The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Atlanta

I’ve been a longtime fan of The Cheesecake Factory and make it a point to visit whenever I’m in town visiting family (this time in town for a concert and family). Unfortunately, this recent experience at this particular location has made me reconsider future visits here.

Our server, Jasmine, was wonderful. She was friendly, attentive, and kind throughout the meal. We ordered a round of appetizers and entrées, all of which arrived correctly and were enjoyable at first. However, one of our party members found her Alfredo dish tasted off. I tried a noodle myself and didn’t notice anything wrong, but she was unable to get past the flavor and ultimately decided she didn’t want to finish it.

When Jasmine returned—about 5 to 10 minutes after initially checking in post-delivery—we mentioned the issue and asked if it might be possible to send the pasta back in exchange for a side of fries. Jasmine was polite and said she would get the manager.

That’s when the tone of the experience changed. The manager, Kevin (I believe), came to the table and immediately declined the request, stating, “At the end of the meal, we cannot take entrees back.” It’s worth noting that I was the only person who had fully finished their entrée by that point, while the other two dishes were barely touched. The Alfredo, in particular, had only about two bites taken out of it and the noodle I tried—well over 90% remained.

When we asked if the dish truly couldn’t be returned despite being almost entirely untouched, Kevin reiterated his stance and added that we had “the whole time” to ask “anyone in the restaurant” to address it. As someone who works in luxury hospitality and has spent years in food and beverage, I can confidently say it is not standard practice to flag down just anyone in the building for a concern like this. Most guests rely on their server to check in, which ours did maybe 5-10 minutes after delivering the entrée, which was when the concern with the Alfredo was raised.

Kevin insisted on verifying the timeline with our server (which felt unnecessary) and doubled down on refusing to take the dish back. Jasmine returned shortly afterward with boxes—something we hadn’t asked for—and let us know Kevin had asked her to bring them. We clarified that we had no issue with her service, as we suspected Kevin may have implied otherwise.

What struck us as odd was that, after the interaction with Kevin, multiple other staff members suddenly began stopping by our table—asking if we needed anything, helping bag up items, and even cashing us out, which was not the level of attention we’d received earlier in the meal. This was not genuine hospitality, it was performative and reactive.

I understand that restaurants need policies to protect against abuse, and I’ve seen firsthand when guests attempt to send back mostly eaten meals. This was not that. The dish was nearly untouched, and we raised our concern at the earliest opportunity when our server returned. What could have been a small, solvable situation instead became an uncomfortable and disappointing experience due to the manager’s unprofessional and unempathetic handling.

While this experience has affected how we view the brand, we’ll likely continue visiting other locations in hopes of receiving the level of hospitality we’ve come to expect. That said, it’s safe to say we won’t be returning to this...

I took my daughter here to celebrate an accomplishment in school. We showed up at approximately 1515. We were seated almost immediately. We waited over 10 minutes just to have our waitress bring just water. We finally were able to order and then it took approximately 32 minutes for our food to come. Fine, not the end of the world even thiugh they weren't busy at all.

My daughter's meal was wrong (which ended up working out for the best because she didn't like the green beans but did like the broccoli). She had ordered the kids grilled salmon with green beans and potatoes. Our waitress came by once and asked if she wanted the potatoes still or not. My child said she was fine with what she had. She brought us our cheesecake, and then the bill.

I did not leave a very good tip because the service was attrocious. I only left the tip I did because she offered to bring the potatoes if my kid wanted it. She never offered refills, she was never around if we did need something, etc.

Fast forward to the next day. I see an incorrect amount in my bank account for this place. I made a note of it, but once things go from pending to im the account it'll correct itself. I checked again that Friday (2/14) and sure enough, the incorrect amount was removed from my account. I reached out and asked if they charge for using cards and was told no.vi explained what happened and was given info to get in touch with this place. I disputed the charge with my bank that day. I called here that evening to see what was going on, why my money was stolen out of my account. The manager took all my info including my phone number and said she'd give me a call the next day since they were busy for Valentine's Day and she needed time to look into what went wrong. That call never came.

Over the next 6 days I had to call 6 times. I kept being told call back and ask for this person, you need to talk to this person, etc. One time I called the managers were in a meeting so I do include that in the 6 but don't fault it against the place. One manager didn't seem interested in helping because all they did was ask if I left an 18% tip pr 20%. I said neither because service was terrible. They said call tomorrow.

It's finally Thursday (2/20). I finally get in touch with the manager that I received an email from. She forwards me to someone else. He asks, was it a large party? I said no, it was literally just my kid and I. He asks if anyone else in my party paid, was it possible someone else left a tip. I kept saying it was just my child and myself. The only one with money was me, the only person responsible for paying anything was me. It was literally a party of 2. They took all that info down and said they'd look into. Almost 6 hours later the manager that's actually been helpful (Nicole) called me back, apologizing profusely saying she didn't know what exactly happened but will be talking to the waitress on her next shift and they did refund me the difference. That is the only reason I'm giving 2 starts. She, and my refund is the only reason.

I will never ever go to cheesecake factory again. This was the absolute worst, most frustrating experience I have ever had at anycestablishment, let alone Cheesecake Factory. I called my bank once I saw the money placed back into my account to tell them the dispute has...

My family and I took my grandson here for a celebration of his high school graduation ceremony we attended earlier. We had 4 generations in our party!! I could talk about food, atmosphere all day. Blah blah blah. It's the cheesecake factory. Those things have never been bad there, in my opinion. However, service is a different story. Ya never know what ya gonna get. Well!! My server Mr. Tyler A., was the best server I've had ANYWHERE. He was incredibly professional, more than attentive, remembered everything about every entree order. Was very personable and friendly in a great way. He interacted with our family without crossing the line, but without being too stuffy. His service was impeccable! When i go back, I will always request to be in his seating area. He did not miss a beat nor an opportunity to make us feel welcome and well taken care of. Tyler was the icing on the cake to what I already knew would-be a great meal. I didn't think my meal at cheesecake factory could be any better because the food IS ALWAYS good. But food is good many places. If I ever was trying to decide where to eat out of my favorite "tied" places in the area, if I could b guaranteed that Tyler would be my server, that would be my tie breaker, contest over!! We arrived about 1:40pm, party of 8 (last name Taylor, for verification purposes) and were seated in the covered patio area. Our gratuity was built into the final check amount, and normally that ticks me off, and I'm like "oh well, they could have gotten more..." but I never give more because the audacity for restaurants to do that. LOL, so I let the set amount stand!! NOT this time, based on our bill, his tip was already set at $40.sumthing!! But he was so great I gave another $20 cash. He really deserved more. Protect this server by all means!! He's going to do great things in life. Great character, charm, respectful, great social skills, and knew just what to say to every person in our party. He could read the table well, and interacted with EVERY person, on their level, from the very young, to the elderly. That's a great skill to have. He made everyone feel so special. That's a gift. I felt as if we hired him to make our "party" a success. Much like a music DJ keeps a crowd going! Thank you Tyler, job well done!! We will be back to see YOU! AND if ever i come and they tell me you're no longer there, I will pray that it is because your awesome personality and skills took you somewhere that enabled you to grow (and make more money. No disrespect factory!) But seriously, I hope it would be for something so fitting and great for u. But until then, I'll see you next time! Say his name and applaud...