North Italia

As major national restaurant chains go, the Cheesecake Factory won us over many years ago, and we even went out of our way to visit the company’s little-known sub-brand, Grand Lux Cafe. So when we say we’re not fans of really anything about North Italia, the Cheesecake Factory-owned “modern Italian” chain, it’s not the ownership or the fact that it’s a chain – it’s the execution.

We visited the Irvine location twice years ago, once to dine in, once to dine out, and were thoroughly unimpresed by the experience: bad parking, cold service, a cavernous dining room with all the charm of a Silicon Valley cafeteria, and mediocre, expensive food that wasn’t great to begin with and didn’t travel well.

Enough time has passed that we’d consider a revisit, but with so many great (and just plain good) alternatives nearby, we probably won’t bother. (Note: There are no other North Italia locations in Orange County, but handfuls to the north in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties.)