The Cheesecake Factory

Positives: Beautiful interior, just beautiful. It doesn’t look like a factory at all! Huge menu, something for everyone. Cheesecake is wonderful. Large portions.
Negatives: Way overpriced. My wife and I got a gift card for Christmas. Went for lunch. Had 2 appetizers, split a fish and chips meal, split a cheesecake and had no drinks. Over $ 50.00 with the tip. What? $ 50.00 for lunch after splitting a meal and dessert? Really? We tried to go for dinner a couple of times and the wait was ridiculous. I don’t understand the draw unless people are going in and having a slice of cheesecake only. We finally decided to go when the place opened to avoid the crowds. Food is good but not awesome. Our waitress seemed a bit bothered by our requests. She was quite busy. She seemed a little miffed because my wife didn’t like the tasteless weak iced tea and changed to coke.
I would only return if Penny were my waitress.

Take away another star for the disappointment factor. If you are spending over $ 80 for 2 people (and you will) you’d expect at least a 4 star experience, but it’s just disappointing.
The service is only adequate. Our server was nice, but she didn’t seem to be as well trained on first class service as I’d hoped. She didn’t ask about appetizers, she didn’t ask if I wanted another cocktail, she seemed in a rush and she almost didn’t take my dessert order. Also the service was slower than I would expect. Again, at most restaurants that wouldn’t be an issue, but for the money you’ll pay, it’s not what you’d expect.
The atmosphere wasn’t very welcoming. All of the staff appeared defeated & joyless, managers, servers and hosts included. The water glasses are made of plastic and it’s impossible to sit at the tables we were at without sharing your conversation with the parties on either side of you. The menu is massive and every other page is a full-​page ad (I’ve never seen this before) and they were out of most of the cheescakes we wanted to try.
The food was the biggest disappointment. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t worth the money. The portions are very large, but what’s the point if it takes like it came out of a freezer bag? We had the Bang-​bang shrimp and the Jambalaya pasta, and both tasted pre-​prepared.
Having been in the service industry and having worked in restaurants before, I can attribute the failings of this place to 1 thing. Poor management. A restaurant (or any business) is only as good as the people running it. Train your staff well, enforce standards and focus on the customer experience. Unfortunately, and this is all too common, this will probably won’t happen, as people are still standing in line to get in. Oh well. I won’t wait in line there again.

I love cheesecake so in my mind they can’t go wrong. I ordered the banana cream cheesecake. It was very good and rich in taste. I will definitely go back so that I can try the other flavors of cheesecake. We only went for dessert. The wait staff was good.

First visit to this chain. We had a nice time. I ate 2 of the small lower calorie plates and they were pretty good-​pot stickers and lettuce wrap tacos Asian style. Both dishes I had were wonderful! The other members of our group got a BLT, Cajun pasta, and Deviance pasta, all said their dishes were average and bland. The server was nice and attentive. Dessert consisted of Kahlua and turtle cheesecake both awesome!

I have been going to Cheesecake Factories for a long time and the location in Knoxville has become my favorite go-​to.
You can never go wrong with this chain since the food and portions are pretty large. Also, the cheesecakes are delicious, always.

The food at the cheesecake factory used to be better but it’s still good. Big portions, big prices. The table we got was terrible. If you’re looking for a little privacy be careful alot of tables offer none. I ordered some fish tacos with black beans and rice. It was good not great and the black beans were definitely canned. The wait was too long to be sitting in our neighbors laps and not feeling comfortable talking. My wife had a salad with all those green healthy things like kale. She seemed pleased with her food.
I think the best thing was the bread basket and piece of cheesecake we took to go, just couldn’t sit in the public school cafeteria atmosphere any longer to eat our desert.

The food was good but overpriced, and I can’t begin to overstate how overpriced the drinks are. Do not make the mistake of ordering a mixed drink without asking the price of everything very carefully. Nine dollar (small) margaritas seem pretty ridonculous to me. Smooth move not listing your drink prices, guys. You got another sucker who was distracted by conversation and the overwhelming menu. Also, nice job upcharging me 4 bucks for a salad you implied came with the meal.
The menu has way too many options. I would guess there are more than 100 options when it comes to food. No kidding. People don’t want to deliberate that much about food. Having just one third of those options would still be a huge selection.
It was my first time eating there, but I won’t go back, since I got slightly above-​average lunch and drinks, for the price of a fairly high-​end dinner.
I’m baffled that there are so many 5 star reviews of this restaurant. Prime example of an overrated chain. There are reviews that fit my experience but then there are many endlessly praising and if price is mentioned it’s in the context of «totally worth it for the experience». No, no it is not.

We had Chicken Marsala (ok, but a bit bland) & Chicken Salad sandwich with a small green salad. Food was average, not bad, but nothing to brag about. The cheesecake with strawberries & whipped cream was disappointing. For $ 7.95 a slice I would have hoped for real whipped cream, not huge swirling mountains of Cool Whip. I’ve had much better cheesecake. Our bill was over $ 50, way too much for average food at best.
Too bad the food isn’t up to par with the décor of the restaurant. It’s very pretty inside, reminds me of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
A note about seating: there are TINY 2-​top tables virtually on top of each other. Make sure to request a booth unless you want every word of your conversation broadcast to people sitting on either side.

Came here for lunch the other day. Every single food item was cooked perfectly! I tried the mushroom/​avocado fries and they were really good.
One important thing to note is the fact that a nice young couple sat next to me. They were hearing impaired. I was curious how the restaurant would handle this. I was amazed when two waiters came over and spoke ASL fluently. How wonderful!

Huge portions and a very extensive menu. The cheesecake was yummy!

Such a disappointment! My how the Cheesecake Factory has changed (and not for the better) over the years.
1. Walked in and wanted to sit out on the patio. Greeted by the hostess who told us they just shut the patio down because there is a storm coming. This is East TN where weather men are wrong 99% of the time. We asked again if we could sit outside. She approved it with her manager and we were the only table outside. It was a very warm, but totally overcast day, so not too hot for outside. I cannot believe no one else was out there, but hey, it was our own private (huge) patio!
2. Waitress Danielle was very nice. Diligent. Attentive. She did everything she could to make us happy.
3. We ordered 2 drinks– blueberry mojito (excellent) and a Bombay Sapphire on the rocks with blue cheese stuffed olives and olive juice on the side (so I could make my own dirty martini – most people make it too dirty and I hate sending things back if I can avoid it).
4. The first ‘martini’ came out and tasted like a jalapeño flavored vodka or liquor that was completely unlike any gin I’d ever had. My boyfriend tasted it and confirmed — it was NOT gin after all. We aren’t connoisseurs, but we know when gin is good, or bad, or non existent. We sent it back.
5. The 2^nd ‘martini’ arrived and tasted exactly the same. Slightly frustrated at this point but still willing to give it a shot, we asked for Tanqueray. I figured the Sapphire had either 1. Been contaminated or 2. Gone bad. We asked our server to taste the drink, she couldn’t. We asked her to please have the manager taste it.
6. A few mins later the manager arrives with our new (and improved!) Tanqueray martini. We asked him if he tasted the other and he said ‘Yes. It tasted fine. Just like gin.’ Now this is where I get REALLY frustrated. The manager of this place tasted our drink and said it tasted like gin. So either he 1. Had NO idea what he was talking about or 2. Has NO taste buds! THAT WAS NOT GIN. I REPEAT. THAT WAS NOT GIN.
7. We chatted with the manager for a minute or two about what could have possibly happened. The top to the other liquor could have been accidentally swapped and hence taken on the flavor of jalapeño (tequila he said). OK whatever. Our new martini was just fine and delicious.
8. We ordered the spicy Jamaican jerk chicken with rice, beans and plantains. We really ordered this because the plantains sounded great and we were in the mood for them! The dish arrived without plantains. No acknowledgment on behalf of the Cheesecake Factory, so upon Danielle asking what else we need, I immediately mentioned – ‘We just need the plantains.’ She turns around and looks at the food runner who says-‘Oh, we’re out of them.’ WTF!!! Now we are angry. That’s the reason I ordered the dish! Of course there’s nothing they or we can do but order a vegetable to sub, so we reluctantly accepted asparagus.
9. In all fairness – so you don’t think I’m just trying to bash this place – the dish was delicious. The sauce had just the right amount of spice. The chicken was moist and tender. They did a really good job with this, lack of plantains aside.
10. We ordered cheesecake to go. Got home and went to take a couple bites and the slice was warm. Like, melted almost. The cheesecake and cream cheese topping was falling over, like a sad little leaning tower of Pisa. We had to stick it into the freezer for 45 mins to harden it in order to enjoy it.
OK I remember the Cheesecake Factory growing up and this is not the same place. Something has happened, or NOT happened. But we won’t be returning in the near future unless we hear that a miracle has taken place.
BTW– it never rained. In fact the sky cleared and was almost blue by the time we finished dinner!

Huge menu and portions. Even the lunch portions of the salads are massive. The Santa Fe salad is my favorite! I get it with no cheese and if I know I’m not going to finish it, I get tortilla strips on the side so they don’t get soggy. The factory nachos with chicken appetizer is massive and really good too. Of course, the cheesecakes are amazing. Pretty expensive overall though. And the seating arrangement is horrible if you’re a party of 2. They really squeeze you in there and it’s mildly awkward, but the high tops and patio are great. I’ve been to this location a handful of times and every visit was pleasant.

Recently, my family visited the Cheesecake Factory in Knoxville, TN, on a Saturday night, but decided not to wait two hours. This weekend, we stopped in again, earlier this time. The 2-​hour wait ended up only being one hour. Although jammed, service was attentive, yet we had plenty of time to savor our meal.
The Fried Calamari appetizer was crispy and chewy, just the way we like it. Perfectly spiced, and paired well with the garlic dip.
Since we planned to order cheesecake, we shared the Four Cheese Pasta: penne pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, Romano, and Parmesan cheeses, marinara sauce and fresh basil, and opted for the fried chicken add-​on. The four cheeses blended well together, but the highlight was the chicken, tender and moist, thin strips with just the right amount of breading. The ample serving size was plenty for sharing.
I chose Craig’s Crazy Carrot Cake Cheesecake and Dora ordered Chris’s Outrageous Cheesecake. This is a cheesecake factory, so you know the cheesecake was great. Dora here. Great? Oh my stars! Rich and decadent, melt-​in-​my-​mouth heaven!
I would rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5.
~Ernie Hiers, Food blogger at Fiction Faith & Foodies

I cannot believe I have never reviewed this place. Took my husband here as a surprise lunch birthday and this check-​in was for my daughters 18^th birthday.
My mom met there early to get balloons set up — they were on a wait, as usual but they took the balloons and as soon as a table was ready had them already set up with our party hats at each setting.
The manager said we were so festive on our celebration he bought her a cheesecake just for making him smile when he passed the table, and they never buy you a cheesecake for your birthday.
The food portions were so big, each of us took a box home, and the steaks we ordered were cooked to perfection. The salmon was cooked well and the pasta was spicy, just as my daughter likes it!
The servers took turns waiting on us, they made us feel a bit rushed, but overall we will keep going back. The food is just too good to pass up.

The food is pretty well done here, and they certainly do have a large menu. I like the fact that they offer a pretty wide variety of lower-​calorie items, although I wonder how accurate the calorie count really is in these «Skinnilicious» offerings. The non-​low-​cal entrees are large and, I’m sure, absolutely loaded with extra butter… because they’re very good. Cheesecake varieties for dessert are almost too thick; I can’t imagine ever eating a piece totally by myself after a dinner here.
If you’re planning on having a cocktail or a glass of wine with your dinner, bring some extra cash because they’re amazingly expensive. $ 8.50 for a glass of house wine? Come on…
Service is very friendly, not overly so, but professional. Good place to take your folks or family for dinner. Good food, not terribly inspired, but consistent and tasty.

This was my first time eating at TCF. It was really good. Not great, but good. The service made up for the overpriced «what I consider to be ordinary» fare. Our waitress was great, as well as patient, and that IS rare. I was taken as a treat so I can’t complain, but had I paid this review might have been modified slightly. Ultimately, I recommend eating here at least once, and try the Chicken Madeira. I also recommend not going during peak hours. Arriving at 5 for dinner is ideal if you want a table in a timely manner.

I’m not sure what is so great about this place. The food was just ok to my wife and I and it was way overpriced.
Maybe it’s the large menu. That is kind of nice.

The Cheesecake Factory was absolutely amazing!
I visited on a Sunday around 2:30 P.M. after the church crowed cleared out and immediately got a seat! It is very surprising because usually the wait seems to be very long anyways! I have to say that the staff was very accommodating and the food was great! Little pricey to get the whole experience but was worth every penny! Will be going back soon!

The food is great but sadly the service was terrible even though it wasn’t over crowded. The waiter never brought me my drink and when I finally asked him about it he said he would bring it back but never did.
Finally close to 20 minutes later he brought the drink and on his own accord said he was sorry and was going to send a manager over. The manager never came over.
Good food, great atmosphere, bad service… but for that cheesecake I’ll be going back.

3 hour wait. Don’t do it unless you like to stand around outside in the parking lot. Rude hostess, rude waiter, rude manager. Will not come again. Ever.
As we came back in after 2 hours of waiting to ask for an update I was actually laughed at. I mean I chuckled with her too, especially after being told that 2 hours and 45 minutes was a fairly reasonable wait. I then burst into laughter after that was followed by «sir there is a delay because people are ordering cheesecake and sitting around».
Is that not what people should do at The Cheesecake Factory?
I went with a group of 8, and the only thing that was complemented was the dessert. Just order the dessert through their take-​out or walk-​in service and skip a wonderful experience that I wish I had never endured.