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Casual Dining

The Iconic Chain Restaurant Known For Its Over 20-Page Menu & 250+ Items By Alexa Valme Oct. 13, 2025 12:09 pm EST

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Few restaurant menus read like a novel, but The Cheesecake Factory's does — a sprawling, 20-plus-page catalog boasting over 250 dishes. It's the kind of place where diners can jump from Thai lettuce wraps to Cajun jambalaya in one sitting, with a buffet's worth of options packed into a single, bound booklet. And yet, the question of why The Cheesecake Factory's menu is so long isn't just about indulgence; it's about evolution.

The story begins 1940s Detroit, where Evelyn Overton stumbled upon a cheesecake recipe in her local paper. This recipe would eventually shape an empire. What began as a small basement bake

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