The first Cheesecake Factory restaurant opened in 1978. David Overton launched it in Beverly Hills, California, to showcase the cheesecakes made by his family.
The restaurant grew from a bakery business operated by David’s parents, Oscar and Evelyn Overton. After moving from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1972, the Overtons opened The Cheesecake Factory Bakery and supplied desserts to restaurants. David saw an opportunity to make those cheesecakes the centerpiece of a restaurant experience.
The 1978 opening was not the start of the family’s baking history, but it was the beginning of The Cheesecake Factory as a restaurant chain. The bakery came first, and the restaurant followed six years later. Another common confusion is the company’s incorporation and public-market history: the corporate company was incorporated in 1992, but the first restaurant had already been operating since 1978.