The Cheesecake Factory

Last night we celebrated my wife's birthday to one of her favorite restaurants, the cheesecake factory at the university town center mall in sarasota, florida

It was a beautiful evening, we sat outside and had some time to just chill and talk. Very relaxing. This was the first time in a long time we have gone out to a nice restaurant because of the risks over the past year. It felt like good times were returning.

As we were sharing great conversation while dining. I had to excuse myself mid-sentence as I coughed. I will spare details of the incident for the your sake. I was actually choking.
New york strip steak is my favorite and a piece had lodged itself somewhere in my wind pipe. I took a drink of water to help. That did not work out that well.

Fortunately we were sitting in a corner table, outside and I was trying not to make a scene but one can only hide the fact that he can't breathe to a certain degree. We were grabbing nice cloth napkins as fast as could. Meanwhile the waiter had come to check on us and needless to say the situation was quite evident to him…forgive me if I use some superlatives but reflecting on the incident, some things struck me.

Our waiter was about 6'2"240-ish. He asked if I was okay as if could actually even talk! So the waiter takes heroic measures by saying he would be right back. When he returned, he gave me a few more of those nice cloth napkins and a to-go bag as my eyes began bulging.

Sandy was a bit frantic but having nursing experience, was at least able to kick into her nurse mindset. She got behind me and was getting ready to take action. The waiter said,"i'll be right back"and left.

The waiter came back with his manager he asked me if I wanted him to call 911…again…as if I could say anything. Yeah I thought, let's (expletive) call (explative) 911 so they can haul my dead [censored] out of here. Sandy, 71 years old and with arthritis noticing the size of the waiter suggested maybe heimlich?

Finally, after about two more minutes added to the 10 while I was in distress, the steak dislodged and I was able to swallow. I had this pain in my sternum.
Sandy sat back down. I recognized that she was visibly shaken. She had a plateful of food and said"I can't eat any more."

The manager, my hero, brought me out a little bowl of three warm washcloths and a glass of warm water. I don't know what I would have done without him. Right!

The positive to this night….. We will never forget this birthday dinner. Neither will we forget the total (in) actions of the waiter and the manager. When I mentioned the incident to sandy the next morning, she still was pretty shaken by the incident.

Do you not have a management person trained in life saving measures, or at least some designated employee? Is calling 911 satisfactory remedy to one choking...Could the manager at least not have sought out a trained medical person among the diners capable of responding.

I know covid is still around but I didn't need mouth to mouth... Basic simple first response would have been helpful. There were also security personnel from the mall that possibly could have helped an possibly trained for this life threatening situation.

It seems to me a $100 gift card would be reasonable compensation. Otherwise, there are plenty of quality restaurants... Probably more than a dozen within 100 yards of your facility. Up until pre-covid, we would frequent cheesecake factory at least four or five times a year and usually with friends.

In considering your decision, other than spewing into your floor toward the wall, I tried to be as calm and discrete as possible to avoid disrupting anyone else's meal... Not sure how successful was.

I will await your response before returning.

Respectfully

David toombs
3427 52nd avenue west,
Bradenton florida
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