Free Information and takeout from the Cheesecake Factory

When we lived in Denver, we lived on the 16th Street Mall. We were on the 28th floor with great views of downtown Denver as well as Mile High Stadium and the Nuggets hoops arena. That was all nice, but the best part of it was what was across the street on the ground floor: the Cheesecake Factory. I can't tell you how many times at 10pm, Brodi and I would make the 'smart' decision to order takeout...take the elevator down to the 1st floor, run across the street and pick up a couple of slices of cheesecake. 2000 calories later, we were feeling pretty good, although a little bloated and a little bit fatter.



Fast forward 4 years and we are now in Salt Lake City and the Cheesecake Factory has opened up. We have no interest in 4-hour lines, yes they are currently experiencing 4-hour waits, but we knew that we could order Take out. Now, if only we had their phone number.

If you want to get a phone number, you can call 411. The problem is that it costs over a $1 to just get a phone number. So, Brodi looked into it and found a free number to call to get phone numbers for free. You end up listening to a 15 second commercial, but the info is free: 1-800-Free-411.

She called it to get the Cheesecake Factory phone number and the conversation with the computer system went something like this:

Computer: City and State
Brodi: Salt Lake City, Utah
Computer: Business, Government or Residential
Brodi: Business
Computer: In what city?
Brodi: Salt Lake City (I already told you that)
Computer: Residential or Business
Brodi: Business (yes, still a business)
Computer: For what listing
Brodi: Cheesecake Factory
Computer: OK, Arbys, is that correct?
Brodi: No, Cheesecake Factory (seriously, how do you mess that one up? Does Cheesecake Factory sound like Arbys?)
Computer: Residential or Business?
Brodi: Business (still business)
Computer: For what listing?
Brodi: CHEESECAKE FACTORY, CHEESECAKE FACTORY!
Computer: I am sorry, I do not understand, what category?
Brodi: Business!
Computer: Would you like to search by category
Brodi: Yes (sure, what the heck).
Computer: What type of business?
Brodi: Restaurants
Computer: OK, restaurants, Arbys, All American Grill, A&W Hires, A...
Brodi: Start over, Start Over (she had quickly realized that it was going to go alphabetically)
Computer: OK, for what listing?
Brodi: Oh crap...

Finally, after about 5 minutes, a human, yes a human, came on the line. They quickly found us the Cheesecake Factory. We saved a dollar and all it took was about 8 minutes of frustration and yelling at a stinkin' computer. Yeah, next time we will pay.


We ordered the usual...Cheesecake. Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake. And yes, I gained 4 pounds. But, I did save $1.