User:Sachdhanjal/sandbox

History of The Cheesecake Factory


The Cheesecake Factory was founded by Oscar and Evelyn Overton.

Evelyn first decided to open a business after making a cheesecake for her husband's employer in 1949. Evelyn opened a small cheesecake shop in Detroit, Michigan, in the late 1940s, but later gave it up in order to raise her two children, David and Renee. She continued to supply cakes to several local restaurants, however, through a kitchen in her basement.

In 1972, Oscar and Evelyn Overton moved to the Woodland Hills suburb of Los Angeles where they opened a wholesale bakery in which they produced cheesecakes and a variety of other desserts for local restaurants.

In 1978, David Overton opened a small salad and sandwich restaurant in Beverly Hills where they sold 10 different varieties of Overton’s cheesecakes on their one page menu. In 1983, the Overton’s opened a second restaurant in Marina del Rey as a result of the popularity of their cheesecakes.

By 1987, the Beverly Hills location had expanded to a 78 seat restaurant and was experiencing great financial success. This led to the opening of a third, larger location in Redondo Beach, which was eventually renovated into a 300 seat, 21,000 square foot location.

By the end of the 1980’s, The Cheesecake Factory’s one page menu had diversified. They now offered items such as pizza, meatloaf, omelets, chicken tacos, and baby back pork ribs; however, despite diet and health concerns, their most popular items continued to be of the dessert variety.

The 1990’s saw the opening of the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant outside of Southern California. The new restaurant was located in Washington, D.C. In 1992, The Cheesecake Factory was incorporated and went public the following September. In 1993, two more locations were opened. Oscar Overton planned to open 3-4 units a year in the hopes of generating 25% a year increase in sales. The company began changing the menu twice a year and added items such as pasta, burritos and fajitas, steaks, seafood, ribs, pizza, burgers, omelets, salads, sandwiches, and vegetarian dishes. Dessert options also expanded from hot fudge sundaes to fresh fruit to cakes to apple dumplings. Oscar Overton continued to open new restaurants and by 1995, the chain was number 11 in the United States. As of February 21, 2006, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operated 103 casual dining restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory name in 29 states. On February 20, 2009 The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated announced the opening of its newest Cheesecake Factory restaurant at Plaza Escuela in Walnut Creek, California, in the San Francisco East Bay Area. The restaurant opened on February 19, 2009 and contains approximately 11,000 square feet and 330 seats.

Over thirty years later, The Cheesecake Factory owns 170 locations in many different states and offers more than 200 menu selections made fresh each day. Sachdhanjal (talk) 03:57, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Community Involvement
The founders of The Cheesecake Factory, Oscar and Evelyn Overton have established a foundation that helps to improve surrounding communities and those in need. The Oscar and Evelyn Charitable Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises money for various organizations. Paivajen (talk) 03:14, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

City of Hope
Every year, The Cheesecake Factory’s charitable foundation holds a charity golf tournament and fundraiser and donates the money to a cancer research centre in California. The program is dedicated to the City of Hope Cancer centre, where treatments and research are conducted to help cure numerous diseases including cancer. Oscar and Evelyn Overton have hosted 7 charity golf tournaments each raising over 100,000. In 2007, the company had reached a personal goal of one million dollars donated to the City of Hope. Paivajen (talk) 03:14, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Secret Ingredients
The Cheesecake Factory ‘Secret Ingredients’ is a program that was created by The Cheesecake Factory Oscar & Evelyn Overton Charitable Foundation in 2008 and is intended to encourage employees and members of the community to get involved in order to help out local non-profit organizations. Over 3500 members have participated in the program and since then, it has helped more than 145 organizations through team sponsorships. Teams are sponsored through events such as Walk-a-Thons and donations are made to specific organization by the charitable foundation based on the number of staff that participate. Paivajen (talk) 03:14, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Feeding America
'Feeding America' is a hunger-relief charity that collaborated with The Cheesecake Factory to create a tour entitled “Drive out Hunger” in order to collect cans of soup which would be donated to local food banks throughout the month of September, 2009. The idea was that people would visit tour stops and receive a free piece of 'The Cheesecake Factory’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake' after making their donation. To commemorate the event, Campbell Soup Company also donated 30 000 cans of soup. Another way in which The Cheesecake Factory has collaborated with 'Feeding America' is that The Cheesecake Factory agreed to donate $0.25 to 'Feeding America' for every slice of a specific type of cheesecake they sold. Between September 2011 to August 2012, $0.25 would be donated to 'Feeding America' for every slice of The Cheesecake Factory’s Hershey’s Chocolate Bar Cheesecake purchased. From the beginning of this collaboration, The Cheesecake Factory has raised approximately $2.1 million in support of 'Feeding America'. Amdwarka (talk) 03:25, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Harvest Program Food Donation
'Harvest Program Food Donation' is another charity which The Cheesecake Factory has collaborated with since 2008. Any remaining food from the restaurant is delivered by local food rescue operations to soup kitchens and shelters which serve food to those in need. Approximately 500 000 meals are donated every year by The Cheesecake Factory. Amdwarka (talk) 03:25, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Awards
As the Cheesecake Factory gained its popularity in the restaurant industry, the company’s outstanding performance clearly became noticeable. Their food, beverages, menus, services, and atmosphere satisfied many customers, and starting from the year of 2003, the company has won many kinds of awards from various magazines and surveys, and to date they continue to do so. Kimeun (talk) 05:10, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Achieving total of five awards in 2003 was a glorious time for the Cheesecake Factory. Cheers magazine, which provides and deliver information on drink culture, regional bar trends and operator innovations, marketing matters, legal matters, drink trends, reviews on beverages, service skills and drink recipes to help the hospitality professionals, was the first to recognize the Cheesecake Factory's outstanding performance, and honoured them for Beverage Excellence "Best Spirits Program. Nation's Restaurant News, which is the American Trade Publication that critically evaluates the restaurant industry,  has also noticed some of the superior performances from the Cheesecake Factory as well. The Cheesecake Factory's Corporate Chef, Robert Okura, won "The NRN 50: R&D Culinarians Award and MenuMasters Award" for his excellent work in foodservice.  Furthermore, The Cheesecake Factory Founder and CEO, David Overton, has won "Executive of the Year Award" from Restaurants and Institutions Magazine as well as "Choice in Chains Guest Satisfaction Award in Casual Dining". Kimeun (talk) 05:10, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

In 2005, David Overton again won "Menu Masters Hall of Fame Award" from Nation's Restaurant News, and following that year, another award for "Choice in Chains Platinum Award in Casual Dining" from Restaurants and Institutions Magazine. In 2007, Zagat Survey, which collects consumer survey-based information and known to be the most trusted survey website, chose the Cheesecake Factory as "Most Popular Restaurant, Souther California and San Francisco." Kimeun (talk) 05:10, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

In 2008, Choice in Chains Platinum Award in "Casual Dining" was awarded by Restaurants and Institutions Magazine. Nitahrir (talk) 05:57, 16 August 2012 (UTC) In 2009, The Cheesecake Factory also won awards in "Best Value", "Best Salad", "Best Coffee", "Best Appetizers", and "Best Desserts" categories through Zagat Fast-Food Survey. Also the 2009 "SPIRIT Award" from The Nation’s Restaurant News & The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation for demonstrating excellence in workforce recruitment, hiring, retention, education and training was awarded.In 2009 once again Choice in Chains Gold Award in "Casual Dining" from Restaurants and Institutions Magazine was awarded by the consumers who were asked to rate the top restaurant among 120 other restaurants for casual dining.The Cheesecake Factory continued its award winning streak in 2009 when David Overton, the founder and CEO of the cheesecake factory was awarded “Commitment to People” Award by the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) for demonstrating excellent commitment to the development of his associates. Nitahrir (talk) 05:57, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

In 2010 The Cheesecake Factory received HALO Gold Award for the best marketing cause which was the “Drive out Hunger” tour organized in the hunger action month of September 2009.The Cheesecake Factory also won awards the same year for Best Salads and Best Desserts through Zagat food survey. 2010 was their third year getting awards from the Zagat Fast-Food Survey. In 2011, Best Practices Award by People Report was given in recognition of the restaurant’s performance in maintaining high employee satisfaction and community involvement. In 2012, the restaurant received special accolades from Nation’s Restaurant News. They received MenuMasters Award for “Healthful Innovations” for their Skinny Licious Menu that set new standards in the industry based on menu innovation. Nitahrir (talk) 05:57, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Although Men’s Health magazine voted the company and its food as “America’s Worst Family Restaurants” and “Worst food in America” in 2010, this controversy did not stop the company from winning more awards. The company has continuously put more effort into their menu to provide healthier selections such as SkinnyLicious menu, and their devotion towards higher quality food successfully earn them the award from Nation’s Restaurant News Menu Masters award for “Healthier Innovations.” in 2012. Kimeun (talk) 05:10, 16 August 2012 (UTC)