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Comment by 7thaccount | Hacker News Reader

I'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.

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The video that webwielder2 posted below from PolyMatter is a really good start: 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.

"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.

True 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

Vegetarian bumps that to 52 menu items.

There 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).

I would think that vegans regularly have salad for dinner, no?

A 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.

True, but again at the CCF salads aren't the only option, but about half of them.

No, vegans eat food.

Salad is food, afaik. I eat it frequently.

> 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.

But... cows are vegan, aren't they?

Actually, no. They're (occasional) omnivores, believe it or not:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-herbivores-ar...

Horses sometimes eat chickens too.

Nary a grazer turns down occasional free protein

> Chicken Lettuce Wraps without Chicken.

Which is an actual item on the menu

https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu/appetizers/thai-le...

The 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.

So it does seem they have something even for vegans. Something doesn't mean that the entire selection is built around your particular quirks.

By 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?

I'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.)

Thank 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.

From 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.

Perhaps it's just me, but I always think the longer the menu the more food gets wasted.

The 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.

In an industry with famously low margins, wasting food is literally throwing away cash.

The 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... [1] https://www.upkeep.com/learning/how-to-calculate-restaurant-...

This tends to be true. But not in this case.

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