The One Thing Cheesecake Factory Employees Avoid Telling Customers

What's the one thing you never want to hear at The Cheesecake Factory? Besides that they are out of every single flavor of cheesecake, of course (that's too scary to even joke about!). No, the one thing customers at Cheesecake Factory never want to hear is the word "no." 

Or at least, that's what Cheesecake Factory employees are taught. In a Refinery29 tell-all article, one ex-employee says that she and her fellow servers were trained to never say the word "no" to their tables. She explains, "You never say 'No,' you say, 'I'm sorry.' You don't say 'Yes,' you say, 'Absolutely." 

For example, let's say that the Cheesecake Factory is currently out of fresh strawberry cheesecake — which makes sense as it's been the chain's most popular cheesecake flavor for the last 45 years. Instead of saying "no" outright, the server will cleverly steer the customer in another direction. For example, they might suggest the lemon meringue cheesecake or one of the other hidden gems on the Cheesecake Factory menu.

David Gordon, the president of The Cheesecake Factory, told Newsweek that new hires can expect a grueling 60-day training program. Servers are asked to memorize the menu, which is no small feat, as the restaurant chain has a huge menu. It's a whopping 21 pages and boasts 250 items, including at least 24 new additions made in a 2025 menu update.

Still, there are benefits to being a new Cheesecake Factory hire. One Redditor says that your first week of training essentially involves trying everything on the menu, so "Be prepared to eat lots of delicious food." Another ex-employee said Cheesecake Factory's intense training is legendary in the industry, so it is easy to get hired at other establishments when you have it on your resume.

Although the Cheesecake Factory asks a lot of its employees, the chain offers many benefits, including health insurance, tuition reimbursement, paid time off, and life insurance. It also ranks in the top 40% for employee retention when compared to similarly sized companies, with 65% of Cheesecake Factory workers saying that they are happy to go to work each day. Now that we've pulled back the curtain on what it's like to work for Cheesecake Factory, you may wish to know the 10 things that Cheesecake Factory employees know that diners don't.