Several years ago, Bernie Goldberg (the purveyor of this website) used to use a line in his writing and Fox News appearances that never quite landed with me. When describing the elites he used to work with in the mainstream media, he’d sometimes say:
These are the kinds of liberals who think ordinary people who fly the American flag are a little scary, and people who like to bowl a little dopey, and people who eat at Red Lobster more than a little unsophisticated.
I certainly understood the point he was making, and felt his remarks about the ‘American flag’ and ‘bowling’ illustrated it well. But not Red Lobster. To me, Red Lobster was elite dining. It was a place rich and fancy folks went to on a Friday night, and discussed the stock market — or maybe the purchase of a new car — while they cracked open shells and cut into thick steaks.
Part of that perception came from my upbringing. I grew up in a lower-middle class household, where my father worked construction at a brewery, and my mother was a substitute teacher. We very rarely dined out. When we did, and it was someplace fancier than McDonald’s (even Arby’s or Wendy’s), we’d put on our nice clothes.
But even as a college student, and later as a young professional, I considered Red Lobster fine-dining. Here in Greeley, Colorado, it was arguably the fanciest restaurant we had for over a decade — a place where limos dropped off decked-out students on prom night. Years later, after I started a family, there were a couple occasions when we ate at Red Lobster. But with the bill each time came sticker shock, and the thought of never coming back.
One of those times, my son, who was quite young, spit a Cheddar Bay Biscuit (aka a taste of Heaven) out of his mouth, because he’d shoved the whole thing in there at once. I recall comically thinking, “I wonder how much that just cost us.”
Anyway, you get the picture. Everything is relative, of course, but if I had been advising Bernie back then, I would have suggested him using Long John Silver’s rather than Red Lobster.
But that’s saltwater under the bridge, and I hadn’t thought about any of this for a number of years — not until just the other day, when former president Barack Obama made a joke at the expense of our current president, Donald Trump. The quip referenced another restaurant chain: The Cheesecake Factory.
During a campaign speech for Democratic candidates in Ohio, Obama, talking about Trump’s “renovations” at the White House, said:
What’s up with the gold? Everything, more gold. He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere.
Some on the political right exploded over the joke, including prominent pundits who are still carrying on about it days later. The nature of the offense they’ve taken, however, doesn’t make much sense to me.
None of them seem to care that Trump was compared to Saddam Hussein, a murderous, torturous, dictator. Also, no one’s defending Trump’s taste in decor, which the president is clearly very proud of, and has spent a lot of time expressing in his second term.
They’re instead defending the honor of… The Cheesecake Factory.
“Obama mocking Cheesecake Factory tells you everything about how out of touch political elites are,” said pundit, Clay Travis. “Growing up, eating there was a special occasion for my family, just as it is for millions of Americans today. Obama is telling on himself here.”
“Don't go after The Cheesecake Factory!” Fox News host, Greg Gutfeld, demanded of his liberal co-host, Jessica Tarlov. “A lot of us don't have a personal chef… The Cheesecake Factory is a tribute to America. It's literally a melting pot, Jessica, that's why you hate it.”
(Notably, Tarlov wasn’t “going after” the Cheesecake Factory, nor did she suggest she hated it. She, in fact, said she loved the restaurant. But Gutfeld didn’t want to stray from his pre-written table-notes, so that’s what viewers of The Five got from him).
CNN’s Scott Jennings complained that Obama “hasn’t eaten dinner that costs less than $250 in years. Has never been in a Cheesecake Factory. Undefeated at condescending to regular folks.”
“Clinging to my guns and religion at the Greensboro Cheesecake Factory tonight,” Mark Walker, a former Republican congressman, proudly posted online (with a picture of himself standing in front of the restaurant).
Steve Krakauer, executive producer of The Megyn Kelly Show, called Obama’s joke “elitist garbage.” He insisted that the Cheesecake Factory has “none of the gaudy Trump aesthetic,” and that the joke just felt good to Obama to say “because it represents flyover MAGA ‘night out.’”
Now, I must say that I’ve only eaten at the Cheesecake Factory once, and it was decades ago. So, my personal memories of its decor are pretty faint. But as others, including conservative columnist David French, recently pointed out (with photographic proof), the decor is indeed very gold and gaudy.
“Every loyal Cheesecake Factory customer (I’m one of them) thinks the decor is ludicrously over the top,” wrote French. “It’s part of the charm of the place.”
But it’s not the restaurant’s decor that makes the backlash to Obama’s joke so weird and disingenuous to me. It’s the suggestion that the Cheesecake Factory, of all places, is some kind of working class hangout that the rich snobs hold in contempt.
I mean, does anyone really believe that?
As someone who has long viewed Red Lobster as an upscale establishment, I think it clearly pales in comparison to the prestige and poshness of the Cheesecake Factory. The Cheesecake Factory is at a whole different level — fancier, flashier, and more expensive.
$20 for a very basic burger? $50 for a ribeye steak? Hey, to each their own, but I’m a simple guy who’d rather eat somewhere less swanky. The Cheesecake Factory will continue to do just fine without my business, of course. The restaurant has lots of fans, including very wealthy ones, like U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Kim Kardashian, and a number of Hollywood celebrities.
In other words, this is not the class-warfare battle some people want it to be. It’s just another excuse to be mad at the other side, and we already have plenty of those.
So, let me throw out a little proposal…
How about, unlike what we’ve done with sports, the church, and pretty much everything else, we avoid dragging restaurants through our political battleground? It was dumb when the Left went after Chick-fil-A over a gay-marriage stance. It was dumb when the Right went after Cracker Barrel over a logo change. And it’s dumb now with the Cheesecake Factory stuff.
How about, when it comes to restaurants and politics, we just shut up and eat?
I'd much rather eat at a "mom and pop" restaurant anytime.