Despite being called The Cheesecake Factory, the restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, alongside their extensive dessert menu which includes the well-known classic cheesecake, the very same recipe used by Evelyn Overton in the 1940s.
When Evelyn Overton first created her famous cheesecake recipe, it was extremely popular among the local restaurants in Detroit. It wasn't until 1972 that she moved to Los Angeles with her husband to open their first proper bakery together. However, the success of The Cheesecake Factory still didn't come until 1978 when Evelyn Overton's son, David, opened a separate bakery in Beverly Hills which kick-started The Cheesecake Factory chain.
In 1991, The Cheesecake Factory opened its first restaurant, serving savoury food alongside their classic cheesecakes. The original recipe was developed from a snippet in the local Detroit newspaper in 1940, and is still prepared in the same way each morning in every restaurant across the USA.
For more information about The Cheesecake Factory, take a look at their website here.
Which countries have a Cheesecake Factory restaurant?
The Cheesecake Factory can predominantly be found in the US. They have stores in 41 states across the country, with 39 of the 209 US restaurants being in California alone, the home of the Cheesecake Factory. Outside the US, there are a further 28 stores in various other countries, predominantly throughout Asia and parts of Central America.
The biggest Cheesecake Factory restaurants can be found in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with the largest factory in the world being situated in Dubai. Other locations include Qatar, China, including parts of Hong Kong and Macau, Qatar, Kuwait and Mexico.
What makes the Cheesecake Factory different?
The Cheesecake Factory has three main principles when it comes to their menu. These principles are:
- Fresh Ingredients - they use high quality, fresh ingredients in every meal, whether breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert.
- Great Technique - Everything on The Cheesecake Factory menu is freshly prepared using the same technique in every store across the world.
- Everything is made from scratch - one of the most important elements of the Cheesecake Factory menu is that every meal is prepared from scratch on the day it's sold.
However, what potentially makes The Cheesecake Factory different from every other restaurant is that it has a dessert heavy menu, and its speciality is a sweet food. Most restaurants either serve savoury foods or bakery goods, but for The Cheesecake Factory, they have a mixture of both.
The Cheesecake Factory menu is composed of six main sections:
- Breakfast and brunch - the Cheesecake Factory breakfast menu contains several options containing the classic breakfast foods, as well as their weekend brunch items including pancakes and waffles.
- Appetisers and snacks - The appetiser menu contains a selection of salads, sliders, quesadillas and many more bite-sized dishes.
- Light bites and lunch - The Cheesecake Factory lunch menu is comprised of four main foods: flatbread pizzas, salads, soups and sandwiches.
- Mains - Alongside the classic dishes served by most restaurants such as pastas, curries, steaks and fish dishes, The Cheesecake Factory also offers their own range of unique burgers and sandwiches. They also provide a range they call "skinnylicious", containing lower calorie foods for people looking to improve their health.
- Kids menu - As with most kids menus, the Cheesecake Factory menu for kids contains several of the most popular adults dishes in smaller portions, all of which come with a selection of sides such as fries and vegetables.
- Desserts - And for the main event, the dessert menu, primarily made up of cheesecakes, which has more options than any other section of the menu. Alongside their infamous cheesecake, the factory offers a selection of ice-creams and cakes, as well as selling whole cheesecakes in either 6, 7 or 10-inch portions which can be taken home to enjoy.
How do I order from the Cheesecake Factory?
Orders from the Cheesecake Factory can be placed either online or in-store. There are several options when it comes to eating with the Cheesecake Factory. The sit-down meal is the style most people would opt for. However, if you prefer to eat at home then you can choose to either order take-away, or alternatively you can order online and then either click and collect from the store or opt for home delivery.
Does the Cheesecake Factory cater to special dietary requirements?
The Cheesecake Factory menu caters to several different diets such as vegetarians and vegans. However, when ordering from the website, there is very limited information available in terms of ingredients and there is also no specific section of the menu or marking system which denotes which items are not suitable for certain diets.
The Cheesecake Factory website suggests that you either contact the company directly or ask your server in the restaurant for the options suiting your requirements. It's also important that if you have any allergies or intolerances, you ask for guidance on which foods are suitable. Unfortunately, free-from foods are not a big part of the Cheesecake Factory menu, including their cheesecakes, all of which contain dairy and so are not suitable for vegans.
Is the Cheesecake Factory healthy?
Although not all the Cheesecake Factory products are brilliant for your health, they have their Skinnylicious range which provides a variety of different dishes all containing 570 calories or less. However, they also have many salads, soups and other healthy foods which use healthy, fresh ingredients.
It's important to remember that health is all about moderation. The occasional restaurant meal can be enjoyed as part of a healthy diet as long as eating large portions does not become a part of your daily routine.
What are the Cheesecake Factory's opening hours?
As the Cheesecake Factory is a chain, each restaurant has different opening hours. However, as a general rule, the stores are open from around 11am until 10pm, with some stores staying open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. It's a good idea to check the information for whichever restaurant you're planning to visit beforehand.
Can I cook the Cheesecake Factory foods at home?
The Cheesecake Factory provides a selection of recipes on their website to try out from home, all inspired by some of their most popular dishes. For example, the blonde brownie sundae recipe combines their own brownie recipe and chunks of a cheesecake of your choice (and they recommend using their cheesecake).
Unfortunately, the cheesecake factory have not released their classic cheesecake recipe, and this well-kept secret will probably stay with them for years to come. That said, many very similar cheesecake recipes are available on the internet, but none of them are quite the same as the original.