The Cheesecake Factory
reviews and complaints

I am highly offended and dissatisfied with the service I received today at the cheesecake factory location in bethesda, md (montgomery mall). A fellow intern and I placed an order online at exactly 2:34 pm and the system confirmed the order and told us it would be ready at 2:53 pm. We arrived to cheesecake factory around 3 pm hoping our order would be ready. As interns we are only allotted a 30 min lunch break so we didn't have much time to spare. We immediately went to the front desk to ask where we could pick up our order and gave our name. We were told to go to the bakery as that is where deliveries are picked up. We went to the bakery and asked about our order and we were told to wait. We waited 20 min (in addition to the 7-10 min we arrived later). At this point, we had gone over our lunch break. We approached a different lady and she said we were not supposed to go to the bakery at all, that in fact that is not where deliveries are picked up so she went to the kitchen to check on our order.

Of course, by this time our food was cold. I ordered a tossed salad which was completely soggy upon opening it up and my friend ordered the mac & cheese balls which were cold. We did not have time to talk to the manager there as we were already late for work so we called the restaurant and asked to speak to the manager. First and foremost, this was the absolute worst and rudest experience I have ever had with a manager. After explaining to him how we were misled on where to go for the delivery and who to speak with (as there was no sign indicating where to go for deliveries), he began to state that we were unfamiliar with how cheesecake factory does deliveries so it was not his fault that the food was given to us so late. That we went to the wrong place initially, we were supposed to report to the bakery. I explained to him repeatedly that we indeed did go to the bakery and he continued to tell us that the reason for us getting our food so late was because we had never done a delivery before. He was speaking to us as if we were stupid and ill-informed when his employees gave us wrong information and were not communicating with each other. All the people we interacted with at the restaurant were unfriendly and apathetic to when we received our food. No one checked to see why we were waiting or how long we were waiting for. No one seemed to care that we were even there. It seems very clear to me now why the employees acted the way they did, because the manager seems to have the same behavior towards his customers. We were not taken seriously at the restaurant or by the manager when we called. The manager implied and insisted that it was our fault and that we did not take the right steps when walking through the doors when we not only went to the hostess, but we also went to the bakery. The manager was arguing with me back and forth and it got to be very ridiculous that he was not respecting our time as I told him we were interns and we had gone way over our lunch break. He raised his voice several times and was speaking over us. I felt that our voices were unimportant and that no matter what I said he wasn't truly listening to what I had to say, he kept repeating the same things over and over again when I had done those exact things that he said I didn't do.

Overall, this was a terrible experience, we were on the phone with the manager for 10 minutes until he finally gave in and offered us a full refund. Before that, he wasn't willing to do anything for us. At one point, in the call he just stopped responding and I thought he had hung up. For about 2 minutes, we didn't know what was going on and if we should call back. When he finally responded, he did not apologize for leaving randomly.in the end he never apologized at all for the experience or on behalf of his staff. The customer service was awful and for a manager to not correct the way his staff behaves and communicates is unbelievable, but for a manager to treat his customers with disrespect and blame them for their lack of experience with deliveries is beyond anything I have ever experienced or heard of before. Of all things, a manager should cater to the customer and sympathize with them (especially when our experience caused us to be late to work), instead he did the opposite, he indirectly insulted us and treated us poorly, with no respect. This experience not only tainted my view of this location's restaurant, but of all cheesecake factory's everywhere, for a manager to talk to us like this - he clearly wasn't trained well at all and doesn't even have the decency to respect customers who have an issue with their service.

I filled out a position for line cook. I have exceptional experience over ten years I got hired but the kitchen manager said everybody starts wish dishes first but he puts my nephew with no cooking experience on the line he even told the kitchen manager he has no experience but he put my nephew for line cook and said I'm hired for dishes work my way up are you kidding me if anything my nephew should work his way up this his first time in the kitchen but you said you start everybody with dishes he a lier his name Is Marko head chef I'm black with tattoos so he judged me my nephew looks Spanish lightskinned coler there racist and definitely discriminate against you and this happen today June 5 2018 I'm on thinking about suing them cause it don't make no since

Hi, I am writing to complain about the terrible rude service my wife and myself received from a lady called Kendra in your restaurant located in the outlet malls in Las Vegas. I have attached the receipt for info. Basically, we ordered our food and waited quite a while for it to arrive due to the restaurant being very busy. Another server brought my wife's meal only and I was still waiting for mine for around 3-5 minutes. We then called Kendra over to ask about the reason why we only had one meal. Instantly, she became snappy and rude, saying that the previous server only had one arm to carry our food. Basically she was carrying my wife's food and another party's food. However, when I asked whether we would be getting my food soon, she snapped at me saying she was busy. Maybe the previous server could have brought meals out at the same time 😩. However, Kendra went on to argue with us about this and when I asked, please just check on our food, she glared at me and walked off! She also, glared at us a couple of further times throughout our meal, making us feel very uncomfortable. Just to let you know, we are from the UK And visit the States regularly. Please can you let us know that this issue is being dealt with. Thanks - John & Lisa.

I hate being "that guy" I really do...
But on our anniversary my wife and I treated ourselves to a decadent slice of peanut buttery cheesecake goodness - and for me this is truly a treat. Type 1 diabetes is no fun and requires a fair amount of precision when calculating carbohydrates.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I had a low blood sugar level of 46. I knew I needed something, my wife communicated that to the staff and our server promptly brought some bread. Once the sandwich and fries came (a meal my wife and I split), I took an educated guess as to how many carbs half a bun and half serving of fries and took some insulin.

It was great and we had left room for what we came for ;-)

Unfortunately, my wife (fairly tech savvy for an 80's chick) was unable to find the carb count for that type of cheesecake. I asked the counter (where they sell the product) and that associate disappeared to ask a manager. I'm putting those periods there to waste your time. So you can feel the way I did - confused. But completely aware that the longer it takes for this, the longer it will take for the insulin to kick in and the longer I have to wait to ingest the cheesecake (that's already been delivered to the table.)

Eventually the associate returns (maybe 5 minutes have passed?) with no information. The manager never comes and the young woman actually says "good luck."

So I totally guessed at how many carbs a watermelon sized piece of cheesecake has. Not surprisingly, I didn't exactly "nail it." I was later at 274. Because I didn't have the information I needed. Instead I got excuses from inept people who, I can only surmise, give no [censored] about my health. You can do better than this.

I went to my local Cheesecake Factory expecting to enjoy my favorite meal. I placed my order and it arrived rather quickly, but 1/3 of the chicken was very dark and overcooked. I cut a portion of the burnt edges and kept them for evidence. I was finally able to summond my server Charles to inform of the issue he removed my place and asked if I would like a different dish. I said No" I love this dish without
the burnt edges. (Not once did he apologize).

10 minutes later a second server arrived with a plate that was cooked to perfection not a single dark(Burnt) or overcooked corner. Charles nerver came over to see if that plate was satisfactory neither did the restaurant manager.
I waited over 15 minutes then I finally got Charles's attention to request the check and a take out box.
The bill came again with NO APOLOGY and no form of an adjustment. I requested to speak with a manager in hopes of an apology or some deductions ftom my check for the innocence and very poor service that I received instead the manage informed that there would be no compensation because the 2nd one was fine and he did think that the 1st one was "Not all that bad".
I'm frequently dine at your restaurant, but tonight was the worst overall service I've ever received for and establishment.
NOT HAPPY WITH CHEESECAKE FACTORY RIGHT.
I hope that your office will practice GOOD customer service and make this right somehow.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter

Montiq' Davis

I ordered the Cajun chicken littles but was not able to eat at the restaurant so I took it home with me. When I was about to eat the dish at home, the chicken was a little bit dried and it did not taste right. I couldn't go back to the restaurant to return it/ complain because I don't live around the area.
The waitress was not very corteus either or friendly. She seemed annoyed when we asked questions . I am sure that she was very busy as she seemed to be working hard but she could have had a better attitude.

I don't know where to start! as a resident of miami and former employee of the dadeland cheesecake factory, i'm disgusted and ashamed of my former employer. I will never step foot in that establishment again and will make sure my family and friends don't either. As a county employee we keep our personal opinions to ourselves and provide the best possible service. (un-biased)

don't know what happened but every employee who participated in this horrible event... "needs to be fired"!

there better be an investigation!

The first waitress was very rude. I ask him if we could get both type of bread and he told us that we have to wait because they just making the white bread and we said that's fine. So he came back and gave us the white bread and I ask him about the brown bread and he said they didn't have none. Next thing you know we see another waitress handing both bread to a different table. Then I ask him if he could give me a straw, remember we are sitting like 3 table away from where they have the straw and he took 5 min just to grab me a straw. I ask another waitress if I could get a manager to my table, so the waitress told my waitress and he than came to my table and ask me why I needed a manager and I told him I would prefer to let the manager know what's going on and the waitress leave the table smiling thinking it's something funny.

Than the manager comes to our table and she was not very helpful and I felt like she was just trying to cover the waitress back and excuse him.

We came to this Cheesecake Factory for the fact that my girlfriend loves to come to the one on marina de Rey and it was for her mother day present.

HI I ordered cashew chicken yesterday and I almost completed 3/4 plate by eating most of it, and later I found that the half cut green coloured thing in my plate, I thought its a green vegetable but when I kept it in my mouth it was "Rubberband"

I showed it to the person who served it and she called manager, Manager came and took the rubber band and took away my plate saying that he will offer me new plate of the same dish and desert I rejected.

Once I came home my stomach was upset all night and didn't get enough sleep, my worry is there is only half rubber band that I found and the rest was missing.

My Questions:
1. What is the process of preparing the "Spicy Cashew Chicken" dish.
2. How the rubberband ended up in my plate as the ingredients are - Cashew, Rice, Green vegies, Sauce.

Hope for fastest reply.
Note: I asked the same question to manager instead the reply was they took out the dish from my bill saying "Comp".
This will not solve my worry on my health.
Please let me know if you need additional details like "Bill" / "Photo of rubberband"

Had dinner on 4/26/18 with my son for his birthday and found hair stuck to the bottom of my chicken on my second bite.
Manager came over and said I won't charge you for the chicken.
Apologized and asked if I wished to order another dish. So I did.
I could not eat and asked for it to be wrapped to go since my stomache was unsettled and it was 25 minutes later and my son had already started his dessert.
When bill arrived as promised they did not charge me for the hairy chicken dinner, but did charge me for the replacement meal.
I was really upset because the least they should have done was comp me my meal.
Manager needs to learn how to treat loyal customers who have been going to the chain for over twenty years.
I have never had an incident like this before. After reading all these complaints. I question what has happened to this restaurant ?
Worst part I complained on their website 12 days ago and received an acknowledged they received my email and not one member of this establishment even bothered to contact me.
I honestly wouldn't even had said a word. But it was my sons birthday dinner who happens to be a special needs child and it's the only restaurant he likes.
I didn't even make a scene because of my son. Very polite and gave my waiter a nice tip since it was not his fault at all. Just bad management.

I and my family with kids and senior citizen had gone to cheese cake factory for dessert..they had five tables vacant then also they told to wait for 25 mins and told that u can't have only dessert but only dine..no where it was written that u cannot sit for dessert..the staff was very rude especially Miss Sha...hope ur staff can be a bit courteous and considerate..it is very bad from a brand like cheese cake..pls contact on - email - [protected]@aarvigroup.net

My boyfriend and I ate at the Cheesecake Factory in Kenwood, Ohio on April 30, 2018. We arrived around 8:30 p.m. It wasn't crowded at all, but instead of seating us right away, they told us we needed to wait 5 to 10 minutes for them to clear a table, even though there were several empty tables. Since the bar area was really empty, we just decided to sit there thinking we would get quicker service. Of course we were wrong. It took the server about 15 minutes to even notice us and then she came over and told us she would be right with us. Another 10 minutes went by and finally she came and brought us water and bread. We went ahead and ordered our appetizers, drinks and dinner at that time because we didn't want to wait longer. My boyfriend ordered the Teriyaki Chicken and rice and I ordered the Miso Salmon. After waiting longer than necessary, we finally received our appetizer, which was good. Then our dinners came out. Mine was fine, but my boyfriends looked like very burnt chicken. When our server came to check on us, he asked her if that is how the Teriyaki chicken should look and she said it shouldn't and took it back to have them make a new one for him. About 5 minutes later, a woman, who didn't introduce herself, came over carrying his original dinner on top of someone elses' dinner plate and told him that the recipe had changed for the Teriyaki chicken and now they do something different that causes it to look burnt. She was going to give his meal back to him if he said ok, ( even though it had been handed down from our server to her and it was on top of another dinner). Again, we had no idea who this woman was. We assumed she was the manager, but she never divulged that information. My boyfriend told her he didn't want that one and still wanted a new one made. She wasn't pleasant at all and just walked away. After waiting a good 15 to 20 minutes, his new dinner finally came out. This time it didn't even look like there was any teriyaki on the chicken. I wanted him to send it back, but he was so frustrated and hungry, he just asked our server to box it up and he would take it home since it was getting late. During the time that the server was gone boxing up the dinner, the woman, whom we assumed was the manager that had talked to my boyfriend about his original dinner, walked by us 2 times and never once asked if he had received his food or if he had if it was ok. She never even acknowledged us and there was literally no one else sitting around us. Once the server came back, I finally asked her if the woman was the manager and what her name was and the she told me that she was the manager and her name was Kaitlin. We then received our check and thought maybe after everything that had happened, the Teriyaki chicken might get taken off or maybe even the appetizer of the cheesecake we ordered. Unfortunately, nothing was taken off and we ended up paying a large bill and my boyfriend left hungry. We love Cheesecake Factory and we would have been a little more understanding if the restaurant was extremely busy, but there weren't very many people eating when we were there and I've had much better service when it has been busy. I'm mostly upset with the manager and the way that she handled the situation. She obviously didn't care one way or another about whether or not we were satisfied with our dining experience. I really hope that something is said to her and that she can learn from this. As I stated before, we love Cheesecake Factory, but as of right now, I'm not sure that I will be back. Especially not to the Kenwood location. Thank you. Melissa Davis

I ordered a 40 meal through door dash which I understand has a third-party service. This was not My first time ordering cheesecake factory through DoorDash. When I received my food it was cold and soggy. Door dash never delivers in 10 or 15 minutes so for the food to be prepared 30 minutes before pick up to just sit there makes absolutely no sense. It took about 10 minutes to get a manager on the phone and when I did all she could say was there's nothing she can do about it. I live in the south end where the Prudential Center cheesecake factory is which I visit often and I would never have expected a manager to behave the way she did. She could've simply offered for me to bring the food back and get a hot meal. I'm pregnant and I was really hoping to receive better service. If the food cannot be prepared in a timely fashion so that it is delivered hot then there should be no reason for the company to use DoorDash. The managers name was Denise Cole. I am very particular when it comes to good customer service especially when I'm spending my money and she should have done better.

Dear whom this concerns,

I am a frequent customer at the Cheesecake Factory whenever I travel to the U.S. Since the Cheesecake Factory opened up at Yorkdale I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to visit the location that just opened by near my house. However, my complaint is that there was two ladies working that day which affected my overall experience to be dreadful. I waited in line for two hours and received a buzzer where the lady told me the wait was two hours but I would have to wait three hours since I wanted to be seated in a booth. I didn't mind waiting as this is one of my favourite restaurants. However, when I came back after three hours the lady told me that she forgot I asked for a booth in a really rude tone of voice and seated my boyfriend and I in a very crammed corner. This lady wore glasses, had a ponytail is white and an older age. Unfortunately, since I was so disappointed in the moment I forgot to ask her for her name. Since the seating was too crammed for us we went back to ask her if we could wait longer for a booth. This lady and another lady beside her did not acknowledge us the first time we asked. I asked again and the lady lied to me saying there wouldn't be any more reservations for booths for the day when there were a couple of empty ones right in front of us. These two ladies were extremely rude to the point we left and had wasted our time waiting around and had to eat next door at Pickle Barrel. I hope this complaint is taken into consideration because I truly enjoy dining at Cheesecake and I do want customer service to know what is happening at this location with such rude staff serving the customers. I hope you have a great day and thank you for reading about my negative experience.
Sincerely,
Jasmin
contact email: [protected]@gmail.com

On Sunday, April 8, 2018, my husband & another couple had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. While waiting for our dinner, we were served drinks, The waitress refilled our drinks. At point our friend suddenly asked, "why is glass in my fingers?'. There was glass all over her side of the table & when I got up to look closer, we noticed there was glass on the leather bench she & I sat on. I went to the front and asked for a mgr. He came out, asked about the problem. He cleaned it, replaced her glass, stated that someone the night before may have broken a glass and didn't clean it all up. We thanked him and he left...no apology or anything. When then the waitress presented us the bill after dinner, she never mentioned the broken glass incident We paid our $90.33 tab, let her know how we felt about the poor customer service. She looked irritated, told us to wait and walked off somewhere. We waited for about 7-10 minutes and left because our friends had to pick the kids up. We thought, she and the mgr. would at the very least apologize and take her drink off the tab as a show of good will and to express some concern for what could have happened. We frequent Cheesecake often. In fact a few years back, we walked in that same restaurant, I slipped and fell hard because there was water on the floor. Everyone (including a couple of other patrons) suggested I lawyer up, but I didn't because I didnt want anyone to lose her/his job. Another time, the server brought a plate of french fries that sugar (instead of salt) had been dumped on. This 3rd incident was the charm. J Santiago

I was dining at the Sawgrass Mills, Fl location April 7, 2018 and had a terrible experience. My meatloaf was burnt, and then I ordered a smoke burger which was half the size of the bun. The server was nice, but the manager ignored us. I waited to see another manager and that was a waste of time. He offered us a slice of cheesecake but that was it. I was highly disappointed that a franchise this large would be so cheap. We ended up at Grand Lux and the Burger was A Burger, not bread. Shame on those managers at Sawgrass. The first Burger is Cheesecake, and the second is Grand Lux.

Unfortunately my family was extremely disappointed with our experience today. Our food was the worst it has ever been. One example is my daughters pizza had zero sauce only cheese and our waiter had to be asked 3 times to bring us silverware. At the end of the meal he brought us a bill for $77. When our card rang through we were charged $106. To top it all off there was a sharp piece of metal sticking out from the bottom of the table which sliced a whole in my very expensive jeans. We unfortunately have a sour taste in our mouth for Cheesecake Factory now, which was a restaurant we for formally loved and frequented often. I would appreciate a follow up phone call. While there is nothing we can do about our less than satisfactory experience I am now out $130 for my favorite pair of jeans. I am only lucky enough that the metal did not cut my skin resulting in a tetanus shot. Thank you in advance

I am a frequent customer at the Skokie, IL location. I swear, if one more wait person says "No problem" to me after I say "Thank you, " I'm going to rip their throat out. PLEASE instruct your personnel nationwide NEVER to insult the customers with this chirpy put-down EVER again. Even Forbes Magazine warns that this practice is terrible for business. Thank you.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-problem-yes-its-a-big-problem/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimblasingame/2014/07/25/thank-you-is-golden-no-problem-is-a-problem/#4bb38b4e340b
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimblasingame/2014/07/25/thank-you-is-golden-no-problem-is-a-problem/#4bb38b4e340b

On Sunday March 18, 2018, about 7:10 pm i walked into Cheesecake Factory located in Escondido off of Via Rancho Parkway. I walked inside and requested a booth to be sat at. The hostess told me it will be about 10 to 15 minuets. About 7:30 pm my buzzer went off and i walked up to the counter and the hostess escorted my wife and I to little booth. I told the hostess I would like a larger booth for my wife and I. The hostess then walked us back up to the front of the store and said it will be about 10 more minuets before a booth would be available. We said fine and we waited. At about 7:57 pm we walked up to the manager and explained the problem and he said, there were parties with three or more people that need to be seated first before you. We told him that we sat here and cleared out the lobby and we are still waiting to be seated. He didn't care to listen to what we had to say or try to accommodate us in anyway even though we waited for almost a hour to be seated. I will never come back to your restaurant again due to the fact of horrible customer service and no respect for paying customers!

My wife, mother in-law, my son and I dined at your Rancho Mirage location to celebrate my wife's birthday. We eat at that location frequently and have always enjoyed great service. Lindsay, our server was great! She was knowledgeable and courteous and our food was perfect. Our complete dining experience was perfect. When we received our bill, my mother in law insisted on paying the bill and began counting her money at the table. She has had a stroke a few years ago so my wife had to help her count it. They put the cash for the bill and a generous tip in the billfold. I added to the tip because Lindsay did such a great job. After we put the money in the billfold on the table we started to leave. I ran ahead to my car so I could pull the it close by so my mother in law wouldn't have to walk far. As my family left the building, Lindsay stopped them outside and claimed we didn't pay. They assured her we put the cash in the billfold. My wife went back inside to speak to the manager. Jamie. She was not courteous and said she couldn't make us stay if we said we paid but she wanted to look at the video surveillance tape. Her demeanor was acusitory. My wife said she would be happy to stay and wait to see who took the cash from our table. Jamie said it would take a while so my wife left. We went home and called the restaurant and spoke to Jamie who then said she watched the tape and said someone from our party wearing a grey t-shirt and a hat went back to the table and took the money. Nobody from our group matched that description. When I told Jamie nobody in our party were wearing t-shirts or hats she still said it was definitely someone from our party. Obviously the footage didn't show our table or they would have seen what the people in our group look like. What is most upsetting is there is a possibility the Lindsay may not receive her tip fir her fine work. I am very upset with Jamie. My wife is furious and vows to never eat there again. I will share our unfortunate story with anyone who mentions cheesecake factory. I am not a yelp reviewer but I am considering posting this letter. This is not the way your management should treat your customers. We are humiliated and appalled. Thanks to your inept manager, you have lost 4 very loyal customers.