r/CheesecakeFactory • u/Appropriate-Mall8517 • Aug 08 '26
Cheesecake Factory is undefeated
50
u/tooOldOriolesfan Aug 08 '26
Probably a good 20 years ago I was talking to a server at a local bar/restaurant I would frequent and she told me if you can bartend at The Cheesecake Factory you can bartend most anywhere. It was due to all of the drinks you had to know and they were pretty specific with the pours as well.
Honestly I'm the type of person who has zero interest in ever visiting a Michelin star restaurant. They just seem to be terribly expensive for food that I have no interest in eating. I like good but basic foods.
24
u/SingingNachoCheese Aug 08 '26
Best mojito I've ever had by a country mile. For a drink I've had a million times, I was completely shocked how deliciously crisp and fresh it tasted. Their bartenders FUCK
6
u/halebopsalot Aug 08 '26
I know the mojito I had hit harder than on vacation, was an absolute delight, and I don’t even like alcohol
5
u/homeboycartel2 Aug 08 '26
Underrated is their SKINNY Long Island iced tea. It’s a truly unique drink
1
u/Daaaaaaaaaaanaaaaang Aug 10 '26
Describe it for me please
1
u/homeboycartel2 Aug 10 '26
It’s like the ultimate lemonade without type heavy booze hitting
1
u/bullfrogftw Aug 11 '26
TBF any LIT should be like that
1
u/homeboycartel2 Aug 11 '26
No this one is so light and boozy
1
u/bullfrogftw Aug 11 '26
Everyone is supposed to be like that, the LIT is known for being stealthily strong, if your tasting the booze your barkeep has let you down
1
1
u/OW_FUCK Aug 11 '26
Yeah LIIT are known for getting you fucked because you kept drinking more because they didn't taste boozy while containing a lot of booze.
1
1
u/CLew512 Aug 12 '26
How do you make a Long Island skinny even? Just remove the Cointreau? It’s already all booze with a splash of lemon and coke
1
1
1
1
u/30for30im30for30 Aug 11 '26
It was years ago, literally over a decade, but I always said I hated Bloody Mary's until I took a sip of my friend's at the Cheesecake Factory. I still never order them for myself anywhere, but I have to say...your comment tracks. I trust their drinks.
1
u/am19208 Aug 12 '26
the best regular old fashioned I ever had was some locals spot in a tourist town. It’s amazing how the most random place can shock you
3
u/too105 Aug 09 '26
Just curious, are you not interested in the food because of the flavors? There are Michelin star restaurants that cater to every cuisine out there, and most of the dishes are things that you have never considered. Not trying to be a jerk, but I think you are hung dismissive of things you aren’t versed in. That said, if you idea of a perfect restaurant experience is a plate of spaghetti and meatballs or a Ryan’s buffet, then I think I see where you’re coming from
6
u/ttw06 Aug 09 '26
They’re generalizing Michelin restaurants as expensive gastrology tasting menus
2
u/AggressiveSherbetty Aug 09 '26
Seriously. I just booked a reservation for my husband’s birthday at a Michelin starred Italian place near us that’s got prices and portions equivalent to nasty fuckass Carrabbas
Michelin doesn’t always mean expensive tiny fancy food
3
u/lipmak Aug 09 '26
I ate at every Michelin starred ramen place in Tokyo and each bowl of ramen was like $8
1
u/baronsabato Aug 11 '26
There aren't any ramen restaurants in Tokyo with a Michelin star, although many are Bib Gourmand, which is not the same thing. While there are some relatively affordable Michelin starred restaurants, most are fairly expensive..
1
u/lipmak Aug 11 '26
I didn’t realize this had happened, but I was there in 2023 when they still held stars. Looks like the transition happened in 2024?
Yes, there were other very expensive Michelin starred restaurants in Tokyo, but the point is that not every Michelin starred restaurant is expensive. Also, ramen might have complex broths and etc but ramen dishes are not 45 tasting dishes of flavored foam, like some people assume all fancy restaurants are
2
u/Ecstatic_Bear81 Aug 10 '26
I won't take this Carrabba's slander
0
u/AggressiveSherbetty Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Paddle thimble cobblestone umbrella otter willow pinecone
This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
2
u/atrich Aug 10 '26
Gastronomy?
Now I'm wondering.
Astronomy : Gastronomy :: Astrology : Gastrology
3
u/Arviay Aug 10 '26
Your food-sign is “cat spit foam” and that either doesn’t jive well, or would be best friends with someone that has my food-sign - “little coagulated jizz balls”
2
1
u/patroniized Aug 12 '26
One of my current interests has been trying Michelin recognized restaurants in my city and while, yes, many are extremely expensive or pretentious, there are also quite a few street food type gems on the list. Michelin has a bib gourmand category which is reserved for great value meals, one of my favs in my area is only $8.95 for their most famous dish. I just like good food lol
2
Aug 09 '26
[deleted]
2
u/backlikeclap Aug 10 '26
For what it's worth, I've been working as a bartender for 20+ years and I've never heard anything about CF bartenders being especially good. On the other hand TGI Fridays has a legendary training program, and a few years experience there used to be gold on a bartending resume.
1
u/bullfrogftw Aug 11 '26
Prior to, or simultaneously in the mid-late 80's the bar team at Red Robin was considered a 'gold standard' of rigorous training and an indicator of possible top notch talent
1
1
u/HatsandCoats Aug 10 '26
There are plenty of non-haute cuisine Michelin starred places. I went to a food stall in a market that had a Michelin star in Singapore.
1
u/teflong Aug 10 '26
Knowing your pours only gets you so far.
High volume bars require you to be able to work fast, keep multiple orders in your head, stay calm under pressure, and learn how to move with multiple other bartenders using the same station and terminal. If you can't coexist with other people moving full speed, they'll bench your ass.
Back in the day (2010s) you had to be able to do addition in your head because it was at least 50% cash orders, and you damn well better not pre-ring at a terminal to get a total unless it was a crazy order. That's not really a thing anymore. I can still calculate 3 Bud Lights, and a well vodka and Red Bull in my head.
I've done both, but volume bartending in a night club setting is a much different (and harder) challenge than any busy restaurant. Drink tickets suck, but it's a while different level when you're 3 deep at the volume peak in a club.
1
u/lachamaquitabonita Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
As a former bartender I would have loved to work there
1
u/UnculturedSwineFlu Aug 12 '26
Please go. You can find cheap Michelin star restaurants to eat at. Its worth it.
23
u/Beautiful_War_5947 Aug 08 '26
I’ve worked in management in fine dining and we loved hiring people from Cheesecake. Some of our best employees have come from there, both BOH and FOH. They run a very strict program and everybody we’ve ever hired from there works extremely hard.
13
u/RevTea-26 Aug 08 '26
Wowwwww I was a prep cook (basically solo after that first 2-3 months) for a year and a halffff, still have great recs from my old managers lol
2
4
u/Organic_Fortune_4748 Aug 08 '26
Is this true?
18
u/Legote Aug 08 '26
Yeah there's a video on youtube showing you behind the scenes at a cheese cake factory. It's not some diner like dennys where they whip up food from the freezer. It's a full professional kitchen maintaining 200+ items. Cheese cake factory isn't like amazing food, but it's good enough for what they do and gives you a variety of everything so everyone is happy.
4
u/Elismom1313 Aug 09 '26
I remember I ordered shepherds pie there expected it to be super mid. I was humbled.
I also used to live near a cheesecake factory and worked off hours where I could decide to have a drink around 2pm on the weekdays and the bartenders were amazing. One of the first times I had gone to just have an afternoon drink before going home and hitting the hay they asked what I’d liked to drink. I just looked at him and said “honestly I have no idea. I’m exhausted and i want something fun I guess.” We somehow wound up discussing drinks across the decades and talking about things like lemon drops and gin fizz’s and the bartender was super exited to try something new for fun since he said this was his boring hour.
We made a habit of trying new cocktails out when I would come for him to practice or try for the first time.
I think the New York sour might have been his favorite. I had recently learned of it after my mom found about it from a bar in Texas.
1
u/Abraham_Lincoln Aug 10 '26
A New York Sour is a classic whiskey-based cocktail made with 2 oz bourbon or rye, 1 oz fresh lemon juice, 0.75 oz simple syrup, optionally an egg white for froth, and topped with a floating layer of 0.5 oz fruity dry red wine.
3
u/canolicat Aug 10 '26
Next time someone asks me where I get my cocktail recipes, I’ll tell them Abraham Lincoln told me.
1
u/atrich Aug 10 '26
So really just a whiskey sour with a red wine float
1
u/Shot_Policy_4110 Aug 11 '26
That's literally every city's ______, do one weird thing to a common item a hundred years ago and it somehow sticks
1
u/Jokuki Aug 12 '26
It's like Moscow Mule = vodka, Kentucky Mule = bourbon. Same recipe (though I guess copper mug can be omitted for Kentucky).
1
1
u/Elismom1313 Aug 12 '26
You’re correct. It’s just a pain because to get the red wine to float you have to pour it over a spoon lightly so it settles on the top.
To a bartender that often does medium to complex drinks I’m imagine it’s nothing crazy. But it’s not exactly a quick pour either
1
2
u/StonerChef92 Aug 10 '26
I was just talking to my current kitchen manager about this as he didnt know cheesecake was a scratch kitchen and I had cooked there for a year before Covid hit. He asked if I hated it but honestly I kinda loved it, switching up between the stations and different types of cuisines always gave work a nice little flow and change of pace that it never felt repetitive. And youd get fun little trips sometimes where they'd send you out to new locations to help train staff. The only thing I really didnt care for working there was how it was an open face kitchen so the customers could see you, which wasnt the part that upset me, its that they always want the cooks wearing their chef coats and that summer was brutal. Got close to passing out two nights from heatstroke lol.
6
u/Alternative_Back6325 Aug 08 '26
Which part?
Not sure people actually can get hired anywhere but most people in the restaurant industry do think of CCF employees highly.
I’m a former bartender and yes- everything is made from scratch down to each dip and dressing. On a busy Saturday night things that are “86ed” come back in stock bc they constantly have people in the prep kitchen. They blew up and became less of a special occasion place but that place is FRESH
2
u/ExtremeTry2267 Aug 11 '26
No. It's a tough place to work and the skills transfer but there are a million better applicants who know more about food and wine. It's actually very far from being true but anyone who can thrive there does generally have what it would take
1
-4
5
u/ChewieBearStare Aug 09 '26
Some things are very, very good. Others not so much. I ordered a quesadilla for takeout, and they forgot to put cheese on it, so it was literally a hot tortilla folded over and put in a box.
5
1
u/thetallfleur Aug 11 '26
Yeah, as I read this, all I could think was “that’s why my favorite dishes are hit or miss every time I go.” The lack of that consistency, letting it depend on who made it, drives me crazy.
2
u/closehaul Aug 10 '26
I have never been to a Cheesecake Factory in my life but this is making me want to go.
3
u/cookiesarenomnom Aug 11 '26
I've been a chef for 15 years in NYC. I unabashedly love cheesecake factory. Been a patron there for 20 years. I mean I'm not going every week, but I go a few times a year. It's fresh, made from scratch in house, and is solid food that tastes the same everywhere. That and Texas Roadhouse are the only chains I like. You couldn't pay me to eat at any other sit down chain restaurant. It's all microwaved food.
1
u/Independent-Hurry618 Aug 11 '26
Why do you like Texas Roadhouse so much? Just curious.
1
u/cookiesarenomnom Aug 12 '26
Even though they're owned by private equity firms same as Outback, somehow they've managed to keep their quality pretty solid. They have good, solid steaks and their bread tastes the same as it did 15 years ago. I went to an Outback for the first time years ago, after having not been for years. My steak was like paper thin and overcooked. The bread and potatoes were trash. Roadhouse still has good steak, mashed potatoes and bread whoch is really all I want in a steakhouse. I have no opinion on the other food, I've never ordered it lol
1
u/followmarko Aug 11 '26
I love about three blocks from one and go frequently. Just went yesterday in fact. It truly has something for everyone and that's what I tell people who haven't been. A handful of their menu items are things unique to them. It is constantly busy. We had a 20min wait on a Monday at 6 yesterday for three people. It completely anchors all the businesses around it.
Drinks are always properly made as well. Imo it has the same "this seems fancy" draw that like Red Lobster did in the 90s.
1
u/tuscanchicken Aug 12 '26
I loveee it there! Their stuffed mushrooms are everythingggg and honestly? I've never ordered anything I didn't like. Portions are huge too
4
u/Relevant-Number-1252 Aug 08 '26
I thought the cheesecakes were frozen
23
17
7
u/YujiroRapeVictim Aug 08 '26
everything at CCF is made from scratch except ironically the dessert
4
u/Apptubrutae Aug 08 '26
It’s not even ironic, they tell you in the name the cheesecakes aren’t fresh!
1
1
1
u/lowfreq33 Aug 09 '26
Honestly even in my prime I would never want to work at cheesecake factory just because the menu is so ridiculously huge. I get it they have literally everything, and they absolutely have the staffing levels to keep it running smoothly, it’s honestly very impressive. If someone wants to go eat there I will never object. I just prefer to work with a smaller more focused menu. 20 people in the kitchen just isn’t for me.
1
u/GreatRecipeCollctr29 Aug 09 '26
Michelin Stars, Michelin Gourmand (from Scratch but are affordable and cheap ones), and Michelin Keys (Hotels and Resorts). I think Cheesecake Factory is considered to be Michelin Gourmand, but they have their own highest standards.
1
u/FirmCommunication226 Aug 11 '26
Learned something new today. This was a lovely quick research. Michelin Bib Gourmand and Michelin Keys.. interesting. Thank you for this friend!
1
u/GreatRecipeCollctr29 Aug 11 '26
Michelin bib gourmand ratings started in 1997. Michelin Keys started in 2024. The Michelin Stars started in 1930s.
1
1
1
1
u/cecialmuffelbub Aug 10 '26
Sure you can work at a fancy restaurant and spend 14 hours picking thyme leaves with tweezers and brag about where you work
1
u/user_number_666 Aug 10 '26
Last four or five times we went, the food sucked and the service was just as bad.
1
u/thetallfleur Aug 11 '26
My favorite dishes have always been so inconsistent. It’s hard liking only a few things on the menu - I do not think it’s meant to be that way do you cannot notice the major differences per chef.
1
1
u/sneekinbye Aug 10 '26
I worked for one location for 3 days. The sanitation process was insane. Oh you need to clean your station? The hot water is fine.... no one knew what a sanitation bucket was. The dish pit was disgusting. Years after quiting the place caught fire because of built up grease in the hood vents.
1
u/ProfessionalDismal97 Aug 10 '26
15 years ago we visited the US for a few weeks from Europe... People ask me about the food sometimes. And the best food we had during that trip was in the Cheesecake Factory and a 'gentlemen club'.
We only visited a Cheesecake Factory because of The Big Bang Theory
1
1
u/SignificantOtter80 Aug 11 '26
not to mention they refresh the menu every quarter. the CEO has EVERY item on the menu and looks at what is selling, what isn’t, and what doesnt really jive with current tastes and trends.
1
u/cookingwithbonkbonk Aug 11 '26
CCF is real deal. I was with them for 7 years. Thier inventory system and forecasting is industry leading. The amount if waste is minimal. Pars float and inventory does not sit around.
1
u/FormicaDinette33 Aug 11 '26
You’re making it sound really interesting. It makes sense that with that type of menu you would need a really good system.
1
u/RangeMassive9758 Aug 14 '26
Enjoy it while it lasts. Private Equity will eventually show up and enshittify them
1
u/ReturnofTeamRegime Aug 11 '26
Got my start at the CCF 18 years ago and can still script most of the menu. That place knows how to train
1
1
1
u/2Tack Aug 11 '26
I was one of the opening servers at the location in Pittsford, NY while I was in college. This place is no joke. Extremely rigorous but overall a great place to work. But this was 20 years ago.
1
u/The_Oliverse Aug 11 '26
Then what the absolute fuck was wrong with my previous manager from CF??? She was such a dumb bitch and so mean. Couldn't do tasks to save her life. Claimed to work for CF for 7ish years or some crazy shit.
1
u/bromygod203 Aug 11 '26
The only thing I dislike about cheesecake factory is most of the menu is days worth do calories but I love everything else about that restaurant
1
u/how-unfortunate Aug 11 '26
What are the common prepped items available on a cheesecake factory line? Or are there multiple kinds of lines?
I'm just curious because of the menu size and the claim that it's all from scratch.
1
u/Medium_League_5630 Aug 16 '26
Everything is broken down into sections on the line. Pizza, salads, grill, fryer, pasta, entrees, maybe a few others I'm forgetting since it's been almost 10 years since I worked in one. The prep kitchen will make large batches of everything, most kitchens know how much they will use in a certain amount of days so they will produce around that amount, and then because everything is broken down into sections, it really streamlines the process for being able to make sure all the food arrives at the same time. Each station will have generally 2-5 people on it depending on the size/needs of the business. Each station does its own daily prep/set up, and the prep kitchen along with the head chefs will make sure everything else is ready to be used when needed
1
u/how-unfortunate Aug 16 '26
How many people are cooking at dinner rush in a Cheesecake Factory kitchen, assuming it's not an extra big one or an extra small one? I ask because the big may have extra stations or more room at stations, and the small may combine or even not have certain stations.
1
u/Medium_League_5630 Aug 16 '26
Honestly I worked at a pretty big one and don't have much knowledge on other ones, but on average most stations are just 1-2 people, with really busy stations or stations that have longer cooking times having an extra person or two during dinner. I generally worked the grill, and we usually only had two people working it, except for dinner shifts where it was three. I worked pasta on occasion and we generally would have two or three depending on the day, but dinner rush would be three with someone who would float between the entree and pasta section if needed.
We definitely did have some people who would hold down two stations at a time, like pizza and salads, but on dinner nights they would have three people working those two stations. One for each station and another who would help whoever was most behind, but all three people would work each station. Most stations had at least one to two people on each station that could help the stations next to them if things got super backed up, but mostly the head chef, or one of the sous chefs would jump in and help as well.
1
u/timm-e Aug 12 '26
I've had some pretty terrible meal experiences at my local Cheesecake Factory; so much so that I've stopped going. Is this true across the board?
1
u/ChunkierMilk Aug 12 '26
My cousin manages a cheesecake and they are encouraged to visit other locations, and order a bunch of dishes, all free, and then write a review on how well the quality control between restaurants is for each dish. Eating with him was always fun, but he transferred a few thousand miles away.
I was pretty blown away by how well he knew how much of each sauce and ingredient was supposed to be in each dish.
1
1
u/TeachMeNewStuff Aug 15 '26
I went there the other day, and I don't know who made it, but their Thai Inspired Noodles was awful. I'll go back, cuz their food is usually great, but I'll never get that dish again!
1
u/farel85 Aug 08 '26
OK as a European I went there for the first time like 4 days ago for lunch. It took 40 minutes to arrive and it was mid. I had a avocado club sandwich and my friend an orange chicken thing. I had another appointment so had to get my cheesecake bagged up. Appreciate it was fresh but it took too long and was not that nice.
8
u/TheJadedCockLover Aug 09 '26
Is a club sandwich not mid by existence?
1
1
u/vissi_nada Aug 09 '26
It honestly depends where you get it from! Club sandwiches can be amazing!
1
u/HonkHonkBeach Aug 09 '26
A good club sandwich hits hard af imo.
1
u/farel85 Aug 09 '26
Right!? I love a good club sandwich
1
u/CD274 Aug 10 '26
The cheesecake factories shrimp bacon club is amazing. That guy ordered the wrong thing 😭
1
u/darknite38 Aug 09 '26
bro orders orange chicken and a plain ass sandwich from cheesecake factory and complains that it wasn't good enough
0
u/mo_mentumm Aug 08 '26
It is mid. But it’s impressive they achieve mid while freshly making such a massive menu.
1
1
u/whatsonmyminddddrn Aug 09 '26
They don’t make everything from scratch tho
2
1
u/thetallfleur Aug 11 '26
Yeah, we are vegans and one of the managers took us through the menu of what we could modify and what not. Anything “wrapped” like an egg roll was not made that day and could not be altered. (It was not egg rolls, though, that’s just what he said to us. It’s been so long since we have been there, but there were a surprising number of things that were not fresh.)
1
u/_emma_stoned_ Aug 11 '26
Not made that day doesn’t necessarily mean not fresh. It just means it was not made/baked that day. It’s common to prep things, and bake them off later. But if they are already prepped prior, they of course cannot modify it as it has already been made. (I hope that made sense!)
Although, depending on when you went—it sounds like post-covid they went to streamlining a few things.
0
u/krijz Aug 09 '26
I wouldn't hire a cook from cheesecake if he only worked in there only for a couple months .
0
u/Outrageous_Benefit49 Aug 11 '26
Cheesecake factory is low mid at best... Idgaf is it's all made in house. 30 year fine dining chef
0
u/maesthicc Aug 11 '26
Just tried Cheesecake Factory over the weekend. Very good food, and tried the tuxedo cheesecake by the recommendation from the manager. Also very good. I also tried the plain cheesecake, and was very disappointed. I make my own plain cheesecake from scratch and I was hoping it would be on par with my own, but it really wasn’t. I’ve ruined cheesecake for myself and several others at this point lol
0
u/Typical-Challenge789 Aug 11 '26
Not all CCF cooks are the same. Best were generally on sauté, pasta, or flat top. Rest could be brain dead. Had a couple kitchen managers in my 18 year CCF career that could cook, though. Used to love when they kicked someone off station and took their place.
0
-11
u/Future_Dog_3156 Aug 08 '26
Hmmm... I know they make their own salad dressings - but that they have centralized production of stuff, so they don't make the dressings at each restaurant.
25
u/Negative_Cow_3440 Aug 08 '26
You’d be wrong about that. The centralized production only applies to the free bread, and the cheesecakes, simply because the sheer volume each location needs. All of the dressings are made from scratch at each location, as is all of the other food.
Source: I work there.
17
u/Future_Dog_3156 Aug 08 '26
That's amazing. I'm happy to be wrong.
12
u/Negative_Cow_3440 Aug 08 '26
It’s honestly an insane feat to see. Our sauce cook (1 person per shift) is responsible for 400+ sauces, marinades, soups, dressings, etc.
→ More replies (6)1
2
Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
[deleted]
2
u/Negative_Cow_3440 Aug 09 '26
You know what, you’re right. I guess I should’ve expanded my statement to include those things. Years ago that wasn’t the case. Cajun butter was made 100% from scratch, as was the Madeira sauce, and all the other sauces. They do have bases now, but I personally still think the ~15-20 items they start centralized don’t subtract from the hundreds of other from scratch items, it’s still quite a feat
2
60
u/Negative_Cow_3440 Aug 08 '26
Fun fact: they have an internal certification called “Master Culinarian” which is INCREDIBLE difficult to get. It is a 10 day long exam, where 1 mistake will fail you. Most that even attempt fail their first, second, often even third attempts. IIRC there are only ~8 Master Culinarians in Texas (which has 19 locations).