Cheesecake Factory

[jbrown84]

[Decious]

These two pics that jbrown posted look pretty similar.




I'll be happy if ours looks like this.

[sweetdaisy]

Thanks to you all for the updates & pics. I'm so excited about them coming here! When I lived in Dallas, I was right up the street from one of their locations, and ate there frequently. OHHHH...the cheesecake!

And, it'll be in time for my b-day, too! YAY

[BDP]

Have you seen what their restaurants look like inside and out?

I've eaten at a few: Las Vegas (Forum Shops), Marina Del Ray, and Phoenix. I have seen several more from the outside. They're nicer than most chain restaurants for sure, but "upscale"? I guess if the scale is set to Chili's and Applebee's it's upscale, but I would think it would take more than just being better than those restaurants to be upscale. Maybe I ordered the wrong things????

[metro]

They refer to themselves as "upscale casual". It is upscale but it's not like you have to wear black tie and suit either.

Anyhow, I drove by this weekend and it appears most of the steel frame is up. I just wish they would have gone bigger, oh well at least it is a start. I think Bricktown or the arts district would be a good expansion site in OKC.

[BDP]

Well, yeah, most upscale restaurants aren't black tie or even jacket required any more. I wasn't really reffering to the dress code.

Again, the food's okay, but "upscale" is a big stretch, imo.

[Patrick]

Yup, looks like it's going to look like the pic Decious has posted.

[metro]

Well, yeah, most upscale restaurants aren't black tie or even jacket required any more. I wasn't really reffering to the dress code.

Again, the food's okay, but "upscale" is a big stretch, imo.

Thus why they are called "upscale casual".

[BDP]

OK, I guess if I can be "athletic lazy" they can be "upscale casual".

[madison]

I don't understand why you are being so neg towards Cheesecake.

[metro]

I suppose if you're lazy but have an athletic body you can be that. You must have a high metabolism though.

[BDP]

I don't understand why you are being so neg towards Cheesecake.

I'm not trying to be negative, I just think they are over hyping themselves with the upscale tag. Of course, that's just marketing and no one is just going to say "hey, at least we're a bit better than Chili's and Friday’s". I have to admit that it works though. People do have an infatuation with the Cheesecake Factory.

I suppose if you're lazy but have an athletic body you can be that. You must have a high metabolism though.

I was being facetious, but, yeah, you can look one way and be another. The dress code, the marketing, the decor, etc. isn't really an indicator of the food. In my own experience, I have had nothing there that strikes me as upscale food.

OK, I'll leave them alone. People here are excited about it, as usual with a new chain restaurant. I just saying that, in general, the word "upscale" seems to be thrown about a lot these days to the point where it almost just means "doesn't completely suck". The Cheesecake rep calling it upscale reinforced that to me... Sorry, carry on...

[John]

The food is all high quality and the portions don't leave anything to be desired!

It's always a place to see and be seen.

[metro]

BDP, I agree with you as I'm so not a chain restaurant person. However I do like Cheesecake Factory, I'm not a fanatic like some are on here. I'm excited for the publicity Oklahoma City is getting with some of these lucrative hard to get stores and CF being one of them. This will only help draw more high end retail to follow at the mall.

[jbrown84]

Part of being "upscale" I think has to do with the exclusivity of the chain (only bigger cities) and the kinds of shopping centers or districts they go into (Galleria Malls, The Plaza in KC, etc). That's how I see it.

[BDP]

Part of being "upscale" I think has to do with the exclusivity of the chain (only bigger cities) and the kinds of shopping centers or districts they go into (Galleria Malls, The Plaza in KC, etc). That's how I see it.

I don't even think that's true anymore. They have over 100 resturants in over 30 states. Same stores numbers are falling off and they are using saturation to stay on pace:

Cheesecake Factory Sliced

Again, people like the place and it is better than many of our other chains, so it will be welcomed and I think it will be a success. But, kind of likd PF Chang's, it's no real coup for the market and it doesn't really signal much of a change in the market's favor in the restuarant industry. We're still following the crest of the product cycle here.

[metro]

I drove by yesterday and took pics. They are in my gallery:

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/showg...500&ppuser=204

[brianinok]

Actually, it could signify us being placed above Tulsa in the restaurant industry. Before, chains have always gone to Tulsa before coming here (i.e. PF Chang's).

[BDP]

Maybe, but it still doesn't place us very high. Not that I have any aspiration of being high on chain food expansion lists, but Cheesecake Factory is kind of everywhere, but here at this point.

[madison]

I have only been in Oklahoma city 2 weeks today and I think it is wonderful!
Now to Cheesecake! They are hiring at an offsite across the street from the restaurant. If you are hired you will recieve $100 for every person you bring in and they get hired! Not sure of details on the money if you have to work or they have to work for a short perod of time first.

[jbrown84]

Welcome Madison and glad you like it here!

[metro]

Well I know most of us here on this site have probably eaten at C.F. at least once in our lives and a lot of us are not big on chains including myself, but anyways, I had the priveledge of eating at Cheesecake Factory's newest location at Penn Square mall today. Today is their first day of "mock runs" (which ironically happens to be my birthday). I had an invitation to eat lunch their today. After checking in at the door we had to wait about 10 minutes. The host staff (which included managers from out of state locations) seemed very loopy and out of it. They weren't even looking directly at me or my party when they were talking to us. Before we were seated they gave us the "mock menu" of the day. Basically everyone's menu was different and had two dishes on it. The menu was to be shared with every two people in your party. One person was supposed to order one dish and the other person the other dish. You could also have two alcholic drinks per person, unlimited tea, coffee or soft drinks. We also had a complimentary appetizer which ours happened to be spinach dip, chips & salsa. The spinach dip was excellent. Our server was friendly and greeted us fairly timely. Our drinks however didn't come out for abuot 15 or 20 minutes. Our appetizer came out promptly. Our food did not arrive for 45+ minutes however. The service became slower as time went on. I realize this is their first run and they are still getting the kinks out before they open but this was not excusable when you have your entire staff their with plenty of extra bodies just standing around, especially when many of them are managers or people from corporate. A busboy accidentally dropped something on the floor as he walked by and three managers were standing right there just pointing at it instead of taking the decency to pick up the trash.

My main dish was the Mozzerella Pizza (which is basically a margarita pizza) and my other guest had the Boom Boom Chicken and Shrimp (which is like a Thai type chicken and shrimp). As always the food was excellent. By luck we got a piece of dessert each (which was supposed to be one piece per two people). I had the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake and my guest had the Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake.

All in all I give the food a 9 out of 10 but the service is still highly lacking. About a 3 or 4 out of ten. I know kinks will be worked out and either way the restaurant will consistently stay packed out for those "chain restaurant freaks". I guess you can't complain to much for a free lunch that is worth around $60 bucks. They open on next Tuesday the 19th!

[Martin]

now now now... isn't there already a thread about cheesecake factory? ha ha... couldn't resist, metro.

i'll bet the service will be much better by the time the place actually opens... can't wait! -M

[Luke]

How did the dining room compare with other Cheesecake Factories?

[metro]

now now now... isn't there already a thread about cheesecake factory? ha ha... couldn't resist, metro.

i'll bet the service will be much better by the time the place actually opens... can't wait! -M

Technically mmm there is not another thread about Cheesecake Factory, at least not in the correct forum, the Food Court. There is one however in the OKC Metro Talk forum where food reviews are not posted. No hard feelings though, you just wanted to catch me at my own game.....

And to answer the question as to whether the decorating is up to par with other locations, yes it is although I wish it had more greenery like some other locations. I just wish they would have gone two story with this one. It's going to stay booked up constantly offering the limited space it has. A two story building still would have stayed packed year long, however it would have provided more flexibility on actually getting in and not waiting 3 hours. Oh well, perhaps the high demand will warrant a second OKC location, perhaps "chain city " aka Bricktown.