The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Abington Township

My wife and I decided on a whim to go back to the Cheesecake Factory in Willow Grove as a New Year's Day treat since we had some errands to run in the area. We usually only go on special occasions as it is one if the more expensive places we eat... Now, I know it was New Year's Day and all but after waiting 45+ minutes (at least you can walk the mall while you wait) they finally texted that they were ready. Well, they stuck us in the bar area and apparently they were so short staffed that we waited another 20+ mins for the bartender to realize we had been seated in her area. She was pleasant enough and apologetic for the situation... apparently they werent supposed to be seating people there due to short staff from the holiday. So, she was running around like crazy and finally came back 15 mins later to get us drinks. The drinks were VERY slow to arrive. We placed our order and waited another 45 mins for our food. When it finally arrived her baked max and cheese was barely cooked and didnt have the signature bread crumbs and my turkey bacon avocado club sandwich was bland, the bacon was undercooked, and for some reason they used an unripened avocado so hard in spots I couldnt eat it. We were getting thirsty so I decided to help the girl out and went over to the bar to ask for a refill. It took forever to get her attention and then we waited for another 10 to 15 mins for her to bring them. Now, you cant go to a place with cheesecake in the name and not get cheesecake and we told her right when we ordered that we wanted some to go. So, we said we were ready to leave and she said ok... another 15 mins later we had our to go cheesecake. I got peanut butter silk and my wife got the raspberry one. Her piece was almost half the size of mine. This "fabulous" dining experience cost us about $65 (and over 2 hours of our day) and the girl was apologetic but didnt offer to give us any kind of discount. It was the most expensive dining experience I ever hated. Now, at other non-holiday times it might still be ok (though the prices have gone up a lot) but this was a costly dinner disappointment. I guess the moral is dont go here on a major holiday like new year's day. It was mobbed. They have like 2 seats in the waiting area. This used to be a favorite splurge but it is really close to falling off our list of fancy places to eat. Her cheesecake that we took home was not up to their typical standards.. When we finally give them another chance it will be at an off peak non holiday for sure but who knows when...

Honestly, I’ve been to Cheesecake Factory (The Willow grove location specifically) for ages. It’s a shame to see what once was a wonderful restaurant go downhill. The bread they have always been known for was rock hard and not hot nor warm. The table was sticky, which I myself had to use hand wipes and my water to clean. The silverware was also not cleaned. I got a little bit of sauce on the side of my mouth so I used the napkin that is sat on the table before you get there, but the napkin was drenched in a lemon cleaning product. Not sure why the napkin was cleaner than the table. I also ordered a soda after I was done with my Pina colada… the soda was absolutely filled with seltzer..Anyways, my boyfriend and I order the burger and filet mignon both MEDIUM… however, as I cut into the filet mignon there was blood pouring out of it… I informed my waitress and she said “That’s medium”. I didn’t wanna be a pest so I tried a bite of it in front of her and nearly threw up as all I tasted was blood. She insisted they’d remake it but instead, she took it back to the kitchen where it was just REHEATED and not remade. My plate came back and the meat was still undercooked, my mash and broccoli was now cold (This dish should have been compensated as it was horrible). I didn’t finish it and wound up taking it home and throwing it in the trash. Now on to dessert….. my boyfriend had ordered the Oreo cheesecake (which came with stale Oreos). I would have LOVED to order the strawberry shortCAKE but as I told my waitress that I would like that… she told me that it was a BISCUIT that they cut in half and put whip crème in the middle of it with strawberries on top. I had asked her “is it like a crème puff?” And to which she responded.. “no it’s an actual biscuit cut in half”. I’m not sure why the menu says cake instead of biscuit but whatever I guess it’s not like they’re the amazing restaurant they used to be. If you asked me for my opinion on this place 5 years ago when they actually had a novel sized menu and great food.. I would have recommended you’d go there right away… But now?? I would recommend a restraining order.. With this horrible visit.. NOTHING was compensated or actually taken care of. I would have paid $500 for them to actually take care of at least one problem last night but nothing was. What a shame and...

Issues with food and service with our last visit. First when we checked in we were told a 50 minute wait which was surprising but not upsetting. When I came back an hour later they had never put our name and number into their rating system! My wife spoke to the hostess a second time who didn't realize that she was incorrect and spoke to the manager and got us our table seating immediately.

Our server took a lot longer to get a drink order from us than I would have expected. We had about half our table with non-alcoholic Beverages and the other half getting a beer and mixed drinks. The non-alcoholic beverages came out first he then went to get the beer second but then was another 5 + minutes on gays and mixed drinks third. She even went and covered tables in between instead of getting our drinks in a more timely basis.

In regards to the entrees I had the jambalaya pasta which is supposed to be a Cajun spicy dish. I asked for extra spicy which includes and that pisses on the ward extra. When it came out it was at best a mild rendition of a very spicy dish that I was eating. My daughter had a New York strip steak that came out being a lot thinner than we would have expected for the price and while she ordered a medium level of cooked is it came back very well done in her opinion there was no pink in the center as we expect a medium steak to have.

We got six entrees for dinner they came out at three different intervals of time in that were sufficiently separated that it was apparent that the attentiveness to service that we were looking for and expecting was not there. On top of that my daughter also ordered an order of fries that did not come out till my daughter had completely finished her entree.

This was an extremely disappointing experience that I would not expect the Cheesecake Factory to do even on their busiest times. Due to social distancing issues at the Cheesecake Factory was still demonstrating the table that sit between the last row of restaurant table seating and the bar were completely not use which means the restaurant was not fully staffed. While I'm sure that was due to Staffing shortages it still means that they did not have a full house which means they should be more attentive to service and definitely more attentive to the quality of food coming out...