OUR STORY

Dee’s Cheesecake Factory was founded in 1973 by the Mager family. It originated as a wholesale bakery and restaurant which was located at 5906 Lomas NE, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From the first day the doors were opened for business, sales took off. The small restaurant in front of the bakery was busy all day long with customers enjoying a dessert and beverage or just coming in to take some home to enjoy. The bakery was working 24/7 to produce enough cheesecakes and other desserts to satisfy the demand created in the bordering states. The bakery was so small that it had to store its cream cheese in a local public storage facility. It also had to store its finished goods in a parked freezer truck to await the common carrier which would then take the desserts to distributors in other states. In 1976, Dee's Cheesecake Factory opened a restaurant in the Coronado Mall. In 1979, a new restaurant and bakery opened at 3300 Menaul NE, its current location. Dee'sCheesecake Factory, “Bakers of Dee’s Famous Cheesecake” and Albuquerque were synonymous.

Dee's Cheesecake Factory continued to prosper by producing cheesecakes and other specialty desserts for consumption nationally and overseas, eventually becoming one of the largest producers of cheesecakes in the nation. By 1986 Dee’s Famous Cheesecake could be found in 40 states and Guam, not to mention Japan. Some of the notable national and international customers were Target, Victoria Station, Steak & Ale, Continental Airlines, Winn Dixie Supermarkets, and the Japan National Railway.

Between 1987 and 1990, Dee’s Cheesecake Factory remodeled and expanded the restaurant and built a new three-temperature distribution center. In 1997, Dee’s Cheesecake Factory filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Federal court against a competitor from California who also called themselves “The Cheesecake Factory”. The suit alleged trademark violations in multiple states across the country. This long and fascinating story of the “Cheesecake Wars” as it had become known, will be published soon.

Over the years, Dee’s Cheesecake Factory diversified and expanded into the food service distribution business. Today, Dee’s FoodService is a full-line food service distributor, selling approximately 6500 brand name and private label items to over 1000 restaurants, supermarkets and institutions in New Mexico and West Texas. In 1987, Dee’s FoodService was granted the exclusive license to distribute Certified Angus Beef® products in New Mexico. As such, It is one of only 100 distributors in the United States licensed to distribute the highest quality, top branded beef in the world.

Coming in 2008, a brand new Dee’s Cheesecake Factory restaurant will open in Albuquerque. This new 7500 sq. ft. state of the art restaurant with a full liquor license, will feature unique menu items for breakfast, lunch, dinner and after-hours. All menu items including baked goods will be prepared in full public view utilizing an “interactive open kitchen”. Watch for details.