The Cheesecake Factory celebrates its 30th anniversary this year! After all this time, it still feels like a family business. And that's part of what makes The Cheesecake Factory so special. Founder David Overton still serves as CEO, creating a culture that is anchored by a commitment to excellence, a dedication to uncompromising quality and taking exceptional care of our guests and staff.

The Cheesecake Factory story began nearly two decades before the first restaurant opened in 1978, when Overton's mother and father, Evelyn and Oscar, owned a small bakery in Detroit. The Overtons moved to California in 1971 and spent their life savings to open a commercial bakery, which produced a dozen innovative varieties of cheesecakes. They sold their creations to restaurants across Southern California, but felt that the exceptional quality of their desserts wasn't fully appreciated. In 1978, David opened the first "dessert restaurant" in Beverly Hills, California to showcase his mother's cheesecakes and to prove, quite successfully over the years, that a restaurant could offer an extensive dessert menu. In 30 years, The Cheesecake Factory has grown from that original location in Beverly Hills to 143 locations across the U.S. - from Honolulu, Hawaii to Salt Lake City, Utah to Dallas, Texas to Baltimore, Maryland.

For many, cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory has become the American standard. People have come to prefer the smooth, creamy texture of our cheesecakes compared to the traditional New York recipe, which is much denser. Ours are hand-crafted to melt in your mouth with unique flavor combinations as only The Cheesecake Factory could craft, after months of extensively refining recipes to get them just right. From classics such as the Original topped with fresh strawberries to the popular Dulce De Leche Caramel, our team takes great care to ensure that each decadent cake measures up to the ones in which Evelyn and Oscar Overton took so much pride.

We invite you to visit The Cheesecake Factory to help us celebrate this sweet anniversary!