The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Vinings

This was my first time visiting a Cheesecake Factory. It might be my last as well.

When we arrived without a reservation we were quoted a hour and 15 minute wait time. That was fine because it gave my boyfriend and I the opportunity to walk the mall. After 50 minutes (5:20 pm) we received a text saying our table was ready. We returned to the restaurant and were immediately sat.

After 20 minutes of sitting our server came by to take our order. Due to the massive selection of items and the fact that this was my first visit we were unprepared to order. We did order our appetizer of Spinach Artichoke Dip and two Sprites. The tables to our left and right had arrived before us and had also already ordered. When the dip came out a few moments after the table to my rights dip came out both myself and the lady at the next table had to send our orders back due to them being cold. 10 minutes later (about 35 minutes into our visit) our dip came back out, however, the lady next to me did not receive hers. The runner informed us ours was reheated and the lady next to us was reordered. At this time our server returned after taking the order of three newly sat tables ( within 10 minutes) and we placed our order. Another table was seated after this and a few minutes later they placed their order. We watched as the table to my left complained that their chicken and steak entree’s were cold and unsatisfactory. They received replacement meals a few minutes later. Then, the ladies to my right complained their dip was still cold and their tacos were either cold or not cooked. The manager came over and gave them their meals for free. They then left. At this point our server came back to our table several times to recur water and inform us our order was on the way. I asked for an eta and was told she didn’t know that.

20 minutes later all the tables around us have received their food and drinks. We still kept getting the same “it’s coming” update. I asked our server if we could order our cheesecakes now since it seems everything has a long wait. She said sure and proceeded to walk away. I thought she needed to grab something to take the order with but she did not come back to our table. My boyfriend flagged her down about 10 minutes later after she had just finished taking another order for a newly sat table. She came over and asked how can she help and I asked if we can order cheesecake to go so we don’t have to wait until after our meal. She then told us what pages the desserts were on and rushed away.

About 5 minutes later and 2 seconds from my boyfriend walking out (honestly we should have) our food arrived (without our server). I ordered lemon garlic shrimp pasta and my boyfriend ordered a chili shrimp pasta dish and we were once again underwhelmed. He said his pasta was warm but mine was super cold. The shrimp tasted old, cold and stale. The asparagus tasted raw and cold. And the pasta tasted like paste due to how badly it was sticking to itself. (Just a bit of insight, I am 7 months pregnant and not picky). My boyfriend thought I was overreacting and took a bite and cold not swallow it. We received our bill and asked for the manager.

This lady was so disrespectful and clearly did not care about her guest experience. I informed her of our arrival time and experience and she proceeded to tell me I was sat in a busy section. I told her I don’t understand what made where I was sitting more busy than the rest of the restaurant. She then ‘clarified’ we ordered pasta dishes which was the busiest section and could cause delays to the foods arriving. I told her our food was cold. She once again said it was our section. I told her that did not make sense because the ladies to my right ordered tacos and had an issue and the family to my left ordered chicken and steak meals and they too had cold meals. She then attempted to just walk away to remove the cold items but the lady to my left did not like the excuse I received so she too complained about the service and food.

Overall I don’t think this two hour visit was...

Honestly… Where do I start? I’ll leave my opinion out and just say the facts… 4/19 I took my gf here for a birthday dinner… The first red flag were the silverware were not wrapped, not even sitting on a napkin, just on the bare wood table, and they were all cloudy and unclean looking. Our server explained that they only wrapped silverware during COVID and no longer did that. (Yeah, ok) I asked for napkins and a glass of water, used my hand sanitizer to wipe down the silverware then placed them upside down in the water to clean them myself.

At this very moment, I noticed my feet were placed on bread crumbs all over the floor. No big deal, but very uncomfortable to slip and slide on a nasty floor. Unpleasant, but forgivable. Our server brought us bread and butter, but the butter already had bread crumbs all in it. We obviously didn’t touch it. Next, my gf ordered a sweet tea which wasn’t sweet. It tasted like water. Then our server recommended the fruit tea instead. This tasted like water as well. That’s when she informed us it was an unsweet tea and followed with an irritated reply of “I told you that before I got it!” Which she did not in fact tell us. Who swaps a wanted sweet tea that’s not sweet for an unsweetened tea? We then entered the order for our appetizer. The Chicken Pot Stickers (fried dumplings) After conversing for a while the server returned for our order. My gf got the Herb Crusted Salmon with potatoes and asparagus. And I, the Chicken Bellagio. 25 mins later, our meals arrived BEFORE the appetizer. My gf meal had NO flavor and the salmon wasn’t even cooked in the center. Literal raw fish. About 20% of the salmon couldn’t even be eaten. My meal had ZERO flavor. EVERYTHING WAS BLAND. Our faces were visibly upset. The server returned and knew we weren’t happy, it began to reflect in her attitude until I explained to her “Ma’am, I won’t let it effect your tip because it’s not your fault, but we are NOT pleased. She then became chipper and apologized. Later she brought out the appetizer saying “here you go because of course you still want it, right?” That line angered me because don’t upsell me when I’m already not happy. I just waved her away as to say “please, leave it and go”

The manager walked by and I called for her (a black woman) she approached and my gf was uncomfortable with complaining. The manager asked me is everything ok. My gf said to me “please just let it go. We just won’t ever return.” So I told the manager it’s fine. After witnessing this entire scenario, she smiles and says “ok” and walked off. As a manager, how do you allow customers to say I’m not happy and never will return without asking what’s wrong and how it could be fixed? We then asked our server to remove our full plates from the table except for the untouched appetizer. After trying one of the dumplings, I will say… It was the most flavor of anything we’d had that entire experience. Very good. Lastly… We witnessed a family of 3 next to us leave, a host went to their nasty table and out loud said to herself “I thought I saw him (bust boy) cleaning this table?” She didn’t go get them to clean it though. She just began setting silverware on the bare wood for the next customers. To conclude: We will NEVER return. We wasted 100 bucks and wished we spent more to go next door to Maggiano’s, Stoney River, or Tee’s Brunch Bar. I didn’t care to get the server’s name, but she was a black woman with short locks or braids, and glasses. We sat at the tables near the front, if that helps determine who she was for whatever reason. We obviously didn’t order any dessert, but basic math skills tell us had we did, it would’ve been bland. Too many younger people working there. My guess is the chefs are young and...

• WARNING LONGER THAN USUAL REVIEW BUT FOR A GOOD REASON*

Let me start by saying that I have been a fan of The Cheesecake Factory for some time now. This review is honest and true, and I recommend you read the whole review.

My family decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my cousin, who turned 13. We arrived close to 5pm and were told because of the size of our party it would be a 2 hour wait. After considering how much we all loved the desserts at this place, we decided it might be worth the wait. Our wait time ended up being a little under 2 hours. Once seated, we thought it best to order right away because we didn't want a long wait between our drinks and food. This is when the problems started. A young man named John said he would take care of our table and offered menus before he left to attend to another group. While John was gone, a nice young lady came over and took our orders. She was very friendly, helpful, and patient with us. She left us, and when she reappeared, it was to inform us that John would handle our party (11 people) on his own. After some time passed, John came with a partial drink order and stated the bartender was backed up. We didn't make a big deal because we saw the place busy. However, it would be about an hour or more before we received the 3 glasses of lemonade we asked for. By the time John brought them, we'd switched to something else because they were for some hungry children. This prompted my cousin to ask John if he was comfortable waiting on our party unassisted. He quickly responded, with a "yes." Our food finally came out after what seemed to be a couple of hours. For some of my family, the food was just ok, and the rest found it to be unacceptable and not what they were accustomed to receiving from The Cheesecake Factory. At this point, pretty much everyone but the small children were unhappy about something. There were a variety of issues with the food, and we decided it was time to get the management involved. John apologized several times throughout the evening and explained that the kitchen was a bit overwhelmed with orders. This explained the wait time but not necessarily the other issues with the food. John knew without us saying anything that we were unhappy, and he had already decided himself to get the manager to come speak with us. At this point, it would've been very easy for me to rate The Cheesecake Factory with 1 🌟. However, a manager by the name of Austin showed exceptional professionalism, poise, understanding, and honesty. Austin listened to the issues and decided to do something about it. He adjusted the bill in a way that I considered it to be more than fair.

The Cheesecake Factory in Smyrna did what a lot of restaurants fail to do these days, and that is MAKE IT RIGHT!

While having Austin reduce the bill didn't change our bad experience, it did, however, leave us with the mindset that The Cheesecake Factory in Smyrna deserves another chance, it showed us that genuine customer service is not dead everywhere, it showed us that people like Austin still value the customers opinion and business.

For these reasons, I highly recommend you visit The Cheesecake Factory in Smyrna, Georgia, if you are in town. Try to avoid the busy hours, and if you can't, just avoid taking large groups during those times.

Again, I can't say enough about Austin because he single handedly changed the way this review was going to be written. He deserves your business and a high five for being an example...