Lisa and Curtis Forbes fulfill customers’ cheesecake fantasies at Mak and Cheesecakes
Never challenge a woman unless you’re prepared to back it up. Curtis Forbes learned that lesson the hard way. Before they were married, Curtis took his girlfriend, Lisa, on a trip to his former stomping grounds in New York City. Lisa had never tasted New York-style cheesecake, so Curtis treated her to a slice at the locally renowned shop where his grandmother used to take him as a child.
“I tried [the cheesecake] and told him, ‘I think I can make this,’ says Lisa, who loves to cook. “And he laughed at me! So I said, ‘challenge accepted.’” When they returned home to Simpsonville, she began researching cheesecake recipes and honing her skills in the precise art of baking. After much trial and error, she came up with a good rendition and began making cheesecakes for potlucks at work. “People would line up at my desk,” she recalls, “and by the end of the day, [the cheesecake] was gone and people complained if they didn’t get a piece.”
Building on her momentum, Lisa purchased a little tricycle cart in October 2021 and used it to stage cheesecake pop-ups. Things snowballed so quickly from there that she quit her job at Synnex to dive full-time into the cheesecake business. This past February, the couple opened Mak and Cheesecakes on Main Street in Simpsonville.
The response has been overwhelming: on opening day in February, the shop had a line outside for seven hours. Things thave gone so well that the couple is planning for a separate baking facility and a second location in the area.
What sets Mak and Cheesecakes apart? All their dense, creamy cheesecakes, which are made in-house from scratch every day, have a crunchy cookie crust—a “Southern twist,” as Lisa calls it. Cookie crust choices include chocolate, golden, lemon, and peanut butter. The three flagship flavors (also available in mini flights) are strawberry, turtle, and salted caramel, but you can customize your cheesecake from a rotating list of more than 20 toppings—everything from candy bars to key lime pie. “People love to create their own anything,” observes Lisa, adding that for purists, they also offer a “naked” (plain) version.
The name of the shop honors their son, Makai—Mak, for short. Born with a rare type of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, Makai spent 200 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. Doctors gave the child, now 10 years old, a 10 percent chance of survival.
“It’s just been a crazy, wild ride,” Lisa reports. “We never imagined it would turn into this. We have an amazing community behind us, and word of mouth has been our biggest friend. It’s been a dream to work for ourselves and build a legacy for our children.”
Fun with Flavors
In creating new flavors for cheesecake toppings, Lisa Forbes follows her passion. “I just keep thinking about things I love,” she says. “If it’s dessert, and you can top a cheesecake with it, we’re gonna do it.”
This summer, that meant Key Lime, Peach Cobbler, and Banana Pudding (which was so popular, they’ve made it a standing menu item). This fall, Sweet Potato, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Spice, Apple Cider Donut, and even Candy Corn may appear on the “secret” menu, announced each week on social media (pro tip: follow Mak and Cheesecakes on Instagram or Facebook to find out the rotating flavors). For something different, try the Little Bro, named for Makai’s baby brother; it’s a slice of plain cheesecake sandwiched between two house-made chocolate chip cookies.
510 S.E. Main St., Simpsonville. 864.913.2659, makandcheesecakes.com
