A Boston Globe food critic has been mocked by readers after turning a visit to The Cheesecake Factory into a sprawling political commentary before declaring one of its most popular menu items 'wretched.'
Devra First visited the restaurant in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, after the chain became an unlikely talking point in the bitter final days of the midterm election campaign.
But her lengthy review, which mixed restaurant criticism with attacks on President Donald Trump and his administration, prompted a backlash from readers who accused her of snobbery and taking herself far too seriously.
'What a bunch of virtue signaling snobs here. Bet you dollars to cheesecake most of you will eat at McDonalds when no one is looking. Including the author,' one reader complained.
Another offered a particularly cutting assessment of her work: 'Congratulations, Devra, on finally reviewing a restaurant worthy of your talents!'
The political row began when former President Barack Obama mocked Trump's taste in interior design during a campaign appearance in Ohio.
'He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere,' Obama joked.
Trump was furious, defending the restaurant chain as a successful American business and attacking his predecessor for looking down on it.
The Cheesecake Factory became an unlikely political battleground after Barack Obama mocked Trump's lavish White House makeover, sparking a furious response from the president
Former President Obama joked that Trump had the White House looking 'like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,' adding: 'Just gold everywhere!'
'For you to say it's a Cheesecake Factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president,' Trump fired back.
Vice President JD Vance accused Obama of being 'super-elitist,' while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a point of eating at the restaurant himself.
'I had a great meal, always have a great meal, and I would tell the Martha's Vineyard set to give it a try,' Bessent declared.
That was apparently enough to send First into investigative mode.
'As a food critic and a patriot, I knew it was my duty to review a meal at the restaurant through the lens of this cultural moment,' she wrote.
She enlisted fellow Globe journalist Meredith Goldstein, a self-confessed Cheesecake Factory enthusiast, to accompany her.
The pair arrived at 5pm, with First immediately turning her attention to the restaurant's famously elaborate interior.
'It was like Vegas threw up in a Tuscan villa after riding an old-timey carousel,' she wrote.
Boston Globe critic Devra First described the restaurant's extravagant decor as 'like Vegas threw up in a Tuscan villa after riding an old-timey carousel'
Despite visiting a restaurant famous for its enormous selection of cheesecakes, First failed to review its signature dessert, prompting ridicule from readers
Boston Globe food critic Devra First faced ridicule after turning her Cheesecake Factory review into a political commentary
She described ceiling lights resembling 'inverted portals to hell,' dark columns and a bewildering collection of decorative features.
Yet despite the elaborate inspection, First acknowledged that the restaurant looked exactly as its customers would expect.
Goldstein, meanwhile, argued that the chain's consistency was part of its appeal, prompting the journalists to compare its ability to satisfy customers with the performance of the federal government.
'So what I think you're saying is that the Cheesecake Factory is working for the people in the way that government should be,' First suggested.
'Yes. They're giving us extra avocado,' Goldstein replied.
Then came the food with the pair sampling bread and avocado egg rolls, while Goldstein ordered her customary Santa Fe salad, without cheese but with extra avocado.
First instead chose Bessent's favorite dish, the French dip cheeseburger, priced at $21.50.
It proved to be a disastrous choice, at least as far as the critic was concerned.
'In practice it was wretched,' she declared.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the restaurant and praised its French dip cheeseburger, which First subsequently ordered and dismissed as 'wretched'
First complained that Bessent's favorite $21.50 sandwich had poorly melted cheese, soggy bread and beef broth resembling a stock cube dissolved in lukewarm water
First complained that the bun was too soft, the cheese insufficiently melted and the accompanying beef broth tasted like a stock cube dissolved in lukewarm water.
'Even the fries were utterly resistible,' she added.
She then turned her disappointing dinner into another political dig, questioning Bessent's judgment for repeatedly ordering the same meal.
'Maybe he made a bad decision once, and rather than admit he was wrong, he just kept pretending it was good and repeating the mistake,' she wrote.
'Neither option instills confidence.'
The review also veered into the Trump administration's cuts to food assistance benefits, questioning whether Obama deserved accusations of elitism.
But not everyone appreciated the combination of partisan commentary and restaurant criticism.
'Sounds like someone woke up feeling cranky. Low blood sugar, maybe? Have a slice of cheesecake,' one reader suggested.
First mocked The Cheesecake Factory's elaborate interior, describing its red and yellow ceiling lights as resembling 'inverted portals to hell'
Readers blasted First for failing to sample any cheesecake, with one demanding: 'How can you write about the Cheesecake Factory and make no mention at all about — the cheesecake!?!?'
Another questioned why First had written such an extensive piece without reviewing the restaurant's signature dessert.
'How can you write about the Cheesecake Factory and make no mention at all about - the cheesecake!?!?' the reader demanded.
A third was equally unimpressed by the premise of the assignment.
'So the writer has been to the CF before but now she has to act like it's a foreign land because Obama made a joke about it.'
Others defended Obama's original remark, arguing that it was a joke about the White House's appearance rather than an insult to the restaurant or its customers.
'As others have pointed out, Obama was comparing the restaurant's gaudy decor to Trump's gaudy White House decor. Not about the food,' one commenter wrote.
Another praised First's description of the decor as 'Pure comedic genius.'
Despite her brutal verdict on the burger, First ultimately conceded that the chain's enormous portions, broad appeal and familiar surroundings had something going for them.
She concluded that The Cheesecake Factory was a place where Americans of different political persuasions could find common ground.
'Maybe I am a Cheesecake Factory person after all,' she wrote.
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