. This is absolutely a positive for the city and will be a huge attraction for tourists. No wonder the city has an image problem, it's residents see the bad in everything. —syddan26

    ---

    Or maybe it's because residents see the hypocrisy in things and people such as yourself. You say that the Cheesecake Factory is 'without question the best chain in the country.'

    a.) Unless you've been to every single chain restaurant in the country (you haven't) then you can't accurately make this statement.

    b.) It's still your opinion. Just because people don't like the food, especially people who know better (that is, people who know how great Philly restaurants are compared to this garbage), doesn't mean they're 'seeing the bad in everything.'

    Your post is more of an indictment on you and how you think than anything else. Stop seeing the bad in everyone.
    Bradley85
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:28 PM, 01/23/2013
    Hey - remember that almost all the people that post on here hardly 'represent' Philadelphians - just the few that take the time to spout something negative to make them feel better about their own tired miserable lives. —mikmars1

    ---

    Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.
    Bradley85
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:39 PM, 01/23/2013
    Grand Luxe is in Cherry Hill too, its Cheesecake Factory's higher end place. If you live in center city and go to cheesecake factory, you have issues. top places for great food in the country. Top chefs!
    fman727
  • Comment removed.


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About this blog
Michael Klein, the editor/producer of philly.com/Food, writes about the local restaurant scene in his Inquirer column "Table Talk." Have a question? Email it! See his Inquirer work here. Reach Michael at mklein@philly.com.

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