The Cheesecake Factory

Founding and early years

The Cheesecake Factory was founded by Evelyn Overton. Evelyn first decided to open a business after making a cheesecake for her husband's employer in 1949. She opened a small cheesecake shop in Detroit, Michigan in the late 1950s, but eventually gave it up in order to raise her two children. She continued to supply cakes to several local restaurants through a kitchen in her basement. In 1972, Oscar and Evelyn moved to the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles where they opened a wholesale bakery, in which they produced cheesecakes and other desserts for local restaurants.^[3]

California

In 1978, Evelyn's son David opened a small salad-and-sandwich restaurant in Beverly Hills that sold 10 varieties of cheesecakes on a one-page menu.^[3] 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.^[3]

Expansion beyond Southern California

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

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 and went public in September 1993. David Overton planned to open 3-4 units a year in the hopes of generating 25% a year increase in sales.^[3]

The company began changing its menu twice a year and added items including 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.^[4]

The company used to operate one self-service, limited-menu express food service operation under The Cheesecake Factory marque inside the DisneyQuest family entertainment center in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.^[5]

International expansion

The Cheesecake Factory in Hong Kong

The Cheesecake Factory has expanded into international markets by both licensing agreements for other companies to operate franchises, and by 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 first Canadian location was opened at Yorkdale Mall in Toronto in November 2017.^[6]

Plaza Las Américas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, opened its first Cheesecake Factory in the Caribbean on August 28, 2013.^[7]

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.

In May 2014, The Cheesecake Factory announced that they 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.^[8]

As of May, 2018, the Cheesecake Factory had eight restaurants in the Middle East. They have three in Dubai: at The Dubai Mall, Mall of Emirates, and Jumeirah Beach Residence. In Kuwait, they have one in The Avenues Mall and another in Arabella, with two in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh and Jeddah, and lastly in the Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi.^[9] On December 1, 2015, The Cheesecake Factory opened its eighth Middle East branch at the Verdun Shopping Center in Beirut, Lebanon. The opening was attended by many of The Cheesecake Factory management including managers from the US and Dubai.The Cheesecake Factory opened also made its first appearance in Doha, Qatar, by opening in the Mall of Qatar and further opened two more branches in Villagio and Doha Festival City.

There are Cheesecake Factories in Parque Delta (shopping center) and Centro Santa Fe, Mexico City.^[10]

On April 12, 2017, the company announced that it is expanding into Canada with the first location at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Ontario. At more than 10,400 sq. ft, the new location opened in November 2017.^[11][12]

In May 2017, a Hong Kong store opened in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui.^[13]

Grand Lux Cafe

David Overton designed the Grand Lux Cafe, an upscale restaurant for The Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas.^[14] 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 fourteen Grand Lux Cafe restaurants located in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Each Grand Lux Cafe features an on-site bakery which produces a selection of signature bake-to-order desserts (takes up to 30min.), and a full-service craft bar.

Most of the restaurants feature sumptuous fabrics and textures and polished marble floors and table tops. Hand-blown glass fixtures and intricate mosaics. The four most recent Grand Lux Cafe restaurants have moved in a new design direction, incorporating inlaid leather seating, warm wood paneling, colorful drum lamp shades and roaring fireplaces to create a cleaner modern look.

RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen

RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen is a contemporary Asian-fusion restaurant which 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. A second location opened in Oakbrook, IL in November 2017.^[15]

Caloric content

The Cheesecake Factory has been criticized for featuring large servings of high calorie and high fat foods, and a corresponding 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.^[16] The average sandwich at the restaurant contains 1,400 calories.^[17] 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.^[18] 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 plus 500)^[19] and no more than 10% of saturated fat per day.^[20] 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.^[21]