The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Santa Clarita

My wife and I were gifted a $75 gift card for Christmas, so we decided to do dinner along with our two year old tonight at this location. One of THE WORST experiences at a restaurant. We arrived at 7:30 was told the wait was about an hour. Ended up being sat around 8 which was great.

Our server, Tori, started by telling us that food times were very high and suggested we go ahead and order for our baby, which was a great idea. My wife, who is four months pregnant, decided to order a house salad. I ordered a Long Island and my wife ordered a Ginger Cooler. After 15-20 minutes, someone finally brought our drinks.

Tori returned and told us she was going on her break and that another server would take our order and take care of us for the time being. We told Tori and the new server we were ready to order. The new server told us she’d be back with us to take it. About 5 minutes later, the new server returned. My wife ordered the grilled salmon w/ mashed potatoes and asparagus and I ordered the spicy chipotle pasta. We also requested more bread and asked about the side salad. She replied it was on its way out and that she’d return with our bread. This was the last time we saw that server.

When we waited, the table next to us with a larger party which was seated after us received their bread, drinks, and appetizers before we had received my wife’s side salad.

After 25 minutes, our baby’s food was brought by another server which she enjoyed.

After waiting 10 minutes and no sign of our server returning, I asked another employee if they were a manager. They were not, but politely said they would get one to our table. Minutes later, River arrives at our table with a house salad and said he was a manager. He said he saw our salad sitting in the window and wanted to bring it to us. The salad was soggy from sitting too long before being served. He said that our temp server got caught up but that Tori would return soon. We mentioned never getting the bread we requested and he said that he’d get it right out.

Some minutes later, a young lady brought out some bread and another server sharing the same section came over and apologized for server issues, introduced himself, and told us not to hesitate to reach out if we needed anything. He was a great server. Very attentive to his section and he had big parties too. Couldn’t say the same about neither of ours and we had TWO.

About fifteen minutes later, our food is brought out by another server. Around this time, my wife and I noticed Tori had returned. She was standing at the POS talking to other servers and had even greeted another table that someone else had been watching for her. She did not return to our table and follow up about our food or anything. It was like because of our recent mis-servicing, we’re now that plagued table, as if we’re the issue, not a great welcoming feeling. The manager, River, never even retuned to check on us either.

The food wasn’t great, due to the service/experience most likely. I didn’t like my entree, not the restaurants fault, I chose the meal. My wife wasn’t a fan of the salmon. She said it was bland and the asparagus was salty.

We probably ate for less than 10 minutes and were ready to go, completely over this horrible service we’d received or lack of. Tori finally did come around, but only after she was apologizing to the table right next to ours for some misunderstanding. She came to us as if there wasn’t any issue or anything and just kinda stood there pretending to be oblivious. I just asked for a box and bag for our remaining bread and the check.

I ended up giving her the gift cards which she returned one of them saying we couldn’t use it 1/1/2025 cause it was a “bonus card”. I paid the remaining amount and we headed towards the exit. Upon leaving, we passed by River “the manager” who looked me in my face and continued on his way doing whatever it was he was doing.

As I said in the beginning, this is one of the worst experiences I’ve had. Having a manager involved didn’t improve the situation either. Will...

Sunday Breakfast Disappointment

We came in for breakfast this past Sunday to enjoy a meal with our family. The initial greeting was warm, and our drinks were served promptly, which we appreciated. It was clear that our waitress was overwhelmed, but we remained patient and understanding throughout. We placed an order totaling around $120, including two plates of chilaquiles with chicken. Unfortunately, the experience took a downturn when our food arrived. The chilaquiles were served ice cold, and there were only three very small pieces of chicken on each plate. The salsa tasted off—extremely watered down and not what we expected. To make matters worse, one of our family members ended up with severe stomach pain afterward, which speaks to a possible issue with the food quality. We’re sharing this not to be negative, but in hopes that the restaurant takes this kind of feedback seriously. We love supporting local spots, but food safety and quality can’t be overlooked. Update Second attempt: Disappointing Experience at Cheesecake Factory – Valencia Location I decided to give the Cheesecake Factory another shot after a disappointing experience in the past, especially since a company had kindly gifted me a gift card. I figured, "Why not try again?" Unfortunately, this visit reminded me why I had stopped coming. My daughter ordered the Chicken Alfredo pasta, and when it arrived, the chicken was pink and semi-raw in the center — completely unacceptable. I ordered the Chicken Bellagio. While the chicken itself was cooked well, the dish was disappointing overall. The arugula was soggy, and the noodles were drenched in butter and incredibly salty — with little to no pesto, which is odd since the Bellagio is supposed to be pesto-based. It lacked flavor balance and presentation. On a positive note, our waitress was an absolute gem — kind, accommodating, and very understanding. She did her best to make our experience pleasant. However, the manager's approach was unprofessional and borderline condescending. When I raised concerns about the raw chicken, he tried to explain it away by saying it’s poached and "finishes cooking with the pasta." I’m not sure what culinary standard that follows, but pink chicken is dangerous, and I’m not about to end up in the ER over a bowl of pasta. I also mentioned the lackluster noodles, and instead of listening, he seemed more interested in making me feel bad for speaking up. I even offered him a bite to taste for himself — he declined.

Yes, he did offer to remake the dish, but by that point, we were already an hour and a half into the meal, and I just wanted to leave.

What made it worse was overhearing another nearby table also complaining about their food. It seems like something is off with the morning kitchen staff — whether it's a different chef or just a lack of oversight, the quality was far below standard.

My advice: if you must eat here, avoid the morning or early afternoon. Maybe after 5 PM, you'll have better luck. As for me, I think this was my last visit to the Valencia location. If I ever get a craving again, I’ll be heading to Sherman Oaks or Glendale — at least there I feel like I’ll...

This place could do a lot better. We encountered an uninviting greeter at the front. A hostess who seats the guests and looks disinterested and depressed. Several employees hiding in corners on their cell phones. Poor wait service and subpar food.

Been here multiple times and the food and service are always mediocre. Not sure what happened to Cheesecake Factory quality but it used to be a lot better. The Valencia location has always been subpar though. The actual cheesecake is good though. It’s everything else that needs major improving.

Today we ate here and the food and service were not good at all. We were seated outside on the patio after being greeted by an unfriendly hostess. I ordered the fried chicken club salad and I told our waiter two times during the order that I wanted the house dressing swapped for ranch. The second time I said it, he acknowledged the request. My wife ordered the chicken crusted Parmesan plate from the skinnyliscious menu.

The food took about a half hour to come out. During this time the waiter didn’t bring out any bread on his own accord and didn’t ask if we wanted any. We waited for a while and nothing came so we had to ask for it.

I noticed our waiters clothes were a mess. The staff wear all black and he had white stains all over the back of his pants as well as brown food that had obviously splashed onto his pants. He’s serving outside, in the day light. These things are noticeable and if he didn’t realize this himself, one of the other staff members should have given him a heads up. This isn’t a fast food joint and it’s not a cheap place to eat. Have some dignity in how you look and managers should be being observant. But anyone there who looked like they could have been in charge, were all standing around with their heads down on their cell phone.

The Food comes out and my salad is drenched in the house dressing, not ranch like I asked for twice. My wife doesn’t like her food. It’s lacking flavor she says. So we just swap my salad for her chicken, which to me was edible enough but yes, it lacked flavor. She isn’t a fan of the salad with the house dressing so she eats maybe 1/4 of the plate. We don’t see the waiter again until I hail him down for the check. He doesn’t stop by to check on anything at all. Mind you he is back on the patio tending to guests back there. He just never checks in with us.

I ask him for the check. He gives it to us and I see the order doesn’t even specify ranch with the salad. He collects the plates. The salad was 3/4 full. Good service would be to see the near full plate and a light bulb would go off to make a waiter ask if everything was ok. He does nothing. Just takes the near full salad and walks away. Doesn’t even ask if we want a to go box. Never asks how everything was, which I had intended to be honest about. He didn’t ask and now here I am writing this.

It is unlikely that we will return here after this. We’ve had too many mediocre experiences at this location and this was their final chance. Do better...