The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Alpharetta

The Review My wife and I decided to grab a late lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at around 3pm today. Surprisingly, the place was nearly empty when we arrived. However, our anticipation for a quick bite turned into frustration when we were left waiting for almost 20 minutes before the hostess realized she had seated us in the wrong section. Despite her suggestion for us to move to a different area, we decided to leave instead. As we stood up to go, a server approached us, puzzled as to why we were sitting in a neglected area. To top it off, the manager seemed preoccupied at the hostess desk, making us feel completely ignored as we left.

This disappointing experience reminded me of a similar, if not worse, encounter at a Cheesecake Factory in North Carolina over a year ago. It’s a shame when dining out turns into such a letdown.

I mean, sure, in the world of make-believe Cheesecake Factory might sound like a charming thought for a date, but in reality, it's a terrible idea and will be a disappointment. How they manage to stay in business is beyond me given the great lengths they go to NOT to take my money for their overpriced dishes. Do yourself a favor and skip the disappointment. Save your hard-earned cash and opt for a better dining experience or whip up something tasty at home. In today's economy, we can't afford to waste money on this kind of nonsense.

Cheesecake Factory Management Comments and Questions (1) Placing us in the wrong section How does this happen? Why are there sections at all? Why am I, the customer, even privy to the “operations” of Cheesecake Factory. As a paying customer I should come in the door, sit anywhere I please and be served. Period. I should not be expected to care about how your “sections” or “placement software” works. I just want to put my order in, eat some overpriced food, pay my ticket then leave. Its not rocket science.

(2) No one checking on us How do you not even check if a “potential customer”is ready to order for 20 minutes? The hostess forgot about us, the server in a “distant” section 5-10ft away forgot about us and every other worker that walked by our table noticing we were obviously waiting to be served never bothered to ask if anyone was helping us. Cheesecake Factory was 99% on its way to taking my money but they screwed up the last 1% by just ignoring us. You had one job to do and failed at it miserably.

(3) Asking us to move Why would you ask us to move to a different section when it was your mistake? Is it physically impossible for the server in a different section to walk an extra 5-10 feet? Why should we have to move for your...

This is an updated revised review. I couldnt figure out how to add a separate new review so as a result I'm compelled to update this review.

Visited Cheesecake Factory on 8/23 to celebrate another birthday with my family. Unfortunately, this experience was quite different from our previous visits. The server, while he did his job, was not very personable nor engaging making the customer feel welcomed and feeling good about one's decision to dine at this location. The most disappointing thing about this visit was the appetizer. We ordered the warm crab dip and all parties who ate this dip knew what we received was not crab dip. We've had this particular item at this location as well as other locations throughout the various cities and states.

It appears the dip was substituted with tuna and lots of green onion to disguise the taste. The entire dish was very different and the tuna taste with green onions was very pronounced.

Given that people choose to select a restaurant that has demonstrated quality and good food, it is imperative that when that restaurant changes it recipe or runs out of the real product that the customer is advised so a decision can be made as to whether or not one wants to proceed or order something different. In today’s world, we all have choices and those providing a service should ensure consistency in products provided along with customer service remain to be an important part of its culture. Unfortunately, this experience at this location will no longer be frequent by me nor my family.

"This section is from a previous visit" What a pleasant experience! Another restaurant with the right staff who contributed to making it a wonderful experience. Today, we had a party of 7 and we were fortunate enough to be seated in Zuri's area.

Zuri was very pleasant and managed our party very well. We ordered several appetizers such as crab dip, artichoke tacos, meatballs and bang bang shrimp. The food was served hot and very fresh. Our main meals were from a wide variety of vegan burger, shrimp pasta dish, fried shrimp platter, fish and chips and pasta with no meat. The food was perfectly spaced out and gave us time to talk and enjoy each other's presence between the course. Although Zuri had other tables, I observed her balancing her attendance between each customer which allowed everyone of her customers to enjoy their experience and meal. Glasses remained filled, food order taken correctly, all meals paced and delivered as expected. Kudos to Zuri for her services and to Cheesecake Factory Management for hiring people like Zuri to deliver the Ultimate...

Update 1/31/2023 - About 5 days after my experience below, the corporate office reached out to me to discuss the service that I received at this Alpharetta location. They were attentive to my concerns, we talked through possible things that the restautant can implement to make sure that this doesn't happen again, and they made things right for me.

We ordered take out again today to celebrate a co-worker and my experience today was a complete 180 from my experience at the holiday. The gentleman working the take-out counter/dessert counter was prompt, friendly and truly cared about getting my order out to me in a timely fashion. The food was delicious and the company absolutely redeemed themselves in my eyes. I've changed my review to 4 stars based on today's interaction.

Thank you to Cheesecake Factory Corporate office for handling this situation in a proper manner.

First off, the food that we ordered was delicious. However, the customer service experience between yesterday and today was completely terrible.

We had a very large order for a holiday party. I tried to call the order in yesterday in allow for 24 hours' notice for it to be prepared and was told I couldn't do that, I had to order everything online for pickup.

The website would not allow me to order for next day, so I placed the order around 6:00am this morning for an 11:30 pick up. I arrived at 11:23 and called to let them know I was there. At 11:45 nobody had come out with our food, so I called and was told that the person I was speaking to "was just in the kitchen and they were packing the order now."

Another 10 minutes went by and someone brough out the food order but told me he would be right back with the cheesecakes we ordered as well. I waited an additional 15 minutes until almost 12:20 (for an order that was scheduled for pick up at 11:30) and went into the restaurant. I asked to speak to the manager, and was told by the host, "This is him right here behind me." The manager turned around and looked me directly in the eye then walked away.

Another few minutes passed and yet another runner came out into the lobby with the cheesecakes to complete the order. I departed the restaurant after 12:30 with my food that was ordered for pick up at 11:30.

Next year's holiday party we will choose a...