The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Rockaway Township

We love this place, but we used to love it more, a lot more. Even during covid, they have done an outstanding job, always prompt, the food is great, always courteous service, but lately we have been noticing a pattern that is absolutely ridiculous to say the least.

We always like to give our name and walk around the mall, giving ourselves more than enough time to work up an appetite, but also within reasonable time or at the very least, if it is very too long, we can always just go somewhere else and come back another day. No harm, no foul, but not this last Saturday 3/19. I was working half a day before, so I was a bit tired and somewhat hungry. We decided to go to this place, that we usually enjoy and have no issues with. When we got there, a girl was nice, but so young, not that it matters, but seriously, if you at least have someone a bit more organized and on top of it, maybe you will not lose customers for something simple that can always be avoided. We asked how long the wait is for 3 people and she said 50 minutes, which was fine with us. We walked around and came back in about 45, to find out that there was now another girl standing there as well. Between the two of them, we saw numerous people standing around, waiting to be seated for 10 minutes, while I was just standing there, saying "excuse me" and being ignored. Finally the other girl that was there, which was new face to us, turns around and checks for our reservation. With some sort of firmness and some attitude she responds that we have only been waiting for 42 minutes and they might have a table in about 10 to 15 minutes, which would already be over 50 that we were told originally that the table will be ready.

We walk to sit down in the mall, coming back in about 20 minutes to check and the original girl with a smile, as if she is doing me a happy favor claims that we have 4 more people in front of us. I politely respond that this is not how you supposed to do business, and she responds that we just didn't anticipate being so busy. Excuse me, you did not anticipate telling me a time estimate that was completely wrong, or you didn't anticipate that I will not be happy waiting longer? I was very confused which part was her response to me about. Being in a restaurant and multiple service industries for many years myself, I specifically claimed to her that you usually supposed to give more time and sit us in less, not the other way around. She apologizes with the smile and repeats her ridiculous statement. We were about to leave, but decided it wouldn't hurt to wait a few more minutes, being that we were very hungry at that point. Finally she sits us down and it was 1.5 hours from the original reservation, 40 minutes past the time that she originally quotes us, pretty much twice the time more or less. We had a nice meal of course, as usual and our waiter Josh was incredible, as we expected, since we never had issues before, but for the love of god, if they don't start hiring people who can actually think before they respond to potential customers, I will not be going back, neither will I tell anyone else anything good about this place. In fact, I tend to warn people that this place doesn't respect your time or even acknowledge that they have to be much better than this. After all, PF Chang's opened right next to them, so considering that they are getting worse, there is another option, where they actually warn you how long you will wait and being specific and honest about it. We are done with this location of Cheesecake factory for now and I will not want to see those two young girls at the front desk, if I ever decide to go back with my...

Updated review - formerly two stars

My fiancé and I made a last minute decision to come here on 7/4/19. I figured it had been over a year since we tried it out the first time, so maybe things improved at this restaurant. I am so glad we went. The food was great, and the service was better. If I remember correctly, our server was Gabrielle, and she was awesome. I have a few minor complaints. Our fried chicken sliders weren’t hot or really even warm. It took a while for the appetizers to come out. There was no brown bread, only whatever other bread they have that was so hard to chew that my jaw was sore afterward. But I had just woken up from my nap after working overnight and I was super hungry and was not complaining at the time. I think we’ll be back for sure, I’ll just have to eat less because my stomach still hurts from overeating. It all tasted so good though. I had the lunch portion of Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp. My fiancé had the Cheddar Stuffed Burger and loved that there was cheese oozing out of it. Our apps were the Loaded Tots and Fried Chicken Sliders. We got our cheesecake to go, White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle with extra whipped cream for me, Cinnabon for him.

Question: do people usually eat in the kitchen? I saw a young man eating in there.

Old review:

I want to give this place more stars just because our server Cheryl was so incredible. My fiancé and I came for our anniversary yesterday 3/24/18. He loved his cocktails. The loaded baked potato tots were yummy, but I shouldn’t have ordered the bland Greek salad. I ordered shrimp scampi but asked if I could have spaghetti instead of angel hair. When the food arrived, they still gave me angel hair. Cheryl went right back to the kitchen to have it fixed. My fiancé liked his Cuban sandwich, but my pasta tasted like day old spaghetti that was sitting in the fridge for a week. The breaded shrimp were very overcooked and dry but the breading was a soggy mess. I didn’t want to complain and cause a ruckus, but it really was gross. I wasn’t even mad because Cheryl was honestly so cool, but I just want to give other potential customers a heads up. We had desserts to go, but those were fine because they obviously come frozen to the restaurant with little error involved. I think maybe we will come back in a year or so when the hype settles down and the chefs can focus on quality over quantity. You guys need to have fewer tables and serve...

Unfortunately if I could I wouldn’t leave this Cheesecake Factory any stars. Tonight while out with my little family we waited 50 minutes for drinks and “complimentary bread”. Our waiters name was Nas. When Nas came over the second time I asked him a question regarding the factory nachos when he suddenly cut me off and said he will be right back. Nas disappeared for a good 25-30 mins while handling a “situation”. When he returned, our waiter stated that other customers at the restaurant dining were bothering him. We told him no worries but we would like to put our order in. We placed our order and asked for bread again for the kids to entertain themselves as the food came out. When the bread made it out a total 50 minutes later I stated, that took you 50 minutes. He stormed off and here comes the best part. The manager came over and said I heard there’s a problem over here? So as I am addressing the issue, she is giving me a million and one reasons why Nas is slacking and stated that he’s been here for them for 4 years and never had an issue with him. Mind you, while sitting there waiting we saw her put two other fires out with two different groups of people that happen to also be his tables. She ended up arguing with me and saying this is probably why he’s having an issue with my table. Mind you she wasn’t letting me explain so I had to talk over her. At the end the food came out, my daughters burger was extra bloody, my Thai salad looked aged and disgusting and the only thing that was edible was my daughters Alfredo pasta. They were trying to bribe us with free dessert but we were so disgusted we were ready to leave. Everyone left their food at the table untouched except my baby girl who ate her pasta. This Cheesecake Factory is a disgrace to the franchise. I would never step foot in the Rockaway location ever again. The manager is a reflection of her team and it makes complete sense why the place is ran the way it is. At the end, Nas asked how was everything as he saw all the plates untouched and when we responded with the truth that everything wasn’t good he laughed and walked off. This was the WORST Dining experience I’ve ever had in...