 
Vintagesoul
Member
Username: Vintagesoul
Post Number: 27
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 12:59 pm: |    |
Danindc, you don't *need* a BMW, but it's nice, and offers a lot of safety and stability.
Same applies to brand name recognition. There's nothing wrong with wanting brand names. They build a solid foundation for those who like consistency. An important factor for bringing other business and outsiders to the city.
If someone sees our downtown and doesn't recognize anything, they might be frightened to try something new. If they see some names they know, they might go to the CF for lunch then stop into a local boutique afterwards to check it out... |
Civilprotectionunit4346
Member
Username: Civilprotectionunit4346
Post Number: 202
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 1:00 pm: | |
I ate at one out of state...Ive seen the CCF menus. I was annoyed with the fact that the contain ad's in it. I'd like to see the owners of Sticky Fingers restaurant bring a place here. When I was in Jacksonville FL I ate at the one there, very good ribs. |
Quozl
Member
Username: Quozl
Post Number: 893
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 1:24 pm: | |
If people in Metro Detroit want over priced food and huge portions, all they have to do is eat at Carl's Chop House. You can't get a relish tray, $3.00 Valet Parking and a seedy atmosphere with 1960's decor and 40 year old dust at The Cheesecock Factory! |
Jerome81
Member
Username: Jerome81
Post Number: 1559
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 2:05 pm: | |
Don't forget ESPN Zone! :p |
Civilprotectionunit4346
Member
Username: Civilprotectionunit4346
Post Number: 212
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:15 pm: | |
Hardrock cafe stinks. Overpriced food & real bad service. |
Rocket_city
Member
Username: Rocket_city
Post Number: 325
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:24 pm: | |
Oakland County is equal to Detroit to every place on planet Earth other than Detroit (metro) itself. Businesses don't open in Detroit (read Oakland County) because the movie 8 Mile says if they do, the only option for a location is next to the old, abandoned Detroit Hospital in Hamtramck. That's what Oakland County looks like, right? |
Drjeff
Member
Username: Drjeff
Post Number: 2
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:42 pm: | |
Quozl: you forgot the crusty waitstaff.
Actually I enjoy Carl's. The atmosphere doesn't exist anywhere else. I think the food is kind of over-priced but pretty tasty in an old school way. |
Japes
Member
Username: Japes
Post Number: 27
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:57 pm: | |
They were going to open a location at the Somerset Collection, Forbes Co. could not provide the required parking and they pulled out. |
Kslice
Member
Username: Kslice
Post Number: 99
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:00 pm: | |
Start your own Cheesecake factory man. Then you can write you own blurb and put it on the tables.
It can tell about how much better your cake is than anything in Seattle and how great detroit is! |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 4807
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:18 pm: | |
Sigh.... first everyone bitches that we don't need no stinking chains in downtown... and then they bitch when we don't get one... go figure!
If it's cheesecake you want... get a "The Cheesecake Shop" cheesecake. They can be found in any Mr. C's Deli on the east side & eastern burbs. They're yummy, and come in at least a dozen varieties, in whole or half sizes! |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2853
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:23 pm: | |
quote:Same applies to brand name recognition. There's nothing wrong with wanting brand names. They build a solid foundation for those who like consistency. An important factor for bringing other business and outsiders to the city.
And I'll say YET AGAIN--you can't make Detroit work for outsiders before you make it work for the people who live and work there. The whole premise of "luring" people is crap, and completely unsustainable. There are plenty of craptastic suburbs all across America if you want chain garbage. No one is going to visit downtown Detroit just to eat at a shitty chain restaurant, for the same reason you don't eat at TGI Fridays in Times Square. |
Tiberius
Member
Username: Tiberius
Post Number: 24
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:30 pm: | |
Best cheesecake in the City used to be Kathy's Cheesecake's on Mcnichols west of Southfield. Where did she go? |
Vintagesoul
Member
Username: Vintagesoul
Post Number: 29
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:47 pm: | |
"No one is going to visit downtown Detroit just to eat at a shitty chain restaurant, for the same reason you don't eat at TGI Fridays in Times Square."
If that's true, then why are they still open? If no one likes chain restaurants, then why do they manage to be so successful in so many DIFFERENT areas? I see them in suburbs, in downtown areas, in low income areas, in middle and high income areas
Just because YOU don't like chain restaurants doesn't mean it won't bring in business.
Also what's wrong with "luring" as you call it? I welcome people in from outside. How else would they find out that Detroit is such a great place to be? How else would they generate interest in the Loft spaces? Do you think that only the people who live here already are just moving around inside the city from place to place and no one needs to move from another city into Detroit? Do you think that the only people who should be catered to are the people who live down here already?? That's very single-minded. You have to cater to both.
You have to cater to both outsiders AND those who already live here.
Both would benefit from Chain restaurants, chain grocers, chain drug stores. Since there's already a chain drug store do you hate it? Do you think they should tear down the CVS and put something else in? Do you think it's "shitty" like Fridays?
I think it's a bit of a fantasy to think that you can populate the entire downtown area with names no one knows and this will somehow benefit the people who live down there and who gives a crap about bringing anyone in from outside Detroit, right?
There is no future in that kind of attitude. |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2855
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 5:08 pm: | |
quote:If that's true, then why are they still open?
Idiot tourists from the Midwest who are afraid of anything not plasticized and overmarketed. These are the same folks who eat at Ruby Tuesday at the Pentagon City mall when they visit DC.
And yeah--CVS pretty much sucks too.
Build your fricking theme park in Oakland County somewhere, would ya? Some people would like to see Detroit make a comeback. |
Quozl
Member
Username: Quozl
Post Number: 895
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 5:22 pm: | |
quote:And yeah--CVS pretty much sucks too.
CVS may suck Dan, the Zenoba Turkish Pistashios they sell are fantastic! |
Raptor56
Member
Username: Raptor56
Post Number: 16
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 5:37 pm: | |
All this talk about the pros and cons of Cheesecake Factory and big restaurant chains. Let's start small and get the venerable Waffle House to move north of Toledo! I can't get enough of their All-Star Special when I'm down south on business. The Norcross, GA facility is particularly top notch... |
Civilprotectionunit4346
Member
Username: Civilprotectionunit4346
Post Number: 227
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 5:44 pm: | |
LOL Waffle house....woah that's a sh--hole of a place. Im never eating there again..... |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2856
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 6:03 pm: | |
Raptor, you're not allowed to have Waffle House up there. You're north of the IHOP/Waffle House Line! |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 4811
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 6:05 pm: | |
Danindc... I'm sure that there's enough idiots LIVING in DC to fill the place...
(Message edited by Gistok on July 12, 2007) |
Young_detroiter
Member
Username: Young_detroiter
Post Number: 212
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 5:23 pm: | |
They're waiting until even more pounds drop.
They have no desire to contribute to Detroit's "fattest city" rankings. |
Yooperindetroit
Member
Username: Yooperindetroit
Post Number: 8
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 5:38 pm: | |
Wow...a simple question, one which was never answered, generated topics from hating Michigan/Detroit, Social Status inequities and other chains not locating in Michigan. Who would have thought a simple question about a Detroit originated topic would have generated so much...;-) |
Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 3415
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 5:49 pm: | |
So, do yoopers in Detroit watch the Pack or just sit out for the season--for lack of a team? People keep saying I sound like a yooper, so I reckon that yoopers sound like us from Wisconsin. |
Quickdrawmcgraw
Member
Username: Quickdrawmcgraw
Post Number: 98
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 4:54 pm: | |
& because we rely on convention business, some people do like chain restaurants when they go 2 different cities because it is familiar. it's nice 2 have a variety.
now when visiting downtown indy, there were a lot of chain restaurants and a few independents. but when comparing downtowns, i have to admit it's a bit unfair. |
Drankin21
Member
Username: Drankin21
Post Number: 103
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 7:45 pm: | |
"They don't like you."
Well then, screw 'em |
Urbanize
Member
Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1722
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 7:48 pm: | |
"And yeah--CVS pretty much sucks too."
I like CVS better than the crappy Drug Chains we have. Walgreens locations around Metro Detroit are crappy and junky and Rite-Aid just doesn't have any type of variety or organization |
Ray
Member
Username: Ray
Post Number: 938
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2007 - 12:28 am: | |
At least Michigan has a PF Changs. |
Hybridy
Member
Username: Hybridy
Post Number: 115
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 9:21 pm: | |
cheesecake factory in the book???
i made a joke of that being a choice for an "upscale" dining establishment, but was not serious in the least.
IF, cheesecake ever came to the metro area it would be on hall road near the new patridge creek "lifestyle" center.
we all know it...lol |
Philm
Member
Username: Philm
Post Number: 31
Registered: 03-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 11:57 am: | |
I encourage you to read some of Mr. Overton's ideas in various articles written about him. It's all about making fake food and serving it in large quantities at inflated prices.
As for me, I'll take the real thing. I wouldn't go near that place again, let alone wait the 45 minutes it takes to get a table. |
Wolverine
Member
Username: Wolverine
Post Number: 351
Registered: 04-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 12:16 pm: | |
While the cheesecake is excellent, the food is overrated.
Besides, you can buy their cheesecake in several areas across the metro. I know a couple of Ann Arbor restaurants that carry Cheesecake factory desserts...Za's Italian Eatery being one of them. |
Gingellgirl
Member
Username: Gingellgirl
Post Number: 25
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 12:40 pm: | |
I like pie. |
Rooms222
Member
Username: Rooms222
Post Number: 16
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 3:36 pm: | |
Much as George W. seems to have been shaped by his childhood in Midland TX, the Founder of the Cheesecake Factory must have been shaped by his childhood in Detroit. Perhaps making all those cheesecakes in his parent's store brings back a sense of dread. Perhaps the social and racial turmoil of the day puts a knot in his stomach, even today.
Why do I say this? I reviewed the list of Cheesecake Factory locations and compared it with the 50 Largest MSAs (Metro Areas) in the US to see which ones don't have a Cheesecake Factory. Detroit is the number 10 MSA. It is also by far the largest MSA to not have a restaurant. The next largest is #41 Memphis TN. The Next largest is #43 New Orleans LA. Perhaps he does not like areas with largely black urban cores. Perhaps Detroit is just a special case. As the founder, he holds a lot of power over the company, Detroit not having a Cheesecake Factory certainly looks like the influence of the founder vetoing Detroit!!! |
Iheartthed
Member
Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 1189
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 4:31 pm: | |
^That's hilarious, yet intriguing. |
Flyingj
Member
Username: Flyingj
Post Number: 17
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 - 3:03 pm: | |
Civilprotectionunit4346-you should go to a Waffle House in Georgia-that's where they're out of & a GA-born food service employee says you'll never get a bad meal at a WH there("Huddle House" she was unwilling to vouch for). The same is said about Popeye's in Louisiana-the locals insist it is a completely different experience dining at locations in the state than outside of it. Which leads me to...
Rooms222, you're mistaken on the lack of Cheesecake Factories in N.O.-the reason the Cheesecake Factory isn't in Crescent City is because Al Copeland, the billionaire owner of the (once bankrupt) Popeye's Chicken took the concept a few years ago & opened "Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro"
http://www.copelandscheesecake bistro.com/
I was there the week it opened & here you are in one of America's greatest foodie cities & ALL the locals could talk about was this Cheesecake Factory knock-off. It was hilarious. He's since opened more in Atlanta & Virginia he's gotta be thinkin' Detroit
I can only think, given their background, CF isn't in the D for personal reasons-their stock doesn't do great but there is ALWAYS a long line |
Gdub
Member
Username: Gdub
Post Number: 1129
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 - 7:27 pm: | |
There's a Cheesecake Factory in Chicago, and it's on the garden level of the Hancock Building. The reason for that location has to be that the only people who go there are tourists. No one who lives in Chicago ever goes there, and most probably don't know it exists. There are so many great restaurant choices in Detroit already, I'm not sure why anyone would think of the CF as some sort of holy grail. |
Rooms222
Member
Username: Rooms222
Post Number: 17
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 - 8:32 pm: | |
That's cool about New Orleans....I remember when both Popeye's and Church's were part of "Al Copeland Enterprises." His Cheesecake restaurant has to be added to my list of restaurants to visit along with Casa Bonita in Colorado. I didn't know about that remnant from a chain until I saw it on South Park.
Looked up Memphis and Cheesecake Factory. There is supposed to be a lifestyle mall with both a Super Target and a Cheesecake Factory, but it was just a proposal as of mid-2006. An article in the Memphis Business Journal said:
Barton notes that he often hears people wishing that the Cheesecake Factory would open a location here, but he doubts that will happen anytime soon, if at all.
He says that the company's properties typically generate $12 million in sales in a year, and that no restaurant in Memphis does that kind of business.
This fact, coupled with the company's strategy of opening very few locations a year, puts Memphis off or barely on the radar screen.
(Message edited by rooms222 on July 20, 2007) |
Scottr
Member
Username: Scottr
Post Number: 624
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 - 11:02 pm: | |
My brother was visiting this week from Syracuse, NY. He made the comment that people there seem to be obsessed with getting a Cheesecake Factory, as if it is the single most important thing for any city to have.
I couldn't help but laughing, and thinking of this thread and the countless other mentions it has gotten here. |
Yooperindetroit
Member
Username: Yooperindetroit
Post Number: 9
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 - 11:18 pm: | |
While I am not extolling the virtues of the Cheesecake Factory menu or how everyone's experience has been (good or bad), the point is we don't have one and regardless what the feelings are on the chain, they have a profound impact on the local economy and EVERYTIME I have gone, whether in Seattle, Providence RI or Chicago, there is a huge wait to get a table. The last time I checked, people didn't wait an hour or longer for the food/dessert/experience which was marginal at best. We can argue both sides of the Cheesecake Factory impact, but downtown Detroit needs something like this (with national exposure and prominance) to lure people down there. The vacant store fronts can only do so much to draw a crowd and keep it downtown. Thanks for making this tread interesting!
(Message edited by yooperindetroit on July 20, 2007) |
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