Founding and early years

Evelyn Overton opened a business after making a cheesecake for her husband's employer in 1949. She opened a small cheesecake bakery in Detroit, Michigan, in the late 1950s but eventually gave it up to raise her two children. She continued to supply cakes to several local restaurants through a kitchen in her basement. In 1967, Evelyn's son David M. Overton left Detroit to attend Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, but in 1968, decided to be a drummer, performing with the Billy Roberts Blues Band.^[5] In 1971, David convinced his parents to relocate to Los Angeles to open a commercial bakery.^[5] In 1972, they moved to the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles where they opened the Cheesecake Factory Bakery, in which they produced cheesecakes and other desserts for local restaurants.^[6]

California

In 1978, Evelyn's son David opened the Cheesecake Factory, a small salad-and-sandwich restaurant in Beverly Hills that sold ten varieties of cheesecakes on a one-page menu.^[6] In 1983, he opened a second restaurant in Marina 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 in Redondo 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 fast-food and short-order items.^[6]

Expansion beyond Southern California

The 1990s saw the opening of the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant outside of Southern California. The new restaurant was located in Washington, D.C. The Cheesecake Factory was incorporated in 1992^[7] and went public in September 1993. David Overton planned to open 3–4 units a year to generate a 25% yearly increase in sales.^[6]

The company began changing its menu twice a year and adding steaks, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. The company continued to open new restaurants and by 1995 was ranked 11th in the United States. As of April 2013, the Cheesecake Factory operated 162 restaurants under the Cheesecake Factory name in 36 states.^[8] Plaza Las Américas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, opened its first Cheesecake Factory on August 28, 2013.^[9]

The company used to operate one self-service, limited-menu express food service operation under the Cheesecake Factory marque inside DisneyQuest at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It opened in 1998 and closed in 2017.^[10]

International expansion

Cheesecake Factory; Ross Park Mall; Pittsburgh PA

The Cheesecake Factory in Hong Kong

The Cheesecake Factory has expanded into international markets by licensing agreements for other companies to operate franchises and corporate ownership. The first store outside the United States was opened at The Dubai Mall in August 2012 as a franchise via a licensing agreement.

The Cheesecake Factory at Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York

On January 25, 2011, the company expanded into the Middle East in a partnership with Kuwaiti retail franchising company M.H. Alshaya Co. The 300-seat restaurant opened on August 16, 2012, at The Dubai Mall. This is the Cheesecake Factory's first location outside the United States.^[11]

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 in Disneytown in Pudong, Shanghai, China, on June 16, 2016.^[12]

Also, in 2014, the first Cheesecake Factory in Mexico opened its doors in Guadalajara.^[11]

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 and Dubai Festival City Mall), three in Kuwait (Arabella, Sidra, and Avenues Mall—which was the 160th Cheesecake Factory opening),^[13] two in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Jeddah), and lastly one in the Yas Mall and one in The Galleria in Abu Dhabi.^[14] On December 1, 2015, the Cheesecake Factory opened its eighth Middle East branch at the Verdun Shopping Center in Beirut, 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 in Doha, Qatar by opening in the Mall of Qatar and further opened two more branches in Villaggio and Doha Festival City.

There are Cheesecake Factories in Parque Delta and Centro Santa Fe, Mexico City.^[15]

On April 12, 2017, the company announced it would expand into Canada.^[16] In November 2017, the first Canadian location opened at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Ontario.^[17][18]

In May 2017, a Hong Kong store opened in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui.^[19]

As of the end of 2021, the Cheesecake Factory is open for business in UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Mexico, the Chinese Mainland, and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

Grand Lux Cafe

The Grand Lux Cafe in The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida, in February 2022

David Overton designed the Grand Lux Cafe, an upscale restaurant for The Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas.^[22] 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 in Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.

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

RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen was a contemporary Asian-fusion restaurant that opened on June 19, 2008, at Century 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 the COVID-19 pandemic.^[23] A second location opened in Oakbrook, IL in November 2017,^[24] but closed in December 2019.^[25]

Fox Restaurant Concepts

On July 31, 2019, the Cheesecake Factory announced it had reached an agreement to buy Phoenix-based Fox Restaurant Concepts (FRC) for $308 million in cash at closing and another $45 million due over the next four years.^[26]

The interior of a North Italia restaurant in Dunwoody, Georgia

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.

Caloric content

The Cheesecake Factory has been criticized for featuring large servings of high-calorie and high-fat foods and a lack of healthy menu options. For these reasons, the chain was dubbed the "worst family restaurant in America" for 2010 by Men's Health magazine.^[32] The average sandwich at the restaurant contains 1,400 calories.^[33] In 2013, the Center 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 of fried chicken from KFC and the Cheesecake Factory's "Bistro Shrimp Pasta" dish, which had more calories than any other entrée from a national chain restaurant at 3,120 calories, with 89 grams of saturated fat.^[34] The United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion states in its dietary guidelines that a typical female adult should consume about 2,000 calories (males 2,500)^[35] and no more than 10% of saturated fat per day.^[36] 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.^[37]