An excellent cook, Evelyn's passion for baking led to the creation of her original cheesecake, a hit with everyone who tried it. By the early 1950's, while raising her two young children, David and Renee, Evelyn converted their basement into a professional bakery and supplied her original cheesecakes to the best local restaurants in her hometown of Detroit.

Using the last of their savings, they opened a small bakery in Los Angeles to sell their signature cheesecakes. They called it The Cheesecake Factory®. The original cheesecake inspired their son David to create an original restaurant, unique to this day, and in 1978, he opened The Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. With little knowledge of how to run a restaurant but lots of intuition, David set out to create a dining experience guests wouldn't soon forget – generous portions with hundreds of creative menu selections handmade from scratch with the finest quality ingredients served in a warm and inviting setting.

The restaurant was an immediate success! Today, The Cheesecake Factory continues to be led and inspired by the Overtons' original spirit of innovation, quality, passion and commitment to excellence. Now more people than ever enjoy The Cheesecake Factory's original food and desserts, around the world.