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 The Cheesecake Factory atThe Summit (Alabama) | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | 1972; 53 years ago (1972), inLos Angeles, California, U.S. (as a bakery) 1978; 47 years ago (1978), inBeverly Hills, California, U.S. (as a restaurant) |
| Founder | David Overton |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Number of locations | 370 (2025) |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | David Overton (chairman andCEO) David Gordon (president) |
| Products | Cheesecakes, burgers, pizza, pasta, steaks, sandwiches |
| Revenue |  US$3.581billion (2024) |
| US$178.317 million (2024) | |
| US$156.783 million (2024) | |
| Total assets |  US$2.775 billion (2022) |
| Total equity | US$292 million (2022) |
Number of employees | 47,500 (2022) |
| Subsidiaries | Grand Lux Cafe, LLC RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen, LLC Social Monk Asian Kitchen[1] Fox Restaurant Concepts |
| Website | thecheesecakefactory |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an Americanrestaurant company and distributor ofcheesecakes based in the United States. It operates 370 full-service restaurants: 218 under the Cheesecake Factory brand, 47 under the North Italia brand, and 105 under other brands. The Cheesecake Factory also operates two bakery production facilities—inCalabasas, California, andRocky Mount, North Carolina.
David M. Overton, the company's founder, opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant inBeverly Hills, California, in 1978. The restaurant established the future chain's pattern of featuring an eclectic menu, large portions, and signature cheesecakes.[3] In 2025,Fortune ranked the Cheesecake Factory at number 23 on their Fortune List of the Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2020 based on an employee survey of satisfaction.[4] Additionally, The Cheesecake Factory's average unit volume consistently leads the casual restaurant industry.[5]
Evelyn Overton, inspired by a cheesecake recipe from a Detroit newspaper, made a cheesecake for her husband's employer in the 1940s. The cheesecake was well-received, and subsequently led her to open a small cheesecake bakery inDetroit, Michigan, in the late 1950s. She closed the bakery to raise her children, but continued supplying cheesecakes to local restaurants from her basement kitchen. In 1967, Evelyn's son David M. Overton left Detroit to attendHastings College of Law in San Francisco, but in 1968, decided to be a drummer, performing with theBilly Roberts Blues Band.[6][7] In 1971, David convinced his parents to relocate to Los Angeles to open a commercial bakery.[6] In 1972, they moved to theWoodland Hills area ofLos Angeles where they opened The Cheesecake Factory Bakery, in which they produced cheesecakes and other desserts for local restaurants.[8]
In 1978, Evelyn's son David opened The Cheesecake Factory, a small salad-and-sandwich restaurant inBeverly Hills that sold ten varieties of cheesecakes on a one-page menu.[8] In 1983, he opened a second restaurant inMarina del Rey. By 1987, the Beverly Hills location had expanded into a 78-seat restaurant and was experiencing great financial success. This led to the opening of a third, larger location inRedondo Beach, which was eventually renovated into a 300-seat, 21,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) location. By the end of the 1980s, The Cheesecake Factory's one-page menu had expanded, and the restaurant offered additional entrees and short-order items.[8]
The 1990s saw the opening of the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant outside ofSouthern California. The new restaurant, the chain's 5th, was located inWashington, D.C.[9] The Cheesecake Factory was incorporated in 1992[10] and went public in September 1993. David Overton planned to open 3–4 units a year to generate a 25% yearly increase in sales.[8]
The company began changing its menu twice a year and adding steaks, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. As of April 2013, the Cheesecake Factory operated 162 restaurants under the Cheesecake Factory name in 36 states.[11]Plaza Las Américas inSan Juan, Puerto Rico, opened its first Cheesecake Factory on August 28, 2013.[12]
The company used to operate oneself-service, limited-menuexpress food service operation under the Cheesecake Factory marque insideDisneyQuest atDisney Springs inWalt Disney World Resort inLake Buena Vista, Florida. It opened in 1998 and closed in 2017.[13]
The Cheesecake Factory has expanded into international markets by licensing agreements for other companies to operate restaurant locations outside of the US. The first restaurant outside the United States was opened atThe Dubai Mall in August 2012 via a licensing agreement.
On January 25, 2011, the company expanded into theMiddle East in a partnership withKuwaiti retailfranchising companyM.H. Alshaya Co. The 300-seat restaurant opened on August 16, 2012, at The Dubai Mall. This was The Cheesecake Factory's first location outside the United States.[14]
In May 2014, The Cheesecake Factory announced that it would open the first Cheesecake Factory in East Asia. The first East Asian Cheesecake Factory opened inDisneytown in Pudong, Shanghai, China, on June 16, 2016.[15]
Also, in 2014, the first Cheesecake Factory in Mexico opened its doors in Guadalajara.[14]
As of May 2018, The Cheesecake Factory has eleven restaurants in the Middle East: four in Dubai (Dubai Mall,Mall of Emirates,Jumeirah Beach Residence andDubai Festival City Mall), three in Kuwait (Arabella, Sidra, andThe Avenues—which was the 160th Cheesecake Factory opening),[16] two in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh andJeddah), and lastly one in the Yas Mall and one in The Galleria in Abu Dhabi.[17] On December 1, 2015, The Cheesecake Factory opened its eighth Middle East branch at the Verdun Shopping Center inBeirut,Lebanon. Many of the Cheesecake Factory management attended the opening, including managers from the US and Dubai. The Cheesecake Factory also made its first appearance inDoha, Qatar, by opening in theMall of Qatar and further opened two more branches in Villaggio andDoha Festival City.
There are Cheesecake Factories inParque Delta andCentro Santa Fe, Mexico City.[18]
On April 12, 2017, the company announced it would expand intoCanada.[19] In November 2017, the first Canadian location opened atYorkdale Shopping Centre inToronto, Ontario.[20][21]
In May 2017, a Hong Kong restaurant opened inHarbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui.[22]
As of the beginning of 2024,[23] the Cheesecake Factory is open for business in 12 countries and territories acrossthe Americas andAsia,Bahrain,Canada,China,Hong Kong,Kuwait,Macau,Mexico,Qatar,Saudi Arabia,Thailand, theUnited Arab Emirates and theUnited States.
In 2012, the Cheesecake Factory committed to eliminate the use ofgestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.[24] In its 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, it stated that by the end of 2022, 75% of its U.S. pork supply would be crate-free.[25] In 2024, the Cheesecake Factory was highlighted byanimal welfare organization Animal Equality for having made progress toward eliminating gestation crates in its supply chain, but not having eliminated them entirely.[26]
In 2015, the Cheesecake Factory stated that it would eliminate the use ofbattery cage eggs from its supply chain, but did not specify a timeline for doing so.[27] In 2023, it was identified byThe Humane League and the Open Wing Alliance for failing to report progress on its cage-free transition.[28] In March 2025, The Humane League stated that the Cheesecake Factory had achieved a 100% cage-free transition ahead of schedule.[29]
On December 4, 2020, theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission resolved charges brought against the Cheesecake Factory for misleading investors during theCOVID-19 pandemic; the company paid a $125,000 fine without admitting the findings in the order.[30][31]
The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe operates two bakery production facilities in Calabasas Hills, California, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and licenses two bakery-based menus to other food service operators. This division operates inNorth America,Europe,Asia and theMiddle East. The Cheesecake Factory Bakery has appointedSchengen Desserts B.V. as their master distributor for Europe.
David Overton designed the Grand Lux Cafe, an upscale restaurant forThe Venetian hotel andcasino inLas Vegas.[32] The restaurant is modeled after Italian, French, and Austrian styles. The Cafe offers, in addition to American and European-style food,Thai,Malaysian,Caribbean cuisine, and others. The Cheesecake Factory operates seven Grand Lux Cafe restaurants located inFlorida,Nevada,New Jersey,New York, andTexas. A location in Chicago closed December 24, 2023.
Each Grand Lux Cafe features an on-site bakery that produces a selection of signature bake-to-order desserts (up to 30 minutes) and a full-service craft bar.
RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen was a contemporaryAsian-fusion restaurant that opened on June 19, 2008, atCentury City in Los Angeles. David Overton excluded Chinese and Japanese cuisines from the menu, as these are served at the Grand Lux and Cheesecake Factory restaurants. It closed on December 31, 2020, at least in part to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[33] A second location opened in Oakbrook, Illinois, in November 2017,[34] but closed in December 2019.[35]
On July 31, 2019, The Cheesecake Factory announced it had reached an agreement to buyPhoenix-based Fox Restaurant Concepts (FRC) for $308 million in cash at closing and another $45 million due over the next four years.[36]
FRC started in 1998 when 21-year-old founder Sam Fox launched his first restaurant concept Wildflower (unrelated to another Arizona restaurant Wildflower Bread Company) and has since launched additional restaurants in differing categories including North Italia, a specialty restaurant known for pasta, pizza, and other Italian foods. North Italia alone currently has locations in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Other concepts from the FRC portfolio include: Flower Child, Culinary Dropout, Blanco, The Henry, Zinburger, The Arrogant Butcher, Doughbird, Fly Bye, The Greene House, Olive & Ivy, and Pushing Daisies.
The Cheesecake Factory dining menu includes steaks, chops, burgers, chicken, seafood, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, soups, and salads in various cuisines. In addition to its regular dining menu, the company offers a lower-calorie menu that includes salads, burgers, sandwiches, and small plates.[37] The brunch menu is offered on Saturdays and Sundays and includes pancakes, waffles, French toast, and eggs.[38]
The dessert menu offers more than cheesecake flavors and cakes,[39] milkshakes, and specialty and ice cream desserts.[37] Per a company spokesperson, the restaurant sells almost 35 million slices of cheesecake annually.[40]
The more than 250 menu items are all made from scratch to order.[41][42]
The Cheesecake Factory has been criticized for featuring large servings of high-calorie and high-fat foods. For these reasons, the chain was dubbed the "worst family restaurant in America" for 2010 byMen's Health magazine.[43] The average sandwich at the restaurant contains 1,400 calories.[44] In 2013, theCenter for Science in the Public Interest gave a better understanding toward some of the food found at the Cheesecake Factory, including the "Crispy Chicken Costoletta" that has more calories (2,610) than a 12-piece bucket offried chicken fromKFC and the Cheesecake Factory's "Bistro Shrimp Pasta" dish, which had more calories than any otherentrée from a national chain restaurant at 3,120 calories, with 89 grams of saturated fat.[45] TheUnited States Department of Agriculture'sCenter for Nutrition Policy and Promotion states in its dietary guidelines that a typical female adult should consume about 2,000 calories (males 2,500)[46] and no more than 10% of saturated fat per day.[47] In an attempt to offer healthier, lower-calorie meal options, the Cheesecake Factory created a "SkinnyLicious" menu that features a variety of cocktails, salads, appetizers, and specialty dishes such as lemon-garlic shrimp and grilled salmon.[48]
