Cheesecake Factory Consumer Reviews

REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA -- On December 29th, 2016, at approximately 9:20pm, my friend and I visited the Cheesecake Factory in Redondo Beach, CA for dinner, like we have countless times before. We were promptly seated in a booth, and we were told that Antoinette would be our waitress. She had never before been our waitress. She took much longer than usual to take our orders, and then we waited for our food to be brought out. As we waited for nearly an hour, Antoinette must have passed our table nearly 10 times without saying a word. After we sat down, an African American family sat behind us and Antoinette stopped at their table 4 or more times, and they received their food before we did. By the time we began eating, the African American family had already left, and I made an effort to check by looking behind me. I watched Antoinette, and she was waiting on 4 different tables near us, but never once stopped to ask us if we needed water, NOR did she tell us “your food will be out shortly, sorry for the wait, etc.” She also was not knowledgeable, and wanted to charge me extra for a turkey burger patty. She told me that if I wanted the turkey burger patty wrapped in lettuce, that it would be considered protein style, and that it would be an additional charge. However, in previous times that I have asked for a side of a turkey burger patty, they have brought it with a lettuce wrap, at no additional charge, and with barbeque sauce.
I told my friend that I was going to wait till 10:25pm, more than an hour after we arrived at the Cheesecake Factory, to inquire about the whereabouts of our food. At 10:25pm, I walked up to the hostess and told her that we had been here for more than an hour, and we did not have our food yet. I then saw our “waitress” Antoinette, and asked her “where is our food, it's been an hour” and she rudely said “I DON'T MAKE THE FOOD, WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK INTO THE KITCHEN AND ASK WHERE YOUR FOOD IS.” I was shocked and speechless, and then I told her “isn't that your job?” and she rudely responded “YOU DON'T TALK TO ME THAT WAY.” I told her that I had the right to ask where my food was and she stormed off and once again said “YOU DON'T TALK TO ME THAT WAY.”
It became crystal clear that my friend and I were being directly targeted, and this was a clear case of discrimination. I spoke to the manager, Aurelia, who was polite and professional, and she immediately brought out our food. It turns out that our food was just sitting on the counter, and ANTOINETTE WAS AWARE OF THIS, BUT SHE PURPOSELY DID NOT WANT TO BRING OUR FOOD OUT. Antoinette never apologized, she just walked by and gave me nasty looks.
I will remind all of you that Antoinette is an employee of The Cheesecake Factory, and represents the company, and according to Respondent Superior, a company is liable for the wrongful actions of their employees. Antoinette failed to conduct herself according to the code of conduct of Cheesecake Factory, and failed to perform her duties, and went as far as telling me to perform her duties for her, when she told me to “go back into the kitchen and ask where my food was.” In addition, she used insulting language when she raised her voice and told me that “she doesn't cook the food.” I am well aware that she doesn't cook the food.
I will not stop until Antoinette is fired, and Cheesecake Factory is once again a welcoming place where customers are not sized up and treated subpar. I will NEVER allow Antoinette's unsophisticated, and hostile conduct to go unnoticed. While employees sometimes make mistakes, this was a CLEAR CASE of malicious, hateful, and purposeful conduct that Antoinette carried out with the specific intent of ruining our dinner experience; therefore, I will NOT show an OUNCE of leniency throughout this process. I am 100% convinced that Antoinette was completely aware of the fact that our food was ready, and was purposely neglecting us, and she was just waiting for me to inquire about my food so she could lash out.
I emailed the district manager, Mr. DeMoro, on Dec. 29th, 2016, and he never responded. I had to call him, and he said “Oh I forgot.” Guest services sent me an insulting $40 gift card, which I will NOT accept. I called Mr. DeMoro again, and he told me that Antoinette offered NO reason or explanation as to why she acted the way she did, and that disciplinary action had been taken against her, but refused to tell me what it was. This case is overwhelmingly in my favor. I'm also boycotting Cheesecake Factory until they fire Antoinette, and enforce their own policies & codes of conduct for employees.

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA -- Another Cheesecake Factory complaint from an unsatisfied customer (I also posted this in a different thread, and decided to make my own. Sorry if you're reading this for the second time.) I just recently submitted this complaint through their website "Contact Us" form (which isn't that easy to find... I wonder why.)

We have been going to The Cheesecake Factory for a long time nationwide and are usually leave very satisfied with the food and service. Today, take out service was terrible. It took over 40 minutes to get our food (2 sandwiches, and 1 appetizer.) We were told it would take half the time. Please note that one person in our party was on their break who is employed at the mall and he gets a limited amount of time to purchase food and eat. He had to have his only break of the day extended due to the long turnaround time on your part. We did not have any unreasonable requests nor was it a big order.

We even tipped the take out guy 20% when we put our order in and paid. We soon regret it. People who had ordered after us came and shortly left with their food while we sat there patiently. When we received our food the take out guy did not even apologize nor express any sympathy for the delay. In this case especially, time was money for one of us who didn'€™t even have enough time to finish his food. The order was incorrect, the warm sandwich was cold and we were not given the proper utensils and condiments.

Not only have you lost our business, you are losing our family and friends'€™ business as well. We paid a good amount of money; we expect to get good service and a good meal in return. Thank you for your time. When considering to eat at Cheesecake Factory PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE reconsider. You are so much better off eating elsewhere. Somewhere that actually appreciates your business!

WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK -- I went to the Cheesecake Factory on Sunday, January 25, 2008 for dinner. I have no complaints about the service, the young lady was an excellent waitress. She even gave my son some bananas to snack on for free.

I ordered the Steak Diane with Chicken Madeira. The first thing I tried was the steak which was rare to raw in the middle when I asked for medium rare. It tasted good and I tried to overlook the fact that it was undercooked because I'm not one to complain in a restaurant. Next I tried the Chicken and thought it tasted a little mushy but again, I overlooked the fact that something may be wrong. The lighting in the restaurant was really dim and I couldn't see what I was eating at all.

I finally realized that the chicken was completely raw when I cut into it a second time and noticed the consistency of the chicken was completely mushy. I then cut through the entire piece and the slime that covers the chicken before you cook it was still on the chicken and it was completely RAW. Under the wrong lighting it kind of looked like cheese in the middle when I cut the whole piece of chicken down the middle. It was absolutely disgusting, especially considering I had eaten a piece.

I was outraged and they tried to give me something else for free but I could not eat anything the rest of that night. I was so paranoid that I was going to get Salmonella poisoning that my stomach was in knots the whole night. Beware of this restaurant, look closely at your food before you bite into it and if you can't see what you are eating, DON'T EAT IT LIKE I DID! The Manager even came to our table and said it was absolutely disgusting in the light.

DULLES, VIRGINIA -- I went with my friend over at lunch to Cheesecake Factory at 21076 Dulles Town Circle, Dulles, VA 20166 on Jan 21, 2008. We received a bill for $26.04 for our lunch which my friend decided to pay in cash and I decided to use my credit card. My friend put $15 and I put my credit-card. When I signed the receipt for the credit-card, I did not notice (and I admit it was my mistake as I was busy talking to my friend who I met after a long time) that the amount was $26.04 and I put in $4.00 as tip and signed the receipt.

While on my way back home, I realized that I should have been charged half the amount of $30.04 ($26.04 + $4.00) as my friend had put in the cash of $15.00 to the waiter **. (I still have the receipt with me with the server name on its top). I went back and explained to the reception and they made me talk to the manager. The manager heard but told me he cannot do much or revert back the credit-card payment that has been charged (instead of giving me any kind of assurance that he'll see what can be done etc).

I said, "I am not asking for that, I am asking for the $15.00 that went in the payment-folder which he can return after confirming with **." He looked and said, he'll talk to the server. He goes and I see him going to different customers and kind of asking them how things were, instead of going and talking to **.

After a while, he comes back saying he can't do anything as he cannot ask for the money back from the server. I said that's OK but can I just talk to the server just to make sure that the manager believed what I was telling was the truth and I was not making it up. I also said that I am not going to ask the server for the money but I just want to talk to her.

He refused and said he cannot let me talk to her. I believe he never went and talked to the server himself. Instead he kept on saying that he can talk to the server on my behalf but he cannot do anything else. I was pretty confident that ** would remember since the episode happened may be an hour back. He totally refused to help me in any ways. I finally left telling him that he is doing a good business.

I don't know what else can I do here except let others know the way I was treated for a complaint I made. I know I am never going to the restaurant again. Just wanted to let people know that if someone doesn't appreciate your business, we are better off going elsewhere.

WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA -- I brought my son's buddy and my son to eat at the WALNUT CREEK, CA Cheesecake Factory because it was the buddy's 16th birthday. I could not believe that they did not acknowledge it after we let them that it was his b-day. They did not bring out EVEN a small piece of cake to let him know they acknowledge his b-day; the waiter ** patted him on the back and said "Happy Birthday!!" Cheap and rude service. I've owned a restaurant for 30 yrs and always bring out cake and ice cream treat to let the customer know we appreciate their b-day.

I had used the Cheesecake Factory.com to send one of their delicious Godiva Cheesecakes to my friend for his birthday. I ordered two weeks in advance to be delivered on a Friday (day before his birthday). It never came. Turns out that it was a FedEx error, they mis-scanned it. It sat in Atlanta for 5 days (over the 4th holiday weekend). They delivered it while my friend was out of town, and left it in the Houston sun. Needless to say it was a puddle of mush after the dry-ice melted over the weekend.

They promised to send a replacement to be delivered on the following Thursday, with an apology letter. Well, with tracking number in hand, I checked with FedEx. They did NOT call it in as promised. It has NOT arrived. And NO apology letter has arrived either; nor have they bothered to answer any of my emails to their customer service department to ask WHY they did not get it out as promised! My friend cut his vacation short to get the mushy box off his doorstep, and be there to sign for the replacement cheesecake. Yet -- nothing has arrived.

I will NEVER use this site to send anything ever again. The Customer Service at the Cheesecake Factory is beyond poor. They do NOT answer complaints, they don't care that they screwed up... again.

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK -- Me and my husband are regulars at our local Cheesecake Factory Restaurant. We've been going there since the grand opening about 3 yrs ago and liked it even after we found a huge fly in my glass of water and a sharp piece of glass and my husband's plate! But two latest visits surprised us a lot.

First, my husband ordered Wasabi Crusted Ahi Tuna and tuna looked very unusual. We had this tuna few times before, but that one was anything but Ahi. Looked different, tasted different. Not good at all. Manager was saying that's a "different cut."

During our last visit I got Shrimp Scampi where shrimps were buttered and fried (should be sauteed) with sticky overcooked molded in one huge piece angel hair pasta. My husband ordered Fillet Mignon and got a piece of Rib Eye with some fat cut out of it. Manager offered no apology, not much of explanation and claimed nothing has been changed in a recipe.

We do appreciate good cuisine and still can tell a difference between rib-eye steak and fillet mignon, between fried and sauteed. Why make us look and feel like idiots? No more Cheesecake Factory for us. It's time to support nice and small local restaurants with owners who really care and have respect for their customers.

GREENWOOD, INDIANA -- This was our first visit to the Cheesecake Factory in Greenwood, IN. I had previewed the menu by picking up a carry out menu because I have difficulty finding food agreeable to me. I decided on the grilled pork chops, because they were not described as having any extra sauces as most of the items did. When served they were covered in a sauce. When I asked the server what kind of sauce was on the chops, she said "NONE the flavor was just from the applesauce they were served with." I said "no they were covered in a sauce."

She sent a manager over. He said the chops were glazed with a maple bourbon sauce. I stated the menu didn't describe any sauce or glaze the pork tenderloin did. He asked me if I like the glaze. I told him no. He said I could order the item plain next time. There will be NO next time. The menu should correctly described food. Either a restaurant cares about customer satisfaction or they don't. The facts in the case shows that management at Cheesecake Factory doesn't.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- If you go to Cheesecake Factory, don't you DARE ask to substitute an item. My wife asked to substitute a small garden salad for a potato side dish and was told NO! No apology, just a Nazi-like NO! I tried to complain to the management by a polite letter but they never even bothered to reply. I also complained at their website and again no reply. They just don't care.