I went to Cheesecake Factory to see firsthand why it's a mainstay at so many successful malls

I checked out my local Cheesecake Factory at Madison's West Towne Mall.Dominick Reuter/Insider

• The Cheesecake Factory is more than a staple of US shopping malls – it's a sign of financial health.
• Malls without a Cheesecake Factory were much more likely to be behind on their loans, Moody's found.

The Cheesecake Factory first opened in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978 and has since grown to more than 200 restaurants across North America.

The chain is typically located in or near shopping malls — a commercial real estate segment that has seen a rough few years with changing shopping patterns.

As traditional so-called anchor tenants like Sears and Nordstroms have declined, mall owners have increasingly shifted their emphasis to experiential businesses like movie theaters, bowling alleys, and trampoline parks to increase foot traffic.

Within this new landscape for US shopping centers, recent analysis from Moody's CRE economist Matt Reidy found that some malls are doing far better than others.

One curious indicator Reidy found — beyond the popular destination retailers like Apple and Lululemon — was that malls with a Cheesecake Factory were significantly less likely to be behind on their loans.

"Regardless of whether it is strong site selection by the company or, less likely, the restaurant having an impact on mall performance, the relationship is certainly there," Reidy wrote.

To see how that relationship plays out in real life, I headed off for lunch at my local Cheesecake Factory at the West Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin.