While the sibling comment points out that this restaurant is common in large American cities, I think your intuition is directionally correct. At least in my experience with it, it's a bit of a "destination" restaurant that traditionally located in the tourist nexus or other point of interest in a city (e.g. large shopping mall). So I wouldn't quite call it "regular."
Yes, I think this is a big factor, to be honest. Whatever they do to make it work, Cheesecake Factory really works as a get-together or event restaurant. I have family an hour or so away, and often enough when we all get together it's at Cheesecake Factory. I even went there for my sister's HS graduation.
They have locations in Pittsburg and Phildelphia Pennsylvania, and in Louisville and Lexington Kentucky. It is not in every town like, say, McDonalds, but they're not just in global tourist destinations.
