Cheesecake Factory makes perfect sense if you understand Los Angeles. It's a restaurant trying to be San Simeon, also known as the Hearst Castle, also a giant ostentatious display of wealth and cultural raiding assembled by a rich dude who liked display and gave no fucks what any "designer" thought. It's a reference to a culture that simply doesn't predate 1920 but must pay lip service to antiquity for the sake of cultural relevance. It's a manifestation of a restaurant industry where leftover Egyptian setpieces are common, where six-foot-rule wealth can be bought by the ton and where the shorthand for "culture" is whatever can be assembled by the Art Department in 48 hours no OT.

The "advertisements in the menus" thing originated with Canter's, if I'm not mistaken, and metastasized to Hamburger Hamlet and, therefore Red Robin where it became commonplace. Denny's has been doing it for 30 years if not more.

I've eaten at Rock Sugar. It's a PF Chang's that's trying too hard. that is Cheesecake Factory in a nutshell - it's experiential dining for people who celebrate anniversaries at Red Lobster.