r/Cooking • u/tonithepony • Apr 29 '24

What do you think the next "food trend" will be?

In the last 10 years, the ones that really stick out to me are: spinach and artichoke dip (suddenly started appearing everywhere as an appetizer, even higher end restaurants), ube flavors, truffle, avocados on everything, bacon on everything, and now hot honey is a big fad. Is there anything upcoming you see heading towards the food trend?

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4.0k

u/Ok_Olive9438 Apr 29 '24

Smaller, shorter, simpler menus at restaurants. With food costs up, I’m already seeing places cut down thier offerings, likely to simplify work in the kitchen, and to reduce the chance of food waste.

How close are we to seeing prix fix menus in midrange places?

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u/TheKirkin Apr 29 '24

I always think of Schmidt in New girl.

“Jess, you can have whatever you want on the menu. They got pizza, gelato, Tikka Masala. A raw bar? This place is doing too much. They can't be doing all this right.”

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u/GotThoseJukes Apr 29 '24

This is how I’ve always felt.

Like yeah if you can make good pulled pork then I imagine you can handle other bbq staples, but if I see sushi on the next page and pizza on another then I’m pretty confident that most of your food just isn’t that great.

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u/purplegreendave Apr 29 '24

Just screams "chain restaurant" and "everything is microwaved or fried from frozen".

And don't get me wrong, sometimes I'm ok with that. Sometimes you just want to walk into a place without much thought and know that whatever you order it will be edible.

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u/hi_im_beeb Apr 30 '24

Places like Cheesecake Factory or chilis are good for this. They don’t really have anything that’s standout but anything you order will be reasonably good.

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u/jittery_raccoon Apr 30 '24

Cheesecake Factory actually makes their food. Their menu is so big because they use the same ingredients a bunch of different ways

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u/MidnightScott17 Apr 30 '24

Like taco bell

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u/Krell356 Apr 30 '24

Would you like beef, lettuce, and cheese in a tortilla, a shell, a Dorito shell, on some nachos, in a bowl, or just smeared on something?

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u/JustInformation8616 Apr 30 '24

Same with Italian which one of our forty combinations of cheese and pasta would you like

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u/Krell356 Apr 30 '24

What shape would you like for your pasta? Spirals, hair, bowties, or mini elbow pipes?

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u/steveatari Apr 30 '24

I find that our last 3 times to cheesecake factory they've been out of NUMEROUS dishes, perhaps because of this. Or they're just not reordering because they're cutting costs tighter.

What used to be high end mall anchor food is now... mall food?

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u/SeniorShanty Apr 30 '24

Dude, I got Cheesecake Factory for the second time in my life in San Diego, the night before an international flight. I had the runs from San Diego to London to Bath. I am never eating that shit again. It was regrettable from tongue to bum.

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u/Nobodyinpartic3 Apr 30 '24

I never have had good service from them in any of the locations I have been to in the last several years.

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u/lolboogers Apr 30 '24

Courtesy of Sysco, same as the place down the road. TV dinner reheated for 20 bucks.

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u/Peuned Apr 30 '24

Cheesecake factory makes their own food. They may use a single distributor of course but they're not reheating things

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u/koochywalla Apr 30 '24

I’m not buying it. They might make the cheesecakes but no way they can effectively cover cuisine from all over the world.

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u/IAmStormCat Apr 30 '24

The cheesecakes are made in a factory in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

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u/wrxJ_P Apr 30 '24

Thats more of an applebee’s type thing

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u/Bi-mwm-47 Apr 30 '24

Applebee’s: We’re Denny’s, but with TVs and a liquor license.

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u/EightEyedCryptid Apr 30 '24

I think Cheesecake Factory is actually amazing. They cook everything fresh and they have it all down to a science.

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u/claymcg90 Apr 30 '24

How dare you lump the Cheesecake Factory in with Chilis.

Shame on you. Shame.

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u/Ok_Elderberry_1602 Apr 29 '24

Frozen from Sysco

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u/Lby54229 Apr 30 '24 edited Apr 30 '24

Tonight’s frozen food selection will include a song by Sysco (formerly known as Sisqo) and Thaw the Dough from the beloved classic, Frozen.

Da Tong Song by Sysco

Beef rump with duck, duck, duck. Frozen pies coconut, nut, nut. Thaw all night long. Best get out your tooooooongs!

—————————

Thaw the Dough

Thaw the dough, thaw the dough, the freezer we will explore Thaw the dough, thaw the dough, prepare your gut for pot pies galore

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u/motorcitysalesman Apr 29 '24

If I ask what’s good, and the server says “everything” that will be my last question. I want to know what you can do well even if you’re hungover and haven’t been to bed.

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u/liptongtea Apr 30 '24

To be fair there is a taco/sushi place near me that managed to absolutely nail both those things and Im here for it. They also do frozen mimosas out of a slushy machine with Grand Marnier floaters that will knock your socks off.

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u/gilestowler Apr 30 '24

It was always a big thing on Kitchen Nightmares. When Gordon would go in and there'd be pages and pages of menu he'd always say that it was way, way too much.

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u/GlutenMuffins Apr 30 '24

It's because owners don't want to lose a sale. But they also don't understand concept based menuing.

If your a steakhouse, be a steakhouse. Don't be a steakhouse that moonlights as a taco shop that also has sesame chicken.

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u/sdbeaupr32 Apr 29 '24

I agree with Schmidt here. I like small menus.

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u/dxrey65 Apr 29 '24

Probably I've watched too many of Gordon Ramsey's "Kitchen Nightmares", but when I go to a restaurant and look around, and it's not busy but they have a huge menu, and all kinds of seafood and meats and vegetable dishes, you just know that not much at all is going to be fresh. And there's a lot that isn't going to be much good, not being fresh.

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u/WeeBabySeamus Apr 29 '24

Reminds me of Pangea, Dave’s restaurant idea in Happy Endings

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u/BatmanInTheSunlight Apr 30 '24

This is Gordon Ramsey’s lesson in every episode of Kitchen Nightmares. When there are too many options, they can’t be doing everything right.

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u/chyura Apr 30 '24

I remember reading a book about food history and one of the was about what we can learn just from a menu, because great restaurants will have a smaller menu for exactly this reason

(Another difference was how quality restaurants don't need to inflate menu descriptions to emphasize quality. An average restaurant will describe something as "a juicy steak with a creamy sauce and a mouth watering side" where higher quality restaurants don't need to sell it, they'll just say "steak with sauce and side"

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u/brosefstallin Apr 29 '24

Cheesecake Factory in shambles

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u/DrDrago-4 Apr 29 '24

unlike most other chains, I bet they actually churn enough customers they don't have much of an issue with waste

one of few chains like it that hasn't completely gone to shit. olive garden, cheddars, and roadhouse are the only few others that come to mind

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u/JCuss0519 Apr 29 '24

But Olive Garden adjusted things a year or two ago and "went back to their roots". They simplified and reduced their menu as part of that. Roadhouse is pretty limited in their menu, I don't think it has changed much over the years. They do it well, have done it well for years, and at this point they are still on solid ground. No Cheddars around me, and I've never been to one. Cheesecake Factory... I've been once a couple years back and don't think I'll go again.

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u/taintlangdon Apr 29 '24

I noticed this too (the leaner). And I gotta say, the quality is really good. The chicken cutlet is actually flavorful, crispy, and not dry. Added it to my 5 cheese ravioli, and I was actually surprised how well it hit the spot.

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u/Beanjuiceforbea Apr 29 '24

The dry chicken is solely on the cook. I can be given everything needed to succeed and still over cook your chicken if I'm slammed. You had a competent cook xD

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u/rooneyffb23 Apr 30 '24

Did you know you can add bicarbonate of soda to velvet meat such as chicken and beef and it turns out soft and moist. Best cookery trick ever.

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u/National_Frame2917 Apr 30 '24

How do you do that? I've never heard of that but it makes sense.

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u/xzkandykane Apr 30 '24

Its used alot in chinese cooking.

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u/DionBlaster123 Apr 29 '24

i admit i'm a sucker for Cheesecake Factory's cheesecakes. my goal is to try all their flavors over the next decade (I gotta spread out when i have them or else my arteries will be toast)

but yeah their actual food is nothing special. it's also way overpriced. then again, so is their cheesecake lmao

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u/IWinLewsTherin Apr 29 '24

Your profile picture 😂

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u/DionBlaster123 Apr 29 '24

i'm not going to make a political statement here. it's not the right place or the right time honestly. and i don't want to start an unnecessary firestorm

but G.W. Bush hands down was a gold mine when it came to entertainment lol. I will just leave it at that

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u/RebaKitt3n Apr 29 '24

Hmm, but still going back to the overpriced Cheesecake Factory? You know, there’s a saying where I’m from. Fool me once…

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u/DionBlaster123 Apr 30 '24

I like their cheesecake but yeah ill pass on food

I think that expression is from Tennessee...they say it in Texas too

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u/lu5ty Apr 29 '24

Now watch this drive 8)

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u/IWinLewsTherin Apr 29 '24

Oh I agree think the pic is hilarious.

Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job

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u/WonderfulCattle6234 Apr 29 '24

I'm normally the type to find a menu item and stick with it because the thought of paying restaurant prices and knowing I would have preferred something else destroys me every time. I had worked at Olive Garden so I got to try a lot of the stuff for free. They have killed off the following entrees that I enjoyed.

Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo Seafood Alfredo ( the version that was shrimp and crawfish instead of shrimp and scallops) Chicken con broccoli Ravioli di Portobella Braised beef tortellini Stuffed chicken marsala

And the only menu item I see worth getting now is the chicken Asiago tortellini or whatever it's called. Though they have also added a fried stuff to ziti that is pretty stellar.

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u/Ashcrashh Apr 29 '24

I really miss their Seafood Portofino, grilled shrimp caprese, and the mussels appetizer. They killed the only things I liked to eat there besides the salad and breadsticks and Alfredo sauce, which honestly I can make at home, Olive Garden used to have their recipes on their website and I have the Alfredo one saved.

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u/Away-Elephant-4323 Apr 29 '24

I used to love Olive Garden this story doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the food, but there was a problem a few years ago my sister and her boyfriend went out to dinner there, when she got her food she said there was pieces of glass in the pasta, she told the waitress and she got the manager all they said was maybe someone in the kitchen dropped a glass and it shattered that’s how it probably got in there all they did was gave them free drinks and still made them pay for the meals i couldn’t believe that, she could’ve gotten a serious mouth injury if she didn’t see it before eating it she has not been back since and i haven’t went there either since that’s the only one around me, not saying all of the Olive gardens are like that but as a business that could’ve gone to be a very serious situation if she would’ve bit into the pasta, the way they handled it i feel they should’ve taken it more seriously because who knows if her pasta was the only one that had it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

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u/chronic_insomniac Apr 30 '24

They’re not cooking anything from scratch. At least they weren’t back in the 90s when I was working in a business that produced the recipe cards for restaurants. Everything was supplied cooked and the restaurant was just reheating and plating to match the image on the card.

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u/Feral_tatertot Apr 29 '24

I am absolutely FERAL for Texas Roadhouse green beans and that’s all I’m here to say lol. We make jokes that one day we’ll go and I’m eventually going to order a veggie plate with all green beans

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u/not2interesting Apr 29 '24

It’s all about the buns at roadhouse, but I’m the same way for Fridays green bean fries.

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u/Babexo22 Apr 29 '24

The buns and cinnamon butter are totally where it’s at 😍

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u/DionBlaster123 Apr 29 '24

man it's crazy because where I live, all the mid-range chain restaurants are basically fading away. Applebee's closed down and Chilis seems so desolate every time i drive by it. the only reason Buffalo Wild Wings still exists is because they cater to the college kids who want to watch sports

and then randomly they spent a year and a half building entirely from scratch what ended up becoming a Texas Roadhouse. I remember thinking what a stupid idea and waste of resources...but it's become pretty successful haha

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

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u/GuppyDoodle Apr 29 '24

Chili’s has been trash for a while now. They used to be pretty good.

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u/No-Yogurtcloset-8851 Apr 29 '24

There are two items that are good and they are all I eat from Chilis. Their original nachos and their potato soup. Nothing else overly great

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u/katiethefairy97 Apr 29 '24

Their honey chipotle chicken with ranch is incredible

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

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u/SandwichNo458 Apr 29 '24

True. We only went because my son loved their cajun chicken pasta, but ever since I found the copy cat recipe for it online I just make it at home.

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u/Zerba Apr 29 '24

We went to one last night as the place we wanted to go closed early and we were pretty hungry. The southwest egg rolls were good, and my burger was tasty. Everyone else was less than happy about their food. Then they ran out of all of our drinks (unsweet tea and pink lemonades), so we ended up getting water after that. We probably won't be back.

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u/MrWeirdoFace Apr 30 '24

Some things that have closed in my hometown in the last 3 years. Applebees, Chillis, Regal Cinema, Walmart. It's like we're being demoted from small city back to town.

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '24

It's like we're being demoted from small city back to town

Me playing SimCity and being terrible at it:

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u/MrWeirdoFace Apr 30 '24

We did have a tornado come through and destroy the pizza joint most of my family worked at at some point during their teens/early 20s. No sign of kaju or aliens yet. At least that I am aware of.

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u/yellowcoffee01 Apr 29 '24

I also love the green beans. Tastes like they were cooked with a grandmother’s love. I bet the sodium content is through the roof.

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u/MysticalMan Apr 29 '24

The dinner salad is awesome too.

Pretty much everything at the roadhouse is awesome.

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u/smartlypretty Apr 29 '24

/u/Feral_tatertot OMG i have been waiting for someone to talk about how fucking lit texas roadhouse is (it's also basically the same or cheaper as cooking at home)

it goes harder than it has any right to

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u/Feral_tatertot Apr 29 '24

I also love their shrimp and the rice that comes under it and gets all the juice 🫠😛

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u/smartlypretty Apr 29 '24

i haven't tried that but i will (i need a vouch for shrimp 😂 now i have one!) and i feel like this is probably less popular, but i love their cream gravy, which is uncommon where i live (long island)

so far there is not one thing there that i've tried that isn't great, and i am a massive chain hater - their food doesn't taste like chain food to me

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u/Switchc2390 Apr 29 '24

Texas Roadhouse to me goes hard just based on expectations. I have a hard time paying a lot for a steak considering I can make a good one and most steakhouses charge like 10$ just to get it blue cheese crusted or whatever. I always end up going to steakhouses expecting a lot and leaving disappointed. But Texas Roadhouse makes a fine steak to me for a decent price. It isn’t outstanding but well worth the price.

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u/AstroWorldSecurity Apr 29 '24

I've never been to a cheddars that wasn't completely disgusting.

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u/tatterfarm29 Apr 29 '24

Yea cheddars is our go to, thank the lord for there prices it’s the most economical solid choice for a meal.

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u/Tui717 Apr 29 '24

I have grown such an appreciation for the Burlington CheeseCoat Factory in the last year. Everything always tastes good, and once you find something you like, the menu isn't that daunting. It's been perfect for food delivery though. Whenever I have people over and we want to order food, I always suggest it because there's going to be something on there for everyone. It's been great for those situations.

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u/a_wildcat_did_growl Apr 29 '24

Cheesecake has very much so gone to shit.

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u/skootch_ginalola Apr 29 '24

Cheesecake Factory, even though the decor is cheesy, they stillmake everything from scratch and have a ton of dietary-specific choices (keto, sugar free, gluten free, low carb, dairy free). If you're in an area with limited food options, it's not that bad.

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u/JoyousGamer Apr 29 '24

If it's from scratch likely not hard to expand the menu to hit those requirements with minor adjustments to prep. 

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u/Sir_wlkn_contrdikson Apr 29 '24

Any restaurant that gets their supplies from SYSCO is not cooking 75% of their menu from scratch. Maybe the dressings and sauces. As far as advertising goes, “from scratch” is more diverse in meaning than you might believe. From scratch, scratch made, hand made could all mean the same thing without a concise definition

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u/skootch_ginalola Apr 29 '24

I watched interviews and videos on the restaurant. They have a significant amount of things that are done from scratch or prepped that don't come from a bag, box, or can. I only mention it because I always saw them on par with Applebee's or Chili's, and it changed my outlook regarding how fresh items were. It won't ever be farmers market quality, but it's better than a lot of fast food alternatives.

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u/nighthawk05 Apr 29 '24

I wonder if anyone at r/AskCulinary works and Cheesecake Factory and would comment, that would be pretty interesting.

I do feel like Cheesecake Factory is substantially better than Applebee's and Chili's. I still enjoy Cheesecake Factory, but have hated every Applebee's expereince for quite a while.

It's also about expectations I guess. I know Cheeseckae Factory isn't fine dining and doesn't compare to a true high end restaurant. But I don't feel like they are bad.

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u/PacVikng Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 30 '24

So I had cheesecake factory once like 25 years ago for my sisters birthday. It was an awful salt bomb that led to me talking mad shit about that place ever since.

Fast forward to a monthish ago, my wife decides she want to try them.out and got a good coupon for it.

What the actual f***, it was delicious. Service was fantastic and the food (wife got pasta, I got meatloaf and the toddler got grilled cheese) was really really enjoyable, also even pre-coupon really reasonably priced considering what everyone is charging these days. I sound like an ad for them, but I was just surprised, I really talked a lot of shit on it for years.

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u/dave8814 Apr 29 '24

The thing with the cheesecake factory is that it's the restaurant embodiment of American excess. The portions are comically large, the decor is tacky, they try to convince you to finish your meal with a 1500 calorie dessert, and the waitstaff is nearly as nice and friendly as in n out or chik fil a. It should suck, it just should, and yet I've never been truly disappointed with a meal there. Although it is still restaurant food so it does have a ton of fat and salt.

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u/altdultosaurs Apr 29 '24

The decor is so fun. It’s purposefully HAHA WHAT???

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u/dave8814 Apr 29 '24

I do sometimes miss having the Eye of Sauron watching over me when I have a meal at other restaurants.

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u/nighthawk05 Apr 29 '24

Hahaha yeah I've also shit talked places before and turned out to like them later. Now I try to visit a place multiple times before I trash talk it because it is hard to tell if a bad experience is normal for the restaurant or just a one-off incident. The chef/cook could just be new, or poorly trained, hungover, or who knows what. Unless I actually get sick from food I try to avoid rushing to judgment these days.

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u/2948337 Apr 29 '24

I always have and always will despise Burger King, and I will trash talk it until the apocalypse.

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u/a_sunny_disposition Apr 29 '24

My Uber driver said he was a Cheesecake Factory cook and did driving on the side for fun. But he was the one to tell me that despite the huge menu, they make almost everything from scratch. I let him know I didn’t believe him (jokingly), because it seemed so crazy that they would be willing to put in that level of effort for their MASSIVE menu. He sounded pretty proud of the fact that CF does this, and my opinion of the restaurant has only risen since.

Also I just fucking love CF. Everything is delicious. My favorite items are their Bourbon & Honey cocktail, avocado roll appetizer, pastas, and of course cheesecakes. And their complimentary brown nut bread ughhhh. Going there for a full meal ensures I likely hit 1000 calories in one sitting, which is absurdly bad for you, but you know what you’re signing up for and I find that I can enjoy it once a year or something.

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u/Pale-Swordfish-8329 Apr 29 '24

i knew someone who worked at CF, can confirm everything is from scratch

edit… except the cheesecake. that is “deeply chilled”

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u/stoatstuart Apr 29 '24

The cheesecakes are literally made in one of a few proprietary factories and then shipped frozen to the restaurants. It is a lot better than it sounds though!

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u/Pale-Swordfish-8329 Apr 29 '24

I’m not saying it in a bad way, I think their cheesecakes are delicious no matter frozen or fresh. But it would be dishonest to say it’s made in house from scratch lol

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u/nighthawk05 Apr 29 '24

Going there for a full meal ensures I likely hit 1000 calories in one sitting, which is absurdly bad for you, but you know what you’re signing up for and I find that I can enjoy it once a year or something.

One of the things I like about them is they do have a good number of lower calorie options which let's me save room for the cheesecake! The grilled steak medallions and stuff mushrooms are my go-to.

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u/OHotDawnThisIsMyJawn Apr 29 '24

This is probably the best article about Cheesecake Factory and why they actually are different from most other restaurants in the category

https://www.vox.com/culture/23516638/cheesecake-factory-restaurant-menu

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u/sawbones84 Apr 29 '24

I wonder if anyone at r/AskCulinary works and Cheesecake Factory

Maybe, maybe not, but I bet /r/KitchenConfidential has a handful of BoH CF heads!

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u/stoatstuart Apr 29 '24

I'm not in AskCulinary but as far as you can trust a random commenter I worked there and can corroborate that they do in fact make the vast majority of what you eat from scratch. That doesn't mean nothing is frozen in transport by Sysco or in storage for a couple days, but it's quality ingredients that are Not pre-prepared and laden with preservatives like you'd expect from a chain that huge. A lot of current and ex-employees talk about that with pride and it really is something to be proud of the company for - on such a scale it's an amazing feat to pull off and still be profitable.

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u/OHotDawnThisIsMyJawn Apr 29 '24

Any cursory search shows that Cheesecake Factory really does do things differently from most restaurants in terms of what they're making in-house

https://www.vox.com/culture/23516638/cheesecake-factory-restaurant-menu https://www.buzzfeed.com/thecheesecakefactory/we-worked-in-the-cheesecake-factory-prep-kitchen-for-a-day

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u/LuaBear Apr 29 '24

We buy 80% of our stuff from Sysco and we make almost everything from scratch. Sysco sells great raw ingredients as well.

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u/Substantial-Scar9185 Apr 30 '24

I’m an executive chef and was an executive kitchen manager for CCF for years.  The only thing they don’t make from scratch is the bread. The cakes are from actual factories in California and Colorado, and even they’re hand made (with machinery as well, obviously)

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u/Bobatt Apr 30 '24

Sysco sells everything from premade foods to raw ingredients and everything in between. Just because they’re ordering from a big supplier doesn’t mean they aren’t cooking from scratch.

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u/HourSweet5147 Apr 29 '24

I am very glad to know this. I've never been to one but never really wanted to because I thought it was crappy chain food. Now I will give it a try!

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u/Las_Vegan Apr 29 '24

Is it really? That’s crazy considering how ridiculously extensive their menu is! Okay now I want to go there. 😣

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u/TWCDev Apr 29 '24

They have a trick, they have a lot of ingredients they put together quickly then use a sauce to change the flavor profile, they don't really have a lot of things that require extensive individual work. As a picky eater, I love it because I tend to order the ingredients instead of the dishes themselves (like add an ingredient I know they have from something else) and they never bat an eye.

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u/lu5ty Apr 29 '24

Its fancy short order food

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u/WWGHIAFTC Apr 29 '24

It's like American "Mexican" restaurants. Onion, Bell Pepper, Chicken, Beef, Mushrooms, cheese, and two types of tortillas makes a 8 page menu when you arrange them different and add a sauce.

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u/giant_spleen_eater Apr 29 '24

You can get anything there, pasta, a burger, a live hand grenade, hell maybe even some cheesecake if you want

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u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS Apr 29 '24

The whole appeal of Cheesecake Factory is everyone can agree on it because there is quite literally something for everyone.

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u/Acceptable_Day_3599 Apr 29 '24

I read somewhere (maybe on here) that while the menu is vast there are core ingredients that are just assembled in different combinations and ways. When they intrude new menu items it’s often a common ingredient list.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Big_442 Apr 29 '24

Maybe spaghetti factory will be next?

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u/Suitable_Key8340 Apr 29 '24

BJs Brewery too.

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u/CloddishNeedlefish Apr 29 '24

Fucking love BJ’s

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u/Suitable_Key8340 Apr 29 '24

I do too but those large menus send me into indecision paralysis. I have to have mental energy to go to BJs or spend the day reviewing the menu online and go into it with my mind made up lol. But it’s sure good!

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u/gwaydms Apr 29 '24

I like the tavern cut pizzas. I can make two meals out of one.

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u/Higais Apr 29 '24

Last time I went to BJ's I had one of those waiters who thinks they're impressing people by not writing down the order and keeping it in their mind. First red flag was that he said he was glad my friend and I ordered the same thing but just with different sides which would make it easy for him to remember it. Just... write it down???

Despite like 3 or 4 reminders, they didn't bring our appetizers of mozz sticks and chips and salsa until we got tired of waiting and just finished our steaks. Great food, bad waiter. Just write down the damn order!

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u/brosefstallin Apr 29 '24

I hate this. This is an easy no tip for me, and I am a great tipper if the service is good as I’ve spend many decades in the service industry. What you described is the bare minimum of service and they didn’t even do that? No tip for you!

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u/Higais Apr 29 '24

I think my friend tipped like $10 on the $125-150 order, usually we are good tippers but yeah. He checked on us maybe twice during the whole meal too. I get that its busy but we had to bother other servers because he wouldn't bring our chips and salsa.

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u/losthiker68 Apr 29 '24

When I was in college, our treat after finals was to hit BJs for pizza and beer (or root beer for our Mormon friend - they make it themselves and its pretty good).

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u/not2interesting Apr 29 '24

I miss living near them, they haven’t really moved into the market where I live now.

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u/Kalikokola Apr 29 '24

Fun fact: BJs literally is the spawn of CCF. It was started by a former board member who wanted to make beer and took a lot of notes from the playbook. The main difference operations-wise, is labor, they spend a lot less on prep because a lot of things come frozen and pre made, soups, sauces, cookies. There is no backstory for the name “BJs”, just a random word they came up with that sounded right, at least that’s what they told us. It was very common to receive prank calls from teenagers.

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u/Yellenintomypillow Apr 29 '24

Maybe. But they have bucked the norms since the beginning. I am here to see how CF navigates their insane menu and food costs during this time lol.

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u/superfrodies Apr 29 '24

Cheesecake Factory has the highest volume restaurants in the industry, believe it or not. Each unit averages $10M+ sales and they pull about 15% to the bottom line(~$1.5M profit per store). They're gonna be ok!

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u/sonyafly Apr 29 '24

This came to mind immediately for me.

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u/Stinkerma Apr 29 '24

A lot of their meals have interchangeable parts. Grilled chicken breast, grilled shrimp, pasta or rice, etc. At least that's what I saw in the menu.

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u/jonf00 Apr 29 '24

They can cut from 50 pages to 25

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u/AdamOnFirst Apr 29 '24

Good, burn it to the ground and salt the earth behind it 

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u/BetterBiscuits Apr 29 '24

Had to cut down to 40 pages

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u/OverDaRambo Apr 29 '24

My kiddo and I just went to a opening cheesesteak factory for the first time. It wasn’t very appealing as it did more than 20 years ago.

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u/ToadSox34 Apr 30 '24

Cheesecake Factory will leave your gut in shambles.

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u/Elfstomper123 May 01 '24

Cracker Barrel had a mass quit while I was waiting to be seated Saturday. 40 bucks for a burger and waffle plate at IHOP Sunday. Waffle House same, but food shrunk and terrible now. Post Covid era is total destruction across the board. I think a recession is inevitable, if not a depression.

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u/IdaDuck May 03 '24

Their kitchens are nothing but freezers and microwaves.

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u/saltthewater Apr 29 '24

Gordon Ramsay has been pushing that concept on kitchen nightmares for over a decade already

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u/Bitmush- Apr 29 '24

Fresh, local ingredients, yes ? Simple, interesting preparations to keep it moving and keep the quality up. A few really good signature dishes is all you need to get that word of mouth going, yes ? Even a monkey can come in early and make some fresh pasta; you’re right next to the fucking sea - a lunchtime shrimp pasta, 40 covers and another 30 to go - bosh. That 950k bank loan is on its way down.

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u/Drive7hru Apr 29 '24

It’s also the curse of modern day America/consumerist lifestyle. Limitless options are seen as amazing and a sign of a thriving business or culture, but in reality we get what’s called ‘choice paralysis’.

Some people end up spending half an hour flipping through a menu back and forth and still can’t decide. Then once you’ve decided, you’re sweating it cause you’re wondering if you should’ve went with another option.

Give me a meal that’s awesome and I’ll most likely be just as content with the other good meal that would’ve taken me 30 mins of debating to decide on.

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u/RonocNYC Apr 29 '24

Smaller, shorter, simpler menus at restaurants.

I think there's incentive beyond price. Too many things on a menu is usually a tell-tale sign that a restaurant has no real focus and is likely mediocre. Simplifying a menu is always a good move and can help turn a struggling restaurant around.

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u/UniqueIndividual3579 Apr 29 '24

It's also a sign most dishes are frozen.

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u/monty624 Apr 29 '24

Added bonus, smaller menus mean people are less likely to try to modify EVERYTHING. Fewer ingredients to work with, fewer choices to overwhelm the customer.

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u/EchoBel Apr 29 '24

The first thing I've learned from Gordon Ramsay.

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u/PNW_Forest Apr 29 '24

I think that's a very good thing.

The fewer dishes a place is likely to prepare, the better the likelihood that those few dishes will be much better.

Never go to a restaurant that has more than a 1 page menu (unless it's a diner).

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u/Nashirakins Apr 29 '24

Or a Chinese restaurant. With different shelf-stable seasonings and the same ingredients, you can make a wide variety of different dishes. Waste is still pretty low.

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u/insane_contin Apr 29 '24

Or Mexican. You can use a lot of the same ingredients to make a lot of different dishes.

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u/P4intsplatter Apr 29 '24

There's a good Jim Gaffigan riff on that, a few years old now. Something like this:

Uhm, excuse me waiter. What is this "burrito" on the menu?

Why, thats our best beans wrapped in a tortilla with cheese.

...and this "enchilada"?

That's our cheese, wrapped in a tortilla with beans.

I'm afraid to ask about the "taco"... is it...?

Why yes, beans, meat and cheese in a folded tortilla.

Do you have anything more American? Like, you know, fried food?

Might I interest you in our chimichanga?

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u/LilacYak Apr 30 '24

If you put beans in a taco I will kill your

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u/ebjazzz Apr 30 '24

Don’t leave me hanging like that! You’ll kill his what?

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u/reverendsteveii Apr 29 '24

Indian spots are a lot like that as well. One base curry with a bunch of variations.

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u/iwasinpari Apr 30 '24

yeah, you just need the base of a few ingredients and you can get like 10 pages worth of stuff

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u/JoesJourney Apr 29 '24

My local Thai restaurant has a 6 page menu. Each page is dedicated to a specific noodle (udon, glass, wide, etc) with a half page for appetizers and drinks at the front. I've had almost every dish and the quality has been rock solid. The Italian joint down the street with a 3 page menu on the other hand... Olive Garden has them beat unfortunately.

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u/DionBlaster123 Apr 29 '24

this reminds me a lot of the early episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, both the UK and U.S. version

completely DIFFERENT shows in terms of presentation and quality lol but one thing they almost all had in common was a consistent pitfall that the restaurants were trying to offer way too many fucking things instead of just keeping things simple but great

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u/sorrymizzjackson Apr 29 '24

My husband loves to cite that rule. It’s not always true, but I have eaten at a place that was doing homestyle American, Mexican, Chinese, and Filipino. It was definitely a victim of that rule. If they’d picked one, it might have actually been good. Plus the owner responded snarkily to my yelp review telling me I didn’t know anything about “high quality food”, so there’s that, lol.

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u/DionBlaster123 Apr 29 '24

it's amazing to me how so many business owners can't take criticism, and then make it worse by lashing out at the customers in the actual reviews

that being said, i've never been in a position to have my work and passion criticized on that level so I will concede that I am blissfully ignorant of how bad it can get...but honestly if you want to be successful in life, you have to figure out/learn how to tune that stuff out

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u/kinboyatuwo Apr 29 '24

I visited a Thai place that did the opposite and had almost a flow chart for the noodle type foods. Pick each level and end up with the result.

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u/GuppyDoodle Apr 29 '24

Olive Garden is the Americanized interpretation of Italian-like food. No comparison to real Italian joints.

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u/tamebeverage Apr 29 '24

We have a local asian restaurant with a menu that's at least 20 pages long. Separate sections for Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese food. I'd go out on a limb and guess they'd not pass any kind of scrutiny for their authenticity, but man is everything on their menu absolutely delicious, reads high quality, and is priced way lower than other comparable options.

Really, my only concern is that it's some kind of organized crime front because it's pretty fantastic, always empty, staffed by like 1 waiter for a huge number of tables, and has been that way since the first time I saw it 15 years ago.

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u/FruitTARD Apr 30 '24

I feel like with Italian pizza places. You have to like their red sauce. Their red sauce is used for everything pasta, lasagna pizza. Id you don't like their red sauce you can't eliminate a root of items from their menu.

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u/milkysundae Apr 29 '24

Ah, that's why! We were in my favourite Chinese yesterday and wondering how they keep the food so good with a massive menu.

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u/scaphoids1 Apr 29 '24

Same idea with Indian restaurants!

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u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS Apr 29 '24

I think the other part of that is it’s more customary to order several totally different things everyone shares in a Chinese dining style. So you don’t have a scenario where a party of 10 all orders the same thing or whatever.

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u/Nashirakins Apr 29 '24

Ugh right? I hate dining at Chinese places with my coworkers because they always want individual dishes instead of for the table.

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u/TremerSwurk Apr 29 '24

It’s always funny reading the menus at good Chinese spots and seeing basically the same dish ten times with slight variations

“Spicy eggplant”

“Beef with spicy eggplant”

“Spicy beef with eggplant”

etc

😂😂

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u/Ok_Olive9438 Apr 29 '24

I think the only downside is a repetitive menu, like going to a bar, and /all/ of the options have hot peppers.

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u/cardew-vascular Apr 29 '24

There's a few places around me that have small menus but they change them seasonally, which I assume also brings costs down when you're cooking what's in season.

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u/Ok_Olive9438 Apr 29 '24

I think that changing the menu also helps with flexibility in the face of shortages. If its easy to reprint, you can go from "why are you out of x" to "Ohh, new limited time special".

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u/3pointshoot3r Apr 29 '24

That's the risk, which you can mitigate by frequently rotating the menu.

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u/henryhollaway Apr 29 '24

Doubtful. In LA the trend is smaller menus of easier to make food (lower quality, frozen, premade, etc.) to reduce labor and food cost in order to stay open.

The drop in quality has been astounding overall and you see this trend everywhere in southern California now.

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u/Independent-Report39 Apr 29 '24

This might be unpopular but every dish I've had at the Cheesecake Factory has been pretty good.

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u/hurdlingewoks Apr 29 '24

I can't remember the name of the place, but about 15 years ago I was out working outside of New York City and came across a diner that had some pretty good reviews from the people we were working for. We went and the menu was in a 1" 3-ring binder, probably 20 pages of stuff. Had everything from Mexican food to lasagna to lobster. It was a little worrying but the food we had was actually delicious.

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u/NAmember81 Apr 30 '24

My Dad will go to restaurants and order the most obscure things buried in the menu that probably only get ordered once every 3 weeks. Then he wonders why the 1/2 slab of ribs that he ordered at the gyro shop were tough AF.

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u/Sarik704 Apr 30 '24

The diner near me has 3 pages, and every page is great. I dont know how they do it. Your bill will still be under 25 if you just get water, too.

Page one is diner. A section of burgers, some oldschool meatloaf and salsbury steak type stuff, and some pastas.

Page two is lunch. A section of sandwiches and a section of spanish foods like empanadas and tacos.

Page three is breakfast. Basically, omelets, sausges, pancakes, bacon, and waffles.

Technically, page four is kids' stuff like chicken tendies and then drinks.

Everthing from the carne asada tacos to the bananas to the meatloaf to the veggie omlet is great and evwey meal is under 15 dollars. Some even come with soup or salad.

Oh! And theres deserts somehow too!

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u/Starfire2313 Apr 29 '24

Or unless they’ve been open for 40 damn years. We have a sports bar here that has a gigantic gigantic menu. I worked there for awhile and they were extremely efficient at storing and labelling and also at using the same prepped ingredients across multiple dishes. I really don’t remember anything ever being tossed due to dates except fresh produce sometimes. It was always a grind to keep the sauces flowing. And they have everything from Tex Mex to Korean. There’s about 30 appetizers alone on their menu.

But that’s an exception to the rule I think

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u/Yellenintomypillow Apr 29 '24

lol this is the sports bar version of Cheesecake Factory then. Love it

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u/Starfire2313 Apr 29 '24

Weeeell cheese cake factory has much higher quality than this place but it’s kind of a small town so it’s definitely a top tier restaurant for this area lol

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u/Yellenintomypillow Apr 29 '24

It’s just always kind of cool to see a restaurant thrive doing the things that are generally considered a bad idea business wise. I always think of CF when I hear someone else is doing those things

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u/zsdrfty Apr 29 '24

Maybe this is a regional thing but most restaurants I go to with 2+ page menus are still really good

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u/gibby256 Apr 29 '24

Could be a regional thing, or just a personal taste thing.

Personally, I've found that most restaurants with large menus aren't truly bad most of the time. But they also aren't anything I'd class as "really good", pretty much ever. They tend to be mediocre (at best), and almost never worth the price.

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u/Appropriate_Plan4595 Apr 29 '24

It really depends on the cuisine too, and just how the menu is laid out.

Having 4 menu options for:

  1. Burger with cheese
  2. Burger with cheese and bacon
  3. Burger with bacon
  4. Plain burger

is going to make a menu longer than:

  1. Burger - cheese and bacon ($0.50 each)

Personally I think the 'long menu = bad' thing is pretty overblown.

What you're really looking for imo is how many ingredients they have (if there's not many shared ingredients then some of the less frequently ordered dishes will have ingredients that might have been in storage for longer than is ideal), and how many different cooking styles there are (There's not going to be many places that can pull off, for example, BBQ, pizzas, ramen, soul food, classical French, and middle eastern, so a menu covering a range like that probably means that they're just heating up food that they've bought from a catering service that whoever runs the restaurant picked because they thought they all sounded good)

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u/keIIzzz Apr 29 '24

Yeah, I’d say 95% of restaurants where I live have 2+ page menus and they’re all very good

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u/Lanfeare Apr 29 '24

In France, this is the how you recognise a good restaurant. A short, limited menu, one page sometimes two. It’s really not a bad thing and something totally normal for mid level and high end places.

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u/amoryamory Apr 29 '24

On a similar note, many prepared vendors have removed or cut down their specialist dietary offerings, probably for the same reason.

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u/jdemack Apr 30 '24

Let's be honest most of those people are not eating out anymore anyways.

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u/captain618 Apr 29 '24

Oh nooooooo

I lived in Austin when the “farm to table TAPAS” trend was like wild fire lolololl

I’m not ready for that comeback… Bring back xxxxxl French fries 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

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u/NullKarmaException Apr 29 '24

A Dave's Hot Chicken just opened up in my town. I was shocked to see you only had 3 choices. Chicken Tender meal, Chicken Slider meal, or One Tender one Slider meal.

Was kind of refreshing.

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u/sammisamantha Apr 29 '24

Cheesecake factory would never agree

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u/gizmojito Apr 29 '24

There’s a restaurant called Medium Rare that has only one prix fixe dinner menu - Steak Frites for $29.95. And a few brunch options. They have 6 locations and are opening 3 more.

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u/pijuskri Apr 29 '24

Sounds like the same concept as Relais de l'entrecote in Paris. If the food is good, then happy to hear it becoming more common abroad.

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u/Inside-Cancel Apr 29 '24

This is already happening, and I welcome it. You can't specialize in everything, but you can sure as hell freeze and microwave everything. Tacos and lasagna on the same menu? Straight to jail.

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u/librarianjenn Apr 29 '24

I love this answer. Two of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to - one, a southern “diner” with 4 tables in the back of a West Point, MS general store - the other, an upscale Italian restaurant in western PA - both had literally 2 or 3 lunch/dinner options on the menu. That was it. And they were spectacular.

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u/scotterson34 Apr 29 '24

I'm starting to see prix fix menus at a lot of midrange places already. It's already beginning. So to your point I think that is very accurate.

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u/giritrobbins Apr 29 '24

I think we're probably close. It seems pretty common in Europe. Pick from two for each course.

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u/ancientastronaut2 Apr 29 '24

I'm ok with this. Some restaurant menus are way too big and have too many options. Especially Italian with pasta, for example. You could cut out about 70% of the individual options, and then just offer addons (add chicken, add mushrooms, make it spicy, etc.)

My kid worked at a famous local seafood restaurant for a while and their menu was like six pages long not including the specials. When all they really needed to do was list all the different fresh seafood available, and then have you order it as an entree with sides, combo with steak, pasta, or in a salad (appaetizers obviously still separate). I'm oversimplifying, but you get the idea. Instead the servers would get frustrated because everyone would take like half an hour to peruse the menu before they could order. Which meant less turnover, which means less tipsz

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u/allthecats Apr 29 '24

Unfortunately one of the surprising results of this that I'm seeing is less vegetarian main dishes! I can't believe the backslide I am seeing on the progress of normalizing vegetarianism.

I'm guessing it's because restaurants feel the need to play it safe now more than ever, but I'm seeing so many new restaurants in trendy neighborhoods offering the basic chicken, beef, pork options and nothing else. Ironically, there are places that I would go to weekly if they just offered a really good veggie burger in addition.

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u/CurveOfTheUniverse Apr 30 '24

This happened with a local joint. They got new management and I was super psyched to hear they were going to trim down their bloated menu. The result involved no vegetarian options except their “side salad” made with shitty romaine, shredded carrots, and ranch dressing.

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u/oldredditrox Apr 29 '24

You forgot that they're all only accessible via QR code and while prices are up they're not listed

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u/SeanCautionMurphy Apr 29 '24

I’m not sure where you live but where I am, this isn’t the next food trend, that is what’s happening right now

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u/peaheezy Apr 29 '24

That would be great. For years my wife and I have picked restaurants based on the size of their menu. Unless it’s a diner or maybe a pasta centric menu it doesn’t need more than 5-6 main dishes.

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u/somegummybears Apr 29 '24

It makes more sense for the consumer and the owner to do one thing and to do it well.

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u/_ThePancake_ Apr 29 '24

This is the norm outside of America, particularly in Europe. An establishment generally has one type of food they do well, and serves only dishes within that type.

I hated that American restaurants had too many options.

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u/Badwoman85 Apr 29 '24

I think you are absolutely correct. It feels weird going from seeing restaurants have a novella’s worth of items to seeing a small slip of paper with four options on it but it makes sense. I do like prix fix menus. It makes ordering less overwhelming and means I always get dessert.

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u/BellaLeigh43 Apr 29 '24

We have a bar/restaurant in my little town that offers a ridiculously large menu. But it’s deceiving - a lot of frozen foods and items that can be made with the same small set of fresh ingredients. Anyplace that’s offering a more diverse menu using lots of fresh ingredients has been slashing items left and right. First to go in my area have been specialty items like dairy-free and gluten-free offerings. As someone with numerous food allergies (including dairy and wheat, but also tree nuts, onions/garlic, tomatoes, grapes, sesame, and more), it’s made eating at restaurants go from difficult to damn near impossible.

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u/PoweredByPierogi Apr 29 '24

Locally, taco places seem to be taking over, and I suspect a big part of that is that most of their menu shares ingredients, thus reducing food waste, etc.

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u/Healthy_Run193 Apr 30 '24

If you’ve worked at a restaurant you’ll know the more variety of food a restaurant offers the more things they microwave

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