After watching Harry Potter, birthday dinners were combined under one roof and off we headed to The Cheesecake Factory. They just opened another one at Valley Fair to offset the grand opening of Santana Row. It's comparable to the one in the city with the exception of the floors of Macy*s below the restaurant and the many couches on the 8th floor. This new one's down to the ground and separate from the mall, though it is right next to Macy*s.

I really don't understand how this place stays in business. First, the wait is terrible. Our party of 7 arrived when Jose Cortez missed that 41-yard field goal that would've won the game. That was at 4:30. We got seated during the 2nd quarter of the Raiders game. 6:35.

Then it's too noisy. You've got many people in a small space and bad music playing over the speakers. Oh yeah, it's too small. If they made it a little bigger, we wouldn't be waiting for 2 hours.

Once you finally get seated, you're handed a big menu. It's a book! Too many things to choose from, but not too descriptive. It's a place that seems to pride itself on presentation and yet the menu doesn't have pictures?

Wait, wait, wait. We wait for the food to arrive. Once it does, it's all jumbo-sized. I mean, who really wants a mutated piece of roasted chicken? Probably bigger than even a whole roasted one at Costco? Everyone will have to ask for boxes because there is no way people can finish the whole thing.

Yet, when people leave, they'll remember the big menu with its many choices and the good cheesecake for dessert, people will say, hey, let's go here again. And so the cycle begins again and I guess that's how this place stays in business.

So, the question remains...anyone want to go to the Cheesecake Factory?