What's Really In The Cheesecake Factory's Famous Brown Bread?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

You know you're in for a true dining experience when you sit at your booth and the waiter brings you a basket of bread before you have time to pick up the menu. Maybe the bread is paired with some soft butter, or maybe there's oil and balsamic on the table already (here's what makes the bread dipping oil at restaurants so delicious), but either way, you're ready to dig in. Perhaps some of the most well-known restaurant bread of all time comes from The Cheesecake Factory, that beloved brown bread with soft oats sprinkled on the surface, which has all but exploded in popularity since the internet got its hands on it.

The Cheesecake Factory's brown bread is supposedly made from honey, molasses, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. It's got all of the basic bread ingredients to make it rise, like yeast, bread flour, water, and a pinch of salt, but most people are surprised by the somewhat unconventional additions that make this bread so irresistible. That famous dark brown color doesn't even come from the dark powders or the molasses; it reportedly comes from caramel coloring. There are also the oats, which some people believe makes the brown bread "healthier," but it's the sweet taste and free refills that truly make customers so obsessed with it.

Brown bread, which employees often know as "wheat bread," has always been a staple of The Cheesecake Factory menu. When David Overton, founder of The Cheesecake Factory, opened the first location in the late 1970s, the restaurant only had a one-page menu, which he researched extensively. Sadly, 13 original Cheesecake Factory items are no longer on the menu. But, according to an article from Thrillist, Overton also stumbled upon a recipe for "squaw bread," a bread made from rye and molasses. Although its name has been a longstanding controversy, he decided to adapt the recipe for his restaurant.

The exact recipe for The Cheesecake Factory's brown bread has been a secret for decades, but in 2018, the chain released a prepackaged version of the bread in grocery stores. At first, it was only available in stores such as Winn Dixie and Bi-Lo, but today it can be found on Amazon or at Publix, Walmart, and various other places across the country. Plus, there's no longer just a standard brown bread baguette that customers can pick up, but a whole collection of brown bread items like bakery buns, dinner rolls, and a sliced sandwich loaf. This means not only can you slice a baguette of brown bread as an appetizer for your dinner guests, but you can also grab a few slices from a loaf and make one mean club sandwich with herb mayo.