The Cheesecake Factory West Hartford

Update: Following this review, CF replied and asked me to contact them via a generic form website page. Instead of reaching out to learn more about the experience, they made me spend time searching their site for how to contact THEM. Very disappointing. Suggested that they make table tents that say "THIS AREA SANITIZED FOR YOUR SAFETY AND ENJOYMENT" as part of their table cleaning/prep policies. CF offered a $15 gift card to be used in the future. I refused the offer and will not be returning to this location and suggested a donation to a local food bank instead. No additional reply or contact from CF. 02/02/21 It's the COVID era, so restaurants are reaching for customers at every opportunity. With COVID comes responsibility, too. Generally speaking, this Cheesecake Factory location was like many others -- reliable and familiar foods, consistent service, and of course, dessert. Unfortunately the visit was marred by two incidents at the open and close of a two-hour meal...the most disturbing part of the experience was sitting down to a table (that should have been cleaned and sanitized) and discovering after several minutes (due to greasy food crumbs stuck to my Note 10+) that it had not been cleaned between guests. The waitress, Marta, was the most sincerely apologetic and concerned staff member, because neither the hostess, nor the managerial member who waltzed by the table seemed too concerned in the lapse of COVID sanitation procedure. Honestly, I was freaked out wondering who had been seated there prior and would not have even been at CF if not for a special occasion. The 'ho-hum' attitude was almost enough to turn our party away and forego dinner after an hour drive and hour wait. Someone needs to have a training on customer service, and Marta should be the one to lead it. The food was rote CF fare, so what heightens the experience is positive energy -- which we had in abundance each time Marta checked on us, added to our order, or delivered a course. Anyone can paint on a smile from table to table, but only the best servers can carry the energy through a bad situation that could have ruined the entire evening. Marta was friendly, engaging, and should be commended, because dessert ended on a sour note, too. (And again, she addressed and corrected an error that was not hers). It involved a piece of wax paper embedded in our cheesecake -- which one of us ate a portion of and nearly choked on. I can't imagine going to this location again on a busy non-COVID night if they can't even get the little things right at reduced capacity.