Vantaggi
People that work there love the food, and there is an abundance of diversity on the menu. People also love the culture, The Cheesecake Factory champions treating their hourly staff the way they should be treated--with respect! Managers are extremely flexible when it comes to scheduling, there are great opportunities for advancement, and servers, bussers, line cooks, kitchen managers and restaurant managers are friendly and promote a fun and safe working environment. This was easily the best company I have ever worked for in the restaurant industry, and I have been doing this for over 9 years. The opportunity for advancement is second-to-none. As a matter of fact, we, as managers were expected to be constantly training ourselves for promotions. I never heard of any manager that had worked for the company for multiple years that was not promoted. They encourage you to learn as much as you can about the food, culture, and systems. Staff are allowed free soup and bread (something you won't always find at other chains) and there's a meal program that takes a small amount of money out of your paycheck each day that you work and allows you to order most of the items on the menu (because just about everyone would take advantage of ordering the high priced items like the filet mignon or the ribeye). I will sorely miss the people, the managers, and the general attitude of every person I worked with, met, and became friends with while I was employed. Cheesecake Rocks!
Svantaggi
The fast pace can be too much for some people and the hours can be long and arduous. As an example, I, as a kitchen manager, worked around 11-14 hours a day and it was exhausting. It was difficult to find the right work/life balance and ultimately I chose life over work. A lot of people in management, because of the long hours and having to work sometimes at home, reported their relationships with their significant other deteriorated and/or ended. While I was there, one of the kitchen managers was going through a rough divorce and a restaurant manager told me about how his wife divorced him because he became a workaholic and he ultimately had to step down as his role as the general manager and was demoted.