Every Cheesecake Factory Location In LA, Ranked

Year Opened: 1983

The MDR Cheesecake Factory earns the top spot for the same reason many people love SoCal in the first place: incredible beach access. The second-oldest Cheesecake Factory ever was obviously built to take advantage of its primo waterfront views, with a sprawling three-level patio taking up most of the restaurant. The backdrop is fit for a Visit California ad: you’ll see yachts anchored in the harbor, people playing sunset volleyball, and on a clear day, mountaintops on the horizon. Plus, you can stroll down to the sand in seconds to walk off that chicken piccata and banana cream cheesecake post-dinner.

Year Opened: 2005

The Cheesecake Factory inside the darkest depths of The Grove is not without its annoyances: expensive parking, astronomical wait times, and the fact that going anywhere near the holiday season means wading through Santa-induced bedlam. That said, there’s a certain beautiful campiness that’s impossible to resist. It begins with a dramatic escalator ride to the second floor and ends in the famed glassed-in dining room overlooking the AMC lobby. A table with a bird’s eye view of people buying tickets to Paddington In Peru? Nothing pairs better with avocado egg rolls.

Year Opened: 2008

We’ve never been to any of the Cheesecakes in Dubai, but we suspect there might be some overlap with the one at The Americana. This location is Costco-level huge. It has two full-size patios, a rotunda at the entrance that looks like it was commissioned by the Medicis, and a bar area larger than the Nike store. Despite all that room, it still fills up regularly and even on weekdays you’ll be competing with dozens of families for a table. If you want to go big, go Glendale, baby.

Year Opened: 2015

If Santa Monica’s third-story patio had even a peek-a-boo view of the ocean, it might have been in play for the top spot. Unfortunately, you’re facing 3rd Street Promenade here, which isn’t the worst vantage, but it’s a missed opportunity considering the water is a block and a half away. Points are awarded for the abundance of natural light in the dining room (family photos go hard here) and the semi-secret elevator that whisks you directly from street level to the patio. Otherwise, we’re left wondering what could have been.

Year Opened: 1987

Redondo Beach is a true wild card. It does have a harbor view, but it’s more close-ups of barnacled sailboat hulls than postcard panorama. There’s a second floor, but it’s reserved for private events, and the patio is currently under construction (the corrosive sea air has clearly taken its toll on the exterior over the years). Also, aside from two spectacular murals—including one that reads “In Cheesecake We Trust” in Latin—the decor is surprisingly muted. Still, being close to the water counts for something, even if the result is $6 mandatory valet. Consider this the poor man’s version of Marina Del Rey.

Year Opened: 1996

Compared to the grand spectacle of other branches (we’re looking at you, Glendale), Pasadena feels downright quaint. Located on the ground floor of a vaguely Art Deco-ish building in the heart of Old Town, it’s more or less the size of an average neighborhood bistro, with no patio and a bar area that only has room for—gasp—three high-top tables. As a result, the experience here tends to be fairly mellow. And while eating at Cheesecake Factory without fighting for your life at the hostess stand has upsides, you’re also dining somewhere with a menu that inexplicably covers every continent. Isn’t a bit of chaos half the fun?

Year Opened: 1978

If you’re eating at Beverly Hills, it’s because you want to tell someone you went to the original The Cheesecake Factory location (that, or the hostess at South Beverly Grill just quoted you two hours for a table). History aside, this branch doesn’t offer much to live up to its glamorous zip code. The relatively small space on Beverly Drive—obscured by a big tree out front—is dark, dreary, and bizarrely low-energy. Perhaps most shockingly, there’s nothing that nods to the history of the place. At least put up a plaque.

Year Opened: 2015

We’ve officially entered the “outer suburb shopping mall” section of the guide, which is when all the Cheesecake Factories really start to blur together. The Cerritos one, however, is arguably the best of them, assuming you don’t mind the covered patio that faces the 605. The generic-but-roomy space sits on a quiet edge of Los Cerritos Center, which means an asphalt ocean of open parking spots, and it’s attached to a lovely movie theatre (the highly underrated Harkins, with its comfy power-recline seats), making it ideal for a little lunch-matinee combo.

Year Opened: 2006

Located in Westfield Santa Anita, the Arcadia Cheesecake Factory has the unfortunate fate of being surrounded by an elite lineup of other chains, including Din Tai Fung, Benihana, and Hai Di Lao, as well as being a few steps from an impressive upscale food court. Otherwise, aside from the surplus of Renaissance ceiling murals and thick columns decorated with creepy carved faces, it’s a standard suburban Cheesecake. The outdoor seating is an afterthought, but the soaring ceilings provide enough light that your aunt won’t need to use flash when taking a picture of her cajun jambalaya pasta (though she probably will anyway).

Year Opened: 2004

Two things save Canoga Park from the last spot on this list: plentiful free parking at the Westfield Topanga and the string-lit front patio with a corrugated roof that makes it look like an REI store. Our main grip with this Cheesecake Factory, however, is the long S-shaped dining room, a seemingly sleek design touch that turns out to be completely impractical. Come dinner rush the walkway between booths clogs up with big groups faster than the Sepulveda Pass on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Year Opened: 2001

There is nothing inherently offensive about the Sherman Oaks Cheesecake Factory. It merely commits the cardinal sin of the Cheesecake empire: being exceptionally boring. The mall it’s located in is lackluster enough already (sorry Sherman Oaks Galleria fans, whoever you are), but after trying desperately to find anything unique or silly about this place, we just couldn’t. It’s a Cheesecake Factory with four beige walls, a cursed parking situation, and an open-air patio that looks onto the always-congested intersection where Ventura meets Sepulveda.

Year Opened: 2004

The Coachella Valley is several hours east of Los Angeles, but this Cheesecake in Rancho Mirage warrants a special shout-out for being surrounded by a full-on moat. Yes, a moat. Granted, the only crocs we saw nearby were on people’s feet, but if you’re considering conquering this restaurant by force, think twice. The water feature is exactly the kind of absurd detail we expect from the expert planners at TCF, and the Rancho Mirage team nailed the assignment.