Not Just Desserts

Parking spaces at The Oaks shopping center are about to become more in demand. Especially those located near the soon-to-open Cheesecake Factory.

The 29th installment of the superstar concept eatery will swing open its doors to the public at 5 p.m. Wednesday. And if the other 28 locations serve as proof, the Thousand Oaks restaurant will be a bustling, fashionable hot spot for diners.

At least part of the Cheesecake Factory’s winning concept seems simple enough: Each restaurant features its own stylish architecture, while the same relentlessly comprehensive menu is offered throughout the chain. Portions are plentiful; prices, mostly moderate.

Today a publicly traded company, Cheesecake Factory Inc. sprang from humble roots.

Evelyn Overton, in the 1940s, opened a small cheesecake shop in Detroit, which she would later move to her basement kitchen to save money. From home base she continued to supply local restaurants with her desserts.

A calling westward in 1972 brought Evelyn and her husband, Oscar Overton, to Los Angeles. Oscar built accounts and sold the cakes; Evelyn ran the bakery and minded the office.

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Evelyn’s expanding list of cheesecake recipes was a hit, sales blossomed and a new bakery was needed to fill wholesale orders from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

Emboldened by the profitable wholesale business, in 1978 the Overtons founded their first full-service Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills. An entrepreneurial prodigy was born, which now stretches to the East Coast. Evelyn, however, died in 1996.

With its gargantuan menu, “Everyone can find something to eat at the Cheesecake Factory,” said Heather Coin, general manager of the Thousand Oaks restaurant.

The plastic-embossed full-color menu is bound with rings, notebook-style. There are almost 20 pages to pore over, and offerings include espresso and blended drinks of all sorts, appetizers, pizzas, pastas, salads, seafood, steaks, sandwiches and desserts. There is also a page for brunch-style fare, which will be served from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sundays.

As for the cheesecakes, there are about 35 variations, all of which are prepared at the company’s bakery in Calabasas and trucked in daily.

The “something for everyone” Cheesecake Factory mentality even applies to attire.

“It’s California casual,” Coin said. “You can come in your beach shorts and flip-flops. Or you can deck yourself out.”

Go ahead, get decked out. The company spends lavishly, more than $5 million, to open each of its restaurants. The Thousand Oaks restaurant is adorned with hand-painted murals, including a ceiling depiction of a Roman festival. There are marble floors and tables and chairs imported from France.

The restaurant will seat about 240, including room for 60 on an outdoor patio.

Despite the roominess, long waits can be expected during peak hours. A conventional paging system will not be employed here to hail customers when their table is ready. Instead, patrons will be issued silent pagers. When it vibrates, you are ready to be seated.

According to Coin, who transferred from the company’s Woodland Hills restaurant, there has been anticipation building in the Conejo Valley for opening day.

“I’ve talked with a lot of people in the area that are excited,” she said. “Every other question at the Woodland Hills restaurant is ‘When are you getting one in Thousand Oaks?’ ”

Details: The Cheesecake Factory is at The Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks. Cost: appetizers, $5.95 to $7.75; pizzas, $7.75 to $9.50; specialties, $7.75 to $15.95; seafoods and steaks, $14.50 to $18.95; serving of cheesecake, $5.50 to $6.50. The restaurant will open Wednesday and Thursday for dinner service from 5 to 11 p.m. Lunch service will be added beginning Feb. 19. Regular hours: 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Thur., till 12:30 a.m. Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun. Reservations are taken during the first 15 minutes of business each day. Call 371-9705.

Rodney Bosch writes about the restaurant scene in Ventura County and outlying points. He can be reached at 653-7572, fax 653-7576 or by e-mail at: rodney.bosch@latimes.com.