Everything at Cheesecake Factory Is Made From Scratch—Except This
The Cheesecake Factory is famous for its massive menu that seems to include anything you’re in the mood for. Normally, a menu that big is a red flag—something’s gotta give, whether it’s quality, cleanliness, or out-of-stock items. But The Cheesecake Factory actually pulls it off. The kitchen runs like a tight ship, and most dishes really are made from scratch. The one thing they don’t make in-house is right there in the name: the cheesecakes.
Inside the Scratch-Made Machine
Former staffers swear by the operation. As one put it, “they do make everything from scratch… it’s mind-blowing.” It’s not scratch in the literal sense. They still buy raw ingredients, of course. But dressings, sauces, pasta, and final plates are cooked and assembled fresh on site by a big team you can often see hustling in the kitchen's viewing window.
The process starts at dawn. Prep cooks roll in around 6 a.m. to chop, simmer, and stock the line. There’s even a dedicated sauce prep cook whose sole job is to handle the dozens of sauces needed daily—up to 185 across the menu. By lunch, there are a dozen-plus cooks on the line, and dinner doubles the headcount. One person can churn out egg rolls and Buffalo Blasts like a machine, while others handle backup, dishwashing, and constant restocks from multiple walk-ins.
The backbone is the process. Kitchens are laid out like an assembly. Raw product flows in, cooks assemble at lightning speed, and a kitchen manager inspects every dish. In fact, managers literally score plates on a scale of one to ten before they leave the line. They coach staff in real time on things like plating, garnish, and consistency. Add in smart ordering and tight planning to keep waste low and product flowing, and you get a chain that pulls off scratch cooking at scale.
Related: The Innovative Gut-Healthy Drink That Launched 30 Years Too Soon Is Finally Back
The Factory Behind the Cheesecake
The famous cheesecakes aren’t baked in the restaurants. They’re produced at the company’s bakery in Southern California. The cheesecakes are cooled, frozen to lock in freshness, sliced, and shipped out. Stores pull them from the freezer the day before service.
That model is why the cakes taste consistent in every location. This ensures every restaurant can focus on making the 250-plus savory dishes without making every dessert. The dessert facility itself has a reputation for using top-notch ingredients and sticking to strict standards.
While many big chains often cut corners, the Cheesecake Factory takes pride on its skilled labor and painstaking process. It's not easy to run a chain this way, but it's helped the brand stay a favorite for decades.
Related: Burger King Is Testing a Spicy New Menu Item—Here’s Where