The Cheesecake Factory Experience

Dear The Cheesecake Factory,

We love you, we really do. We visit you far too often. My oldest daughter has proclaimed she will one day marry you. We enjoy your appetizers, small plates, sandwiches, pastas, specialties and chicken and of course every scrumptious bite of the cheesecake that makes you The Cheesecake Factory. A trip into the city with the family would not be complete without topping it off with a visit to one of our favorite Chicago places.

And then….. we finally come see you for a special occasion… not “just because” we have an obsession, not “just because” we found some reason to come to town so we could see you. We come to celebrate our babies’ 6th birthday and receive the absolute worst service we have ever received. Anywhere.

Now let’s just get one thing straight, the food was delicious. It always is; it never lets us down. And I would never imagine that it could.

But we are extremely let down.

When we come to town, when we come to The Cheesecake Factory, we expect great service, awesome food and spectacular cheesecake. We left tonight completely outraged on a special night.

We do not know if it’s because we were a family of 5 (only 2 adult menus and 3 children) in a booth that could perhaps house 8 people. We didn’t request it, it’s what we were led to, but the waiter clearly was not happy at this idea of a possible lesser tip. Even though it was a Thursday and not the high peak weekend time where I’m sure the wait staff makes the most mula.

Our waiter got the drink order wrong, never served one plate of food, nor filled our glasses. He did not ask us if we wanted cheesecake, nor was there any celebration of the twins’ birthday by singing (even though there were 2 other Happy Birthday sing-songs AND I had told the host that we wanted them sang to). We had to stop him at our table as he tried hurrying past if we needed anything. Finally, and most appallingly, before we even left the table he came to see how much I had written in as a tip. We always tip well, and even though he was the most horrid excuse for a waiter, I was extremely tempted to leave a crap tip for him. I didn’t, though I still question my decision of rewarding bad behavior.

Although, it would take MUCH more for us to write off The Cheesecake Factory, it has definitely left a blemish on an otherwise unbeatable record.

Still yours,

Cari