The Cheesecake Factory is the cheesecake lover's version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, only without the Oompa Loompas. In this story, Willy Wonka is really a man named David Overton. David grew... The Cheesecake Factory is the cheesecake lover's version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, only without the Oompa Loompas. In this story, Willy Wonka is really a man named David Overton. David grew up happily devouring his mother's baking. Cheesecakes were her speciality. In 1978, Overton decided to open a restaurant where his mother's cheesecakes would be the star of the show. He had a hunch that customers would salivate over the opportunity to eat at a dessert-themed eatery. Fortunately for cheesecake lovers everywhere, he was right. The restaurant was a tremendous success. Today, nearly 200 The Cheesecake Factory restaurants offer over 30 varieties of cheesecake; from the famous original (cough, boring, cough) to the wow it's really possible to make cheesecake out of anything (Dutch Apple Caramel Streusel). In addition to cheesecake, the restaurants all offer an extremely vast menu (approximately 250 offerings) of family-friendly dishes. The portions are huge so customers may want to start with dessert.read more