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The Daily Dot

Rebecca Leib

Left: Front of a Cheesecake Factory restaurant against a blue sky. Right: TikTok screenshot of a Cheesecake Factory kitchen in the aftermath of Valentine's Day, 2026, dishes piled high. Text overlay reads, "Happy Valentine's Day."

“It is 1:17 in the morning”: Video of Cheesecake Factory kitchen on Valentine’s Day is making people rethink eating there

Anna is a freelance writer with far too much time on her hands. When she&#8217;s not writing about memes and internet slang, she can be found running TTRPGs online.

Anna Good

Culture

Two guys are trying to eat all the world’s cuisines without leaving NYC—and documenting it all on TikTok

Rachel Kiley is a writer who sometimes writes things and sometimes is based in L.A., but is definitely always on Twitter @rachelkiley.

Rachel Kiley

Left: Spicy pork soup. Right: Wang Tulum restaurant menu. Wang Tulum Google review overlay.

“Most unhinged response I’ve ever seen”: Restaurant owner explodes at reviewer for saying food wasn’t spicy enough

Lindsey is a Seattle area writer interested in all things society, including internet culture, politics, and mental health. Outside of the Daily Dot, her work can be found in publications such as The Mary Sue, Truthout, and YES! Magazine.

Lindsey Weedston

Left: Air travelers check a departures board at a busy Heathrow Airport terminal. Right: Receipt from a bill at at an airport, red underlined text below surcharge reads, "A 3% employee benefits and retention surcharge has been added to all guest checks."

“Whatever that means”: Customer slams unexpected 3% “benefits and retention” charge on airport bill

Susan is a freelance writer following humanity one UGC at a time.

Susan LaMarca

McDonald’s with bars inside of it sparks debate about which state it’s located in. It’s not in America at all

Lofi Girl café to turn the study-stream icon into a real-life Paris hangout

Left: Waitress holding small boy in a TGI Fridays restaurant in the Atlanta Airport, text overlay reads, "calms a crying toddler at the ATL airport." Right: Waitress in a red wig standing in front of a TGI Fridays holding giant check for $500.

“JUSTICE FOR BRITTANY”: TGI Fridays accused of cheaping after $500 reward to viral waitress who calmed toddler

Rebekah is a freelance reporter for the Daily Dot.

Rebekah Harding

“I do not get paid enough”: Wendy’s to offer Frostys for 67 cents on Black Friday, forcing workers to partake in the 6-7 trend

“Any other Boston questions?”: Locals joke about viral debate over iconic Cheers restaurant sign

Left: Black text in a white box reading, "“What do you mean this is $18? That's 73 cents worth of ingredients.” Right: Young woman eating tasty pasta at the restaurant, spaghetti on fork select focus.

“That’s 73 cents worth of ingredients”: Woman’s restaurant rule about basic dishes stirs class debate

“Performance $960, steak $40”: The internet drags Miami’s viral $1,000 steak—complete with dancing waiters

“I want to speak to a manager”: IHOP’s kids menu has millennials crashing out for a very specific reason

Alexandra Samuels is a national political reporter and contributor to the Daily Dot, where she started as an intern covering politics in the summer of 2016. She enjoys all things Marvel, keeping up with the latest TikTok trends, long walks with her pup, and reading murder-mystery novels.

Alexandra Samuels

a woman holding a cake depicting a bloody duck that says "uncongratulations you're killing animals again"

Vegan delivers congratulatory cake to Eleven Madison Park as they bring meat back to their menu

“That’s why we go to Jersey Mike’s”: Viral video shows what $10 gets you at Jimmy John’s

dunkin donuts salem location decorated for halloween

“They should do this everywhere”: There’s only one Dunkin’ location in the country that decorates for Halloween, and the reason why actually makes sense

Restaurants