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> Cheesecake Factory, similar to Costco, is the ultimate example of how you have to know the rules to break the rules. I mean, it's a themed casual dining expe
by CharlesW 3y ago
> Cheesecake Factory, similar to Costco, is the ultimate example of how you have to know the rules to break the rules.
I mean, it's a themed casual dining experience along the lines of Rainforest Cafe, Buca di Beppo, Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., etc. What "rules" are they breaking?
- 7thaccount 3y agoI'd also like to know. It seems like a lot of restaurants like BJ's Brewhouse which has a menu longer than a dictionary (exaggerating of course, but it's ridiculous). Of course nothing is THAT great.
- techsupporter 3y agoThe video that webwielder2 posted below from PolyMatter is a really good start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndqsvTIveR0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndqsvTIveR0 In short, it's about making an experience that draws people in who are looking for the comfort/familiarity/ease of a chain, while not just relying on that. The Cheesecake Factory is an above-average restaurant masquerading as a Sysco-food-reheating-service. The very large menu is a feature--something for everyone--that would be a bug if a lot of other restaurants tried it because the execution is often so dismal once a particular level of size or growth (or both) is reached.
- CaptainNegative 3y ago"Something for everyone" is stretching it when they have one vegan entree: The Impossible Burger. The closest second option, if it even counts as a separate option, is the "Skinny" Impossible Burger, which comes with mayo that can be removed. Nothing else is close to vegan, unless you're into ordering Chicken Lettuce Wraps without Chicken.
- account42 3y agoSo it does seem they have something even for vegans. Something doesn't mean that the entire selection is built around your particular quirks.
- CaptainNegative 3y agoBy that notion my home kitchen also has something for everyone because I have a tomato in the fridge. Where's my HN praise for being so culinarily flexible?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Retric 3y agoTrue Vegan (no Honey etc) is unusually strict but “there are 9 vegan options at the Cheesecake Factory, plus a handful of other dishes that can be customized to make it vegan.” https://dietmenus.com/restaurant/the-cheesecake-factory https://dietmenus.com/restaurant/the-cheesecake-factory Vegetarian bumps that to 52 menu items.
- CaptainNegative 3y agoThere are a few more options when generalizing beyond entrées, but still five of the items listed on that page are salads, with the other four being a side of beets, asparagus, artichoke, or edamame. Which, at double digit Calories, is only as much a reasonable meal for vegans as it is for carnists (that is to say not much of one).
- parineum 3y agoI would think that vegans regularly have salad for dinner, no?
- bobthepanda 3y agoA lot of vegetarians and vegans I know personally hate salad, because it is so often the only option at a restaurant and often an afterthought for those who don’t eat meat or are trying to lose weight. It also does limit the choice of dressing, for example anything with mayo is off limits.
- HelloMcFly 3y agoTrue, but again at the CCF salads aren't the only option, but about half of them.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- asifgnionio 3y agoNo, vegans eat food.
- civilitty 3y ago> Nothing else is close to vegan, unless you're into ordering Chicken Lettuce Wraps without Chicken. They just haven't figured out how to keep vegans from spoiling in a commercial kitchen yet. They're high maintenance, a bit too big for the freezer, and the vacuum packer tends to deprive them of oxygen.
- doctor_eval 3y agoBut... cows are vegan, aren't they?
- midoridensha 3y agoActually, no. They're (occasional) omnivores, believe it or not: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-herbivores-arent-poor-chicken-got-eaten-cow-180951115/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-herbivores-ar... Horses sometimes eat chickens too.
- kuhewa 3y agoNary a grazer turns down occasional free protein
- sand500 3y ago> Chicken Lettuce Wraps without Chicken. Which is an actual item on the menu https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu/appetizers/thai-lettuce-wraps-with-avocado https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu/appetizers/thai-le...
- seidleroni 3y agoThe avocado lettuce wraps are really good (I'm mostly vegan). I've taken my young kids (6 and 4) there and it works out great. I usually get this and the kids get whatever they want.
- kayodelycaon 3y agoI'm allergic to milk and I stay very far away from such places. Cross-contamination is pretty much a given. (Same with actual fancy restaurants and butter.)
- jonhohle 3y agoThank you for that video. I would have assumed TCF was a Sysco-food-reheating-service masquerading as a slightly expensive mid-range restaurant. I have a new respect for it, though don't understand how they present themselves.
- Simulacra 3y agoPerhaps it's just me, but I always think the longer the menu the more food gets wasted.
- LudwigNagasena 3y agoThe bigger your throughput is the less food gets wasted because the variance of food needed for a day decreases. One restaurant with a big menu would be more efficient than two smaller restaurants with smaller menu.
- ahstilde 3y agoIn an industry with famously low margins, wasting food is literally throwing away cash.
- shalmanese 3y agoThe Cheesecake Factory has 2.5% food waste [0] compared to 4 - 10% in the rest of the industry [1]. [0] https://aviyer2010.com/2012/09/05/the-cheesecake-factory-and-2-5-food-waste/ https://aviyer2010.com/2012/09/05/the-cheesecake-factory-and... [1] https://www.upkeep.com/learning/how-to-calculate-restaurant-food-waste/ https://www.upkeep.com/learning/how-to-calculate-restaurant-...
- HWR_14 3y agoThis tends to be true. But not in this case.
- scott_s 3y agoFrom the submitted article: > Proteins, sauces, veggies, the dressings that go in their gigantic salads, the chicken marsala and mushrooms — it’s cooked on the spot. If there’s any part of the Cheesecake Factory that resembles an industrial machine, it’s the multiple stations and line cooks needed to create handmade food for every meal. ... > “Their quality, their execution, and consistency across the country — it is always the same. And that’s a compliment! That’s impeccable,” pastry chef and Food Network star Young says, “The sauces, the dressings, everything is made in-house. That level of consistency doesn’t happen anywhere else.” This is in the last section, titled "The Cheesecake Factory is a marvel." That section is the most interesting part, because it talks about the execution required to make a large amount of a wide variety of food from scratch, at scale, consistently.
- stevenwoo 3y agoThey make almost everything (baked desserts and cheesecake excepted) in house. Most casual dining places use a lot of Sysco pre-made stuff. This doesn't make it better but that's unusual for a chain, along with the high number of menu items.
- smashed 3y agoYou're saying the cheesecake factory makes everything except the actual cheese cakes?
- pryelluw 3y agoThey should maybe rebrand to The Cheesecake Outlet.
- babypuncher 3y agoI think "Factory" works, since the cheesecakes are the menu item that is made in an actual factory instead of a kitchen.
- kuhewa 3y agoThat would make sense if the sign was on the factory that made them and not the restaurant they are delivered to
- babypuncher 3y agoPerhaps "Cheesecake Factory Outlet" would be more to your liking?
- stevenwoo 3y agoThe article mentions they have separate bakeries (uncertain whether Cheesecake Factory owned or not), the in house kitchen/pantry/freezer is optimized around food prep/cooking everything else on menu.
- 3y ago
- shalmanese 3y agohttps://www.fsrmagazine.com/slideshows/26-casual-chains-earning-most-money-restaurant https://www.fsrmagazine.com/slideshows/26-casual-chains-earn... If you ignore the tiny chain at #1, look at the gap between CCF and their #2 competitor in sales per location. I think at some point I read that CCF was second only to Apple Store in revenue per square foot (I think in prime real estate corridors, excluding luxury or some similar criteria, it was a while ago). Edit: first watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myRFzVmH1tg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myRFzVmH1tg . Best way to analogize it is that CCF is the Katie Ledecky of casual chain restaurants. Because people who write about business and tech don’t really go to casual chain restaurants, nobody appreciates their accomplishments like they do Costco or In-n-Out.
- ghaff 3y agoYou’re probably tight. Personally I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten in one. I like a good fast casual burger now and then it’s often a good choice late night or at an airport. Sometimes I’ll break down and eat at some casual chain at an airport or in some suburban location. But if there’s a location with a CCF there are probably other options I’m inclined to choose first.
- zoky 3y agoCheesecake Factory is actually pretty good, though. My go-to is the spicy cashew chicken, which is really tasty, and big enough that I always take some home. A tip if you ever do go: When the bread arrives, eschew the butter and ask for a side of ranch dressing to dip the bread in. It sounds weird (I don’t even like ranch normally) and everybody I’ve ever told about it looks at me skeptically, but once they try it they instantly become a convert.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoI’ve eaten at Cheesecake Factory a couple of times but it always feels so heavy to me. I’d rather pay the higher prices at Din Tai Feng and get more manageable portions.
- ttymck 3y agoWhat is the theme?
- irrational 3y agoThe one near me has an Egyptian theme. The main room is a hypostyle hall, lotus columns and everything. It’s a bit like visiting Luxor, only, the holy of holies would be where the bathrooms are.
- currymj 3y agothe theme is "Cheesecake Factory". very weird postmodern mix of different ornamental elements from world civilizations throughout history.
- listenallyall 3y agoCheesecake Factory is not like any of these.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- 7speter 3y agoThe big rule they break is that they have a gigantic menu. Its the actual antithesis of what gordon ramsey tries to teach restaurant owners over and over in his show Kitchen Nightmares.
- yurishimo 3y agoWhich is why they're so interesting to study! What will also be interesting imo is seeing what CCF looks like in another 20 years after we've (maybe) gone through another recession. Will they cut back the menu to save labor costs from needing so many people who can cook wildly different dishes at the same time? Smaller restaurants with less kitchen space? More centralization of food prep that is then shipped into an individual location flash frozen? Businesses that try to expand too much (in all senses of the idea) will face scaling issues and potentially need to cut scope to increase efficiency and lower costs, or be forced to raise prices to compensate. CCF has been around for 45 years according to Wikipedia and has only gotten bigger and more complex at the individual store level. For a restaurant, that is an incredible feat and deserves a lot of analysis that can hopefully be shared with smaller chains or owner-operators to help them find profitability with their existing "small" menus.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoCheesecake factory is probably maxed out in terms of expansion. They are only found in the one or two sides of a city that has residents with higher incomes, in or near the mall with the Apple Store and Nordstroms. Their market cap has not gone anywhere in 10+ years and they earn meager profit margins, so I assume people whose job it is to analyze the businesses have mostly predicted there is not much room for expansion.
- ghaff 3y agoI had never thought about it much and I don’t routinely eat out locally but the one location I could identify off the top of my head, it’s because I sometimes go to the Apple Store in the mall.
- 3y ago