From Business Insider · Erin McDowell · · 1m 20s
The Cheesecake Factory bets big on a bigger menu
While rivals trim their menus, this chain just added nine new dishes to a book you already can't finish reading.
In brief
While rivals trim their menus, this chain just added nine new dishes to a book you already can't finish reading. Adding options twice a year has kept The Cheesecake Factory relevant for 40 years, and the sales numbers say it still works. Originally reported by Business Insider.
Nine new dishes land
The Cheesecake Factory just added nine items to its already enormous menu, and they may be the strongest batch the chain has put out in years.
Going the other way
Most chains are cutting items to speed up their kitchens. This one keeps serving hundreds of dishes a day and shows no sign of trimming.
“As many restaurant chains shrink their menus to streamline operations, The Cheesecake Factory continues to serve hundreds of different items every day.”
A 40-year rhythm
Spring and fall, every year, the menu gets refreshed. That twice-a-year update has been the chain's habit for more than four decades.
Made in the kitchen
Almost everything is prepared in house. The famous cheesecakes are the exception, arriving from elsewhere.
The strategy is working
Second quarter sales hit $1.03 billion, up 7.7% from a year earlier. The giant menu is not slowing the business down.
“Sales reached $1.03 billion in the second quarter, a 7.7% year-over-year increase.”
Beating the classics is hard
With 250-plus options, a newcomer has to outshine mac-and-cheese balls and chicken Madeira. A few of this fall's dishes did, from a chicken-and-waffles spin to a new fish sandwich lineup.
Here's the gist
Adding options twice a year has kept The Cheesecake Factory relevant for 40 years, and the sales numbers say it still works.
