Consumers' Choice in Chains: Leaders of the Pack: Cheesecake Factory

Guests at The Cheesecake Factory are very vocal—which is not at all a bad thing. The Cheesecake Factory uses numerous strategies to respond directly to customer input.

By Staff -- Restaurants & Institutions, 9/1/2006

Guests at The Cheesecake Factory are very vocal—which is not at all a bad thing. Evidence can be found in the hum that emanates from laughing, chattering guests who fill the cavernously large restaurants, and it’s also seen in their penchant for expressing likes, dislikes and ideas to unit- and corporate-level employees. And when they speak, top executives listen closely.

“We don’t forget who pays the bills,” says Howard Gordon, senior vice president of business development and marketing for the four-time R&I Consumers’ Choice in Chains winner. This year, it also has the survey’s highest overall score as well as attribute-high scores in food quality and service.

Guest feedback—culled mainly from online comment forms and store-level conversations—helped drive what Gordon describes as the company’s most comprehensive menu update in a decade, which launched in August.

Several salads and pastas already were available in smaller daytime portions, but new lunch specials also offer a broad array of scaled-down pizza, sandwich, seafood and chicken dishes, as well as favorites including shepherd’s pie and Famous Factory Meatloaf.

“We were hearing guests say that they needed to be in and out faster at lunch,” Gordon says. “We can do that by seating them and getting food out quickly, but we also found that some people didn’t want to take extra food home, and they wanted more variety.”

Also meeting these demands are new all-day dining options: Factory Combinations, which pair popular choices such as Shrimp Scampi and Chicken Madeira or Steak Diane and Herb-Crusted Salmon.

Beyond twice-a-year menu changes, The Cheesecake Factory enlists strategies to respond directly to customer input. The chain employs a guest-services department to handle most questions and complaints quickly, assuring guests their voices are being heard. To keep top leadership in the loop, some customers experience phone calls from Gordon, President and COO Peter D’Amelio and even Founder, Chairman and CEO David Overton himself.