The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Birmingham

Never in my 38 years of life on Earth have I ever directly experienced RACISM like me, my husband and 6 year old twin boys experienced last night August 10th 2024 at this CHEESECAKE FACTORY located in Birmingham, AL! We arrived to the restaurant around 8:30 p.m. checked in and were called to be seated around 9:15 p.m. We were taken to an empty section with just us 4 and my husband and one of my sons went to use the restroom while me and another son waited to be greeted by the waitor or waitress but to be only approached by a dry voiced un happy older white lady, which she never told me her name, we still don't know her name, I sensed in her voice tone that she didn't want to serve me. By the time she was asking for our drink order my husband and son was walking back up and we all gave her our drink choice and then we SPECIFICALLY ask for bread with our drink order because my boys love bread. She told us it was no bread available and that she would let us know when they had some. So she brought our drinks and we ordered our entrees then proceeded to wait with no problem. After about a 10 min, a white couple got seated to our left and to our right minutes apart from, keep in mind we still have no bread yet. She was soooo friendly to both of the couples because I purposely listened to see if she was just having a bad day or did she just not like black people, and I was right, she didn't like blacks because her tone with them was totally different and very cheerful! They ordered drinks and I think appetizers I couldn't fully hear there orders. After a few minutes she returns with their drinks and 2 bread baskets, she places one on the left table and one the the right table then still tells us BLATANTLY THAT " THERE IS STILL NO BREAD, ILL BRING YOU SOME WHEN WE GET SOME" I couldn't believe my eyes or ears and my poor son said moma we asked for bread why can't we have some? It instantly brought tears to my eyes!!! I immediately jumped up and asked another waitress to send a manager over, about 5 mins past no manager ever came, once she heard me ask for a manager she then runs to the back and get us bread and that's when I lost my temper and went off about the racist discrimination she had displayed to us!! We four stormed out the restaurant in so much hurt but I thought about it I needed to get a GM contact to call on Monday, once I turned to entered back into the restaurant a white guy claiming to be the GM told me to get out and that he was calling the police on me!!!! Wow!!! Never tried to rectify the situation but threaten me with his phone that he was calling the police on me, white power at its BEST!! This will not be the end of this situation because the feeling I felt last night was something I HAVE NEVER FELT!!! RACISM IS REAL!! AND THIS LOCATION HAS SO MUCH HATE IN THEIR ESTABLISHMENT! I PRAY GOD TO CLEANSE ALL THE EVIL FROM THAT LOCATION!! WE WILL NEVER VISIT ANY CHEESECAKE FACTORY LOCATION AGAIN!!! And please pull the cameras to...

I want to start out by saying our servers and food runners were EXCELLENT, timely, friendly, and ridiculously kind. The food was great, especially the chicken piccata (sans mushrooms as I abhor them) and Brussels sprouts:) I cannot speak highly enough about the service!!!

There were, however, two things that made this dinner trip unfortunate. I have a service animal tasked for psychiatric work. While we do not typically use “service” vests or patches, she was handle harnessed and had her red reflective leash. we don’t overly vest or patch 1, because we don’t have to legally, and 2, because we don’t enjoy unwanted attention or judgment. Even so, she is always glued to me, typically in a complete down-stay, or standing against my legs and feet to prevent kicking, picking, tapping etc.

The front desk area was very rude when asking if she was a service animal. It’s not that they asked - legally they can! and as a food establishment, I sort of understand - but she was visibly tasking and being praised? My boyfriend picked up on it before I did, as he saw a disgusted exchange between a worker and maybe a manager (?) where he read their lips and body language before they approached us. Then after I was asked and led to a table, I also noticed some discomfort. THEN, when going to the patio seating area, they suggested a table far away from everyone…it was just my boyfriend and I, and she had not misbehaved or given any indication that she would have any issue (and she did not, as pictured). It was just sort of an indescribably strange and off putting encounter that is difficult to properly articulate, but you know it when you experience it. Furthermore, when I arrived and asked for outdoor seating (such a beautiful day today at least!!), they said tables were just being wiped down. we waited 45 minutes for a table:/ and a whole family who arrived after us was seated first. I didn’t mean to be a Karen and ask again to be sure we were still on the waiting list, but 45 minutes is not “wiping down a table”. Had our expectations been set correctly, no worries, CF can be busy!!! We would’ve taken a walk to Lush. This, coupled with all the aforementioned stuff, made for a really anxiety inducing dinner. My companion was stuck tasking basically the whole time and didn’t sit/down until the last 10 minutes or so:( I even tried to entice her with a treat, wiped down the ground, she seemed to be so task focused she stayed standing next to my leg the entire time:(

I encourage more empathy and consideration for public access. My baby works incredibly hard and is so well behaved. It hurt my heart, although my belly is happily full. She was tuckered out on the ride home and when we got back to my...

My Husband and I recently dined in at the Cheesecake Factory on HWY 280. I haven’t been in very long time. Usually when I visit the Cheesecake Factory, I like the one in Atlanta, I’ve never been a fan of the one in Alabama. To begin with, we originally had plans for another restaurant but the kitchen had closed upon our arrival so I had the Cheesecake Factory as a back up just in case. I had heard about a menu revamp and just wanted to try them back out for curiosity. We got to the restaurant around 9:45pm, with closing hours of 11pm. We were immediately sitted. I gave environment four stars only because it was really cold inside the restaurant. Our waitress was Lizzie! Not only was she a beautiful soul/spirit inside out……she took amazing care of us!!! After asking to be seated outside on patio, she quickly came back to us to let us know that we could, we were advised to grab our menus and she would bring everything else (bread/our drinks, silverware). She brought us out refreshed beverages (not the original ones we had) and bread. We ordered an appetizer, which was the lettuce wrap chicken. It was really, really good. I would give them a 10/10. Lizzie was extremely attentive to us and was knowledgeable about the menu. Where my Husband and I were sat, it was quiet, cozy, and just a beautiful ambiance and night. Our food was served quickly with everything correct and came exactly like we ordered….no mishaps or mistakes. My Husband got the filet mignon medium well….this was his first time ordering his steak that way. He usually orders well done. I ordered the shrimp scampi with spaghetti noodles. My husband’s steak was PERFECT. It was season sooooo good and he did not need the A1 sauce. They butterflied his steak (an option Lizzie offered us, never knew we could do that) and it made his portion look plentiful. My food honest to God melted in my mouth. It was sooo flavorful and delicious. The shrimp were huge and it was plenty. I was very impressed, over in awe of our visit to the Cheesecake Factory. My visit was above my expectations. They literally blew my mind from start to finish. Lizzie is definitely that girl!!!! Her service was unmatched!!!! Top tier everything. Because of this experience, I think the Cheesecake Factory has been placed in my Husband’s and I top five Birmingham restaurants for date night rotation. I’m sure the servers all have great service, but again Lizzie made us want to comeback and that’s even before we got our food. Please keep her serving your big time guest for sure because her aura was 1000/10. We will definitely be back. Saturday night was perfect and beautiful. Thank you Cheesecake Factory and definitely to Lizzie, you made our...