"Cheesecake Factory" news and stories

Our new monthly installment features a portion of the popular guide, Eat This, Not That! in hopes that it will help you make better choices at casual and fast-food establishments.

Two pieces of bread. That's the bedrock of every hamburger on the planet. Here's the caveat: With the power to create comes the power to inflate. In fact, the average cheeseburger has ballooned from 333 to 600 calories in the last 20 years.

Some burgers even top out at 2,000 calories. For this there's no greater evidence than the greasy bread-boats being served at our most popular burger shops. Sure, there are decent options out there, but more often than not the junk that comes stuffed between the buns is enough to turn Jessica Simpson into Homer Simpson. Like these five burgers listed below. They're gut bombs in the worst way. Luckily, Eat This, Not That! discovered healthier alternatives for each of them.

After the jump, an overview of the best -- and worst -- burgers in America.

When it comes to picking a favorite casual-dining restaurant, customers look to experience, convenience and food quality. But what restaurants make the grade?

According to a survey done by Boulder, Colo.-based Market Force, customers put The Cheesecake Factory on top, Nation's Restaurant News reported.

The Cheesecake Factory earned 6 percent of the favorite-restaurant vote, but when weighted for number of locations per chain, the tally rose to 13 percent, making it the clear winner. Market Force surveyed 5,000 people between 18 and 72 years old, 76 percent of which were women, NRN reported.

We found the name of Cheesecake Factory's latest line of luxe burgers a little odd: Glamburgers. Seriously? Founder David Overton defends the choice: "We wanted to transcend the burger category, and the word 'hamburger' just didn't seem to do them justice," he says.

There are six of these new "upscale" burgers, all of which pay homage to a specific region of the country. The Memphis Burger is beef patty topped with barbecued pork, melted cheddar and coleslaw, while the Sonoma Burger boasts oven-roasted tomatoes, arugula, red onion, and herbed goat cheese (welcome back to the 80s, ladies and gentleman).

The company is also running a contest to let those of us outside the test kitchen create the next signature Glamburger. "The Great Glamburger Challenge" runs through the end of May with an interactive website that allows entrants to submit a customized virtual hamburger with their favorite combination of toppings, cheeses and sauces.

More about Glamburgers after the jump.

One of the best gastronomic experiences is the gooey rich creaminess of caramel slowly melting on one's palate. Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing number of products, such as Poco Dolce's burnt caramel toffee, adding salt into the caramel equation. A recent New York Times article explains how this extraordinarily sweet and savory combo went from elite chichi Parisian pastry shops to the American mass-market (stores such as Wal-Mart) and the soon-to-be Obama White House.

The article suggests that the financial success of this exquisite pair is due to a fortunate profitable trend cycle. Parisian pastry chefs initiated American chefs' obsession with the caramel-sea salt blend. Then, it ended up in specialty food magazines and food shows. Soon enough, chain restaurants, like the Cheesecake Factory, began selling them. Finally, Wal-Mart picked up on the trend. Of course, it would not have caught on so quickly if it were not for Americans' long-established taste for salty mixed with sweet, a flavor picked up gracias to dulce de luche from South America and Mexico.

As fellow blog Salt News states, the NY Times focuses on the financial and cultural success of the caramel-salt mix without ever delving into the gastronomic sensations it elicits. The title of the article, "How Caramel Developed a Taste for Salt," is misleading since there is never any substantial information explaining how this caramel concoction developed in small villages in the region of Brittany in France. I'm left wondering whether or not caramel indeed activates a desire for salt. Instead, the article gets carried away with Obama's love for salty caramel delights as though it would be hard to imagine. Could you blame him?

There was a time -- when I was a kid -- that I hated cheesecake. And I think I hated it either without tasting it at all or maybe tasting it once and not liking it. I guess it was just that my taste buds weren't fully mature yet (if such a thing happens) and I thought "cheese? In cake? Gah!" But I love it now, to the point I can't have just once slice, I'll eat it until I get that "so good I'm getting sick" feeling.

Today is National Cheesecake Day. Here's a ton of recipes from RecipeGal, including 3 Step Cheesecake, 7-Up Lemon Cheesecake with Strawberry Glaze, Carrot 'N Raisin Cheesecake, Chocolate Cheesecake, and Orange Chip Cheesecake (you might have to refresh some of those pages to make the recipes appear).

If you don't want to make one, why not order one from Eli's (Oprah loves them) or The Cheesecake Factory?