The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Greenwood

Food Quality Rating: 10/10 (Great food, amazing quality, and cooked to perfection-- there is also a colorful array of food choices.)

Service Rating: 0/10 (Horrible service)

Value for Money Rating: 7/10 (Decent, you will get exactly what you pay for, portion size-wise, but the price for the DISH itself is a bit inflated.)

Hygiene & Cleanliness Rating: 5/10 (Tables were dirty, missing silverware and napkins, bathroom amenities like towel holders were jammed, and stuff was on the floor.)

Short Story: The server was a bit slow on common serving practices and unknowledgeable with restaurant policies, while the manager was BLANTLY --I REPEAT-- BLANTLY rude.

Long Story: (Introduction) I arrived at The Cheesecake Factory on 3/25/2025 at 5:43 PM with my partner. To paint the picture: we’re both second-year African American college students dressed in casual attire—jeans and t-shirts. We requested a table for two, and the hostess informed us it’d be a 20-minute wait. We agreed, thanked her, and sat down to wait.

When our table was ready, we were guided to it, only to find it a bit visually dirty and missing some silverware. (No biggie—mistakes happen, and we were just grateful to finally have a seat.) Our server greeted us with the enthusiasm of someone who’d just been asked to work a double shift (which, hey, we get it—not everyone’s gonna be sunshine and rainbows). He asked if we wanted drinks, and fast-forward a bit: we’d ordered appetizers and entrees.

(Rising Action) Now, throughout the meal—while the entrees were on the way and after we’d finished the apps—there was none of that usual server check-in, like, "Hey, how’s everything going? Need any refills?" Unless we flagged him down for napkins, extra sauce, etc., we were on our own. (Again, no worries—we get that a two-top isn’t the biggest priority when it’s busy, so we stayed patient.)

I ordered the Korean Fried Chicken because it sounded amazing, but—disappointment doesn’t even cover it. First off, the "Korean Fried Chicken" was just tiny, boneless nuggets. And when I tasted it? Zero crunch, zero authentic flavor. It was like someone tossed Tyson’s chicken bites in sauce and called it a day.

(Climax) Naturally, I brought this up to the server:

"Hey, is there any way this could be taken off my bill? It wasn’t what I expected, and I didn’t like it."

Server (confused face): "Oh… well, the most I can do is box it up for you."

"Well, the thing is, I didn’t eat any of it—you can see the plate’s basically untouched. I’m not trying to scam free food; I just genuinely didn’t enjoy it."

Server: "Okay, let me get my manager."

"Thanks—and sorry about this."

Fast-forward, and the manager arrives. (To paint the picture: 5’0”, 50s, with black glasses like Mr. Crocker from Fairly OddParents vibes.)

Manager (monotone): "Hey, so what’s going on?"

"Hi! The food’s fine, but I was wondering if I could get it taken off my bill since it wasn’t what I expected, and I didn’t enjoy it."

Manager (monotone but snarky): "How was it not what you were expecting?"

"Well, I thought the Korean Fried Chicken would be bone-in, not boneless."

Manager (extreme attitude): "Our menu has descriptions for all our items."

(I ignored that.) "I also just didn’t like the dish—and, as you can see, I barely touched it."

Manager (even more attitude): "Oh, you haven’t eaten this?"

"I mean, I had to taste it to know I didn’t like it, but the plate’s still full."

Manager: "Oh, okay. Well, I’ll take this out of the way."

Fast-forward again, dinner concluded, and the dish was refunded.

Key Notes/Question

Would the manager speak to me the way she did if I were an older gentleman requesting an item to be removed from his bill rather than a young college student?

The Korean Fried Chicken in the menu description does not inform you it is boneless, "Crispy Chicken Tossed with Our spicy Korean B.B.Q. Sauce and Served Over Steamed Rice With Avocado, Kimchi, Mushrooms. Cilantro, and Sesame Seeds" so her commentary was not only rude but clearly ignorant

Overall:...

Did you know they’re serving $35 million bread???????? Went to TCF on 2/5/25. Idk what to say… I love the interior of all CF’s! This one is no different. Peaceful setting, low lit, love the bar. This time we had a party of 5, which was 4 adults 1 child. We had family visiting from out of town and chose to eat at TCF for the yummy pasta and cheesecake. Our waitress was 7/10. She was honestly really nice but something I can’t get over is the lecture we got over the bread. Idk what corporate said to the employees over the weekend (according to her) but she talked at us for over 2 minutes about why she shouldn’t really go get us more bread because they told her not to because TCF lost $35 million in bread last year and they’re not allowed to do this and that and she’ll get in trouble. ……….. she talked so long my grandma asked her twice! if she could just pay for more bread and she said “oh no it’s free, I just can’t bring you back as much as I brought out the first time” My brain.

If you’re having that much issue with your FREE side, please get rid of it altogether. My grandparents spent $200 on dinner and they had to listen to a speech about wasted product and money loss from the restaurant. Like, go get the bread. They said they’d pay for it, they wanted some bread, go get some bread. To which she brought back another normal bread basket. EXPLAIN IT.

Random confrontations like this are why I don’t eat out often and regret going there the other evening. Why make a whole table feel really uncomfortable? My husband ordered fish tacos and threw up in the bathroom twice while we were there so, bad fish? Idk he couldn’t identify what kind of fish it was and he ate bites of two of his four tacos and couldn’t hold down the bites. 0/10 I ordered the Cajun honey chicken pasta. Really strange. The sauce was ok. Spicy which I like! They emptied an entire box of Barilla penne in my dish which was insane but whatever! 6/10 My son and grandma both had spaghetti with the meatball. My son who’s 9 said it was delicious. My grandma said it was ok but bland and just thick jar-like marinara. 6/10 My grandpa asked for a recommendation (not the waitresses fault because he wasn’t in the mood for Italian? his fault!) she recommended the oriental chicken or something like that? He couldn’t stop coughing from the pepper when he took his first bite and grumpily ate his meal and didn’t like it either. 3/10

When asked about cheesecake, my grandparents were kind of over it but had every intention of taking a whole cheesecake home with them, however they weren’t leaving town until the next day and asked her when they opened, they planned to go by on their way out of town. Waitress hemmed and hawed and said “I think it’s like 10 or 10:30.” Ok fine. Next morning my grandma tells me they checked out of their hotel at 10:30 to head to TCF and guess what? They weren’t open....

As a celiac, I'm thrilled to have a restaurant like The Cheesecake Factory, where I can enjoy a delicious meal without worrying about cross-contamination. The gluten-free bun is a game-changer, and the salad options are always fresh and flavorful. The servers at this location are consistently fantastic, and I've rarely had any issues with cross-contamination. I do wish there were more appetizer options that were GF-Friendly and not all fried options, but I understand why.

I was a bit disappointed with the wait time and communication from the hosts during my recent visit.

My family and I arrived at the Greenwood Location around 6:20 p.m., and we were told that the wait time would be approximately 70 minutes. We decided to explore the surrounding shops and returned after an hour. Upon checking back with the host, we were informed that it would only be a five-minute wait.

Despite the projected wait time, another 20 minutes passed, and we witnessed numerous parties, regardless of size, being seated before us. While I understand the challenges of managing wait times during busy periods, I found it frustrating that the host continued to provide inaccurate wait times. The lack of transparency left us feeling misled and uncertain about when we would be seated.

After waiting for an additional 10 minutes, I politely inquired about our position on the waitlist. The host assured me that we were "at the top" and that we would be seated "in a few minutes." However, four more parties were seated before us, and we waited for another 20 minutes. We finally got seated at around 8:45 pm, nearly double the initial estimated wait time.

I recognize the challenges of accurately predicting wait times, especially when dealing with a high volume of guests. However, I believe that honesty and transparency are crucial in managing customer expectations. Instead of promising "just a few minutes" when the wait is likely to be significantly longer, it would be more helpful to acknowledge the extended wait time and provide an honest update. This would allow customers to make informed decisions about whether to wait or seek alternative dining options.

I hope that this feedback will encourage the hosts to prioritize transparency in communicating wait times. Providing accurate information, they can empower guests to make informed choices and avoid unnecessary frustration. Overall, I appreciate The Cheesecake Factory's commitment to providing delicious and a wide variety of dining options, and I hope that they can continue to improve their...