The Cheesecake Factory — Restaurant in Town of Cheektowaga

Yesterday a group of four (including myself), decided to dine at this location. Majority of the front house staff are friendly and welcoming, as they’re constantly dealing with chaos. But it wasn’t until we were sat and served by Cairnne, that things took a turn for the worse: we were dismissed the entire time when placing our orders, as she kept going to other tables whilst we were in the middle of talking. When we did express ourselves, she kept saying “K” and pointing with her pen to the next person at our table. She said no to us when we asked for bread, explained there were no avocados when placing an order for the avocado egg rolls, but then when our meals later arrived; the turkey burger had avocado on it… when we pointed this out, she said that “they were probably ripe and disgusting”. This isn’t something you say to someone when they’re about to eat a meal. It’s completely off putting. When I asked for our waters to be refilled, she responded with “Yup, you can see I don’t have the water jug in my hands right now.” And stormed off. I’ve never been spoken to in this regard when eating at a restaurant. I’ve been a server myself so I more of less brushed it off as her being overwhelmed and just being stretched too thin. Until she yelled at my friend sitting adjacent to me to “SPEAK UP” when placing her order for cheesecake, instead of simply saying “my apologies I can’t hear you or am having trouble hearing you, could you repeat that?” From there on, we placed our cheesecake orders to go and requested the bill.

After we processed our credit payment, we all individually took turns going to the washroom before we left. This is when my mum realized that when she stood up from the booth, her suede boots were soaked wet with a substance dripping from the pipe located underneath the table. We showed it to our server and she brought the manager, Dave or Daine (I couldn’t understand his name when we asked for it because he spoke in a very quiet tone). He came over and looked under the table, explaining that he couldn’t see any wet and that she must have stepped in a puddle. To which I explained that was impossible because the marks are made on top of the shoe, and he responded with “well you’re forcing me to give you an answer I don’t have”….. No one forced him to do anything. We simply highlighted his concern because we don’t know what the substance is, if it’s harmful or sickly, and it’s definitely a danger as someone can seriously slip or hurt themselves. I asked for his name and he said “it’s ——“ and rolled his eyes. I said “wow, you’re rude” and he said “I only match the energy that you give off, so I’d say you’re just as rude” and began to walk away from us.

I’ve never been treated this way nor would I recommend that anyone handles situations in this manner, because the establishment is incapable of helping its customers with any concern. Won’t be back and am definitely recommending that others consider this when planning...

Im sorry but I have loved cheesecake factory for years but today was different. first off, we’re sitting in the booth and my friends order some things and 15 min later the server comes back two different times to tell my friends that they were out of their desired meals and couldn’t make it so they figured something out quick and that was that. then the server forgot my friends salad she ordered and when i brought it up she ignored it. as a server for 2 1/2 years, that is not acceptable. then 45 min later when the food came things we were fine and we were happy. we weren’t upset the food was taking that long as we had a party of 6 and expected it to since it usually does. then as we’re sitting eating, my friend saw what she thought was a spider. when shining her phone light because it is so dark in there we all saw it was a roach. yes, a COCKROACH! instantly we all stopped eating (the ones that were still eating anyways) and tried to kill it with our shoes. this thing was at most 6 inches away from someone’s head. it ended up escaping and the only thing we could think of doing was telling the server. Myself and my other friend brought it up to her and she proceeded to tell us that she has never seen one before in her two years of working there and grabbed the manager. The RUDE manager also proceeded to tell me that in 8 years of her working she has never seen a roach. nastily tried to tell my friends it must have been a different bug as if they aren’t educated (but did not talk to me in a disrespectful manner) and then also that you’re not supposed to kill them as eggs could be on our shoes walking away while laughing. she took two plates as she insisted on boxing the food and she did not come back again. the only thing they did for the complaint was box our food and rush us out? i was appalled. i am infuriated not only that we did not get ONE apology but the fact that they acted as if we were lying. i feel as if because every person at the table was black excluding myself they were racially profiled and they feel the same way. how DARE you try and also rack up the bill with desert after we saw a cockroach is beyond me. the ones that did get cheesecake got it in the front because there was no way we were tipping that server anymore. the bill was not discounted, no items were comped (which is not why we’re upset) and we got no apologies as to seeing a cockroach in what is supposed to be a nicer chain dining establishment. instead we were pressured to get dessert to give the restaurant and server more money, gaslit, and ignored. my friends and i will not be...

Roman turned 10, discovered Cheesecake Factory via YouTube (as Gen Alpha does), and declared it his dream dinner. I declared it… an exercise in patience. Off to the Walden Galleria we went—on a holiday Monday (September 1)—and, naturally, the wait time blinked “1:45” like the world’s least fun countdown clock. We killed the first half at Dick’s Sporting Goods (where a giant Bills hat turned my kid into an honorary mascot) and spent the rest rediscovering the ecosystem known as “the mall,” which I’m pretty sure I hadn’t visited in at least four years.

When our text finally arrived, we were handed the unabridged Collected Works of Menu and swept to a table that still looked mid–pit stop. The room was moving at a NASCAR pace—hosts seating, bussers bussing, servers sprinting. Our server was lovely and sincerely attentive, just radically overwhelmed. The table, meanwhile, was playing Silverware Roulette: no forks, no spoons, and only a couple of knives—as if someone had whispered, “Let them eat… cautiously.”

Flipping through the menu is a full-body workout. Somewhere between the page for “Pastas That Could Feed an Offensive Line” and “Salads That Could Power a Mid-Size Sedan,” I found a 1,900-calorie salad. For context, that’s about 200 more calories than I eat in a whole day—and I’m 6'2", 205 pounds. Democracy is alive and well at Cheesecake Factory: you can order anything, including a lettuce-based life decision.

Mercifully, we discovered the SkinnyLicious witness-protection program for portion sizes. Suddenly the math made sense. I ordered a chicken dish clocking in around 500–600 calories, and I’ll say this with my marketer’s hand on the table: the execution was much better than expected—hot, seasoned, and plated like someone in the kitchen still believes in Tuesday-night greatness.

Service times were long—like “the-boys-will-start-school-tomorrow-on-West-Coast-hours” long. But the staff never phoned it in. Water refills appeared, birthday wishes landed, and our server threaded that needle between slammed and sincere. We were very possibly the last guests to shuffle out, blinking at the mall lights like we’d emerged from a time warp.

We closed with two slices of cheescake, split among the boys, and this is where the brand delivers exactly what it promises: big, unapologetic dessert theater. It’s sweet, it’s dense, and your inner 10-year-old high-fives your actual...