Cheesecake Factory

How to succeed the founder: Different by design at Not Your Average Joe’s

By Peter Romeo on May 04, 2018

CEO Peter D’Amelio worked with chain creator Steve Silverstein to ensure a smooth transition, but he's no passive caretaker. The onetime president of The Cheesecake Factory is plotting his own course.

Operations

Casual-dining rebound hasn't pulled Chili’s along

By Peter Romeo on May 01, 2018

Sales and traffic comps remained negative for the big brand in Brinker’s portfolio.

What people really think about fast-food wages

By Peter Romeo on Jan. 02, 2014

What do consumers really think about fast-food wages? Our "man on the street" takes the issue straight to the people (hypothetically) to find out.

Top 500 Chains

What’s up with chain sales?

By Sara Rush Wirth on Jun. 13, 2017

The successes or failures of one big fast-casual brand have the ability to drastically shift results.

The week’s 5 head-spinning moments: Future-peek edition

By Peter Romeo on Jul. 25, 2014

The industry caught a glimpse of tomorrow through The Cheesecake Factory’s little-noticed discussion of Grand Lux’s future, Starbucks’ embrace of a new digital-wallet strategy, McDonald’s preview of a new service lab, and a mysterious posting about social media’s ill effects on service speed. And then there was the close-to-home lesson from a retailer on harnessing tech to cut risks to guests.

Financing

20 top full-service chains in satisfaction and sales

By Restaurant Business Staff on Aug. 23, 2017

When it comes to restaurant brands, the sales leaders are not always consumers’ favorites for a variety of reasons. Chains best at parlaying customer satisfaction into sales are hard to beat.

A numbers game

By Peter Romeo on Apr. 16, 2015

A portion of the public is stuck on the falsehood that a server is only paid $2.13 an hour, plus the few bucks they might pocket in tips.

Food