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Cheesecake Factory balks at kids menu — even near Disneyland
May 8th, 2008, 4:00 am · 29 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer and Blogger
My Godson turned 21 last month, so I offered to take him out for dinner and a libation.
Daniel is a huge Disneyland fan, so he wanted to hit the Cheesecake Factory’s mausoleum-style restaurant at the GardenWalk in the Anaheim Resort.
So, we headed there the other night, with my husband, Brady, and my 7-year-old daughter Hannah. As we sat down, the hostess handed everyone Cheesecake’s mega- menu.
Frequent diner Hannah said: “Where’s the kids menu?”
I instantly recalled something I had forgotten: Cheesecake Factory doesn’t offer kids’ menus. But, certainly being near Disneyland — a tourist mecca for families — the chain would make an exception, right?
So, we asked the waiter. The answer: an unapologetic, “No.”
Frankly, I don’t get this marketing misfire. McCormick and Schmick’s — an upscale seafood restaurant — actually created a special, expanded kids menu when it opened at GardenWalk earlier this year.
So, why can’t one of America’s most successful casual dining chains do the same?
Howard Gordon, senior vice president of marketing at Cheesecake, said the chain has plenty of options for kids in its 18-page menu and has seen no need to add one in its 30-year history. Offering one at GardenWalk was also never a consideration — even though it’s a five-minute walk from Disneyland.
Gordon further stated that its “no children’s menu” policy is accepted among loyal diners. If that’s the case, I wonder why the Cheesecake Factory feels the need to explain this policy to customers under its “Facts” section on its website: “Although The Cheesecake Factory does not print a special menu for children, we do offer a number of ‘Kid Friendly’ items… .” the website states. It then offers a list of menu suggestions for children.
Funny — my server didn’t suggest anything for my kid. Hannah wound up ordering an adult-size $12 pizza. Gordon said my server goofed and should have offered my child a smaller, less expensive version of that pizza. He apologized.
Apology accepted. But, next time I’m at GardenWalk, I’ll probably hit McCormick & Schmick’s.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Hmm…. I’m not sure how I feel about this one. If every other Cheesecake Factory in America gets away without a kids menu, I don’t see shy it’s not a problem with the GardenWalk location. Perhaps if they really do have more kids coming in to the GardenWalk location they need to beef up the training on offering kid friendly suggestions at the table.
But on the other hand it’s nice to have a place at Disneyland to get away from the maddening crowds and restaurants where Goofy makes you do the Macarena on your way to the mens room. Personally, I like Catal at Downtown Disney; great cocktails, great food, good service in a quiet room. Can you tell I don’t have kids? And yet I visit Disneyland regularly.
If no kids menu works for Cheesecake Factory everywhere else, and they are one of the most succesful restaurant franchises in the country, then a location near Disneyland shouldn’t cause them to change their corporate culture. Perhaps just make the servers…. better?
May 8th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
The key is to find a great server. We were at the Cheesecake Factory in either Newport or Rancho Cucamonga (can’t remember which one) and my 4-year-old daughter wanted a PBJ, which was not on the menu. Our very dear server said, “Sure, I can make you one.” She received an extra special tip!
May 8th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Just because a business is near Disneyland, that doesn’t mean they are required to make childrens’ menus available, nor are clients entitled. Same goes for senior special dietary menus. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like good business, but consumers should not adopt an entitlement mentality. Just ’cause they don’t have it doesn’t make it a bad place to eat. Besides, where is it written “we are near Disneyland, therefore we must cater to Disney-oriented clients”.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
We usually share an order of the fried mac n’ cheese with our daughter (6) and get her a side of mashed potatoes. That keeps her pretty happy. We’re porbably not the only ones - they might not have a kids menu but every time we go to the location at the Spectrum it’s packed with families.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I totally love kids…BUT (AND THIS IS A BIIIIG BUT)… It’s really nice going to a restaurant and not have to hear babies cry, toddlers scream, see piles of food all over the floor after a baby has sat in a high chair for an hour crumbling each piece of food into an accumulation of food under and around the high chair. Disneyland is for adults too…98% of everything in and around Disneyland are kid friendly…it’s just ONE restaurant.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
You can rest assured the decision to have a restaurant at GardenWalk was because of the close proximity to DisneyLand (aka KIDS and Families) so it wouldn’t seem much of a stretch to expect them to have some type of special accommodations for the little ones. Considering what a truly major and unique attraction it is, that would seem to be a no-brainer.
It’s not a bad-horrible-terrible thing, but it certainly seems to be an oversight on their part. I know that if I was opening a business down the street from DisneyLand, I would make damn sure I had a section devoted especially to kids. Again, the term “no-brainer” comes to mind.
I’m with Nancy on this.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Is it really so hard to split something with your kid? I think it’s important for kids to see that not everything is about hot dogs and chicken strips and plastic sippy cups. I don’t think a restaurant has to have a separate kids menu, even near Disneyland. I’m going to an extremely posh restaurant in the Palm Springs area this weekend, for a family thing….with my 8 year old in tow. I mean the kind of place with a serious dress code! I plan on finding something my kid will like and splitting it — and then going for ice cream afterward. He’ll hate it but it will be a good experience.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Colleen, I’d hardly call Cheesecake a posh dining place. It’s casual dining in a family destination tourist area. I would never expect a white table cloth place to offer a kids menu…
For the record: My daughter has eaten more expensive meals than most kids her age. She’s not a chicken strips kinda gal. She just wants some kid-friendly choices.
By the way, speaking of fancy places. Salt Creek Grille in Dana Point offers a leather-bound mini-menu just for kids. The food is fantastic..No, chicken strips here. Pure gourmet.
love the comments. keep ‘em coming
May 8th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Yeah, great comments and thoughts on this. And yet I’m swaying towards it being okay to not have a kids menu at this one Disneyland area location.
There are Cheesecake Factories all over America, mostly in the suburbs at big malls and entertainment hubs. The suburbs are crawling with kids and families, and yet every Cheesecake Factory at every big mall in America doesn’t have a kids menu. So why the big deal at this one in a new mall a few blocks from Disneyland?
I happened to drive by GardenWalk today at around 1:00pm. There were crowds leaving the Cheesecake Factory in business attire and they looked like conventioneers. One of the largest convention centers on the West Coast is two blocks west of GardenWalk, so you could argue that the Anaheim Resort District is also set up to serve thousands of conventioneers per day, along with the mouseketeers going to Disneyland. There’s a Morton’s Steakhouse and a Ruth’s Chris a few blocks over from GardenWalk and just as close to Disneyland, so obviously there’s a big market in conventioneer dining. Disneyland ain’t the only game in town anymore, and the Resort District is diversifying its demographic.
If every other Cheesecake Factory in America gets away without a kids menu, I’m just not convinced that this one specific location at GardenWalk needs one. There are also two Cheesecake Factories in the Orlando area, the theme park capital of the planet. If the corporate office deems kids menus unnecesary in tourist areas, then so be it.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
By the way Ms. Luna, as I drove by GardenWalk today and noticed the convention folks pouring out of the Cheesecake Factory, I also noticed for the first time that the restaurant does indeed have a resemblance to a mausoleum! Ha!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:31 am
More evidence of the Nuggetization of America.
Now people complain if they can’t get the “kid friendly” junk everywhere.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Parts of this conversation remind me of a NY Times article published about a year ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/dining/30kids.html
May 9th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Renee, how on earth could you confuse Newport Beach with Rancho Cucamonga. LMAO!
May 9th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Hi everyone,
I noticed that there was quite a bit of interesting dialogue in response to Nancy Luna’s post, and I felt compelled to comment.
I am the Director of Restaurant Marketing for The Cheesecake Factory, and it sure looks like we could have done a better job of representing our kid’s menu offerings! While it’s true that we don’t have a “printed” kid’s menu, one of the truly unique things about The Cheesecake Factory is that, because we have such a large menu, we have a lot of great items that kids really love! (Roadside Sliders, Southern Fried Chicken Sliders, Pizzas, Quesadillas, Grilled Cheese, Popcorn Shrimp, etc., etc.) Also, we do offer some off-the-menu items that were developed especially for kids, and are available in all of our restaurant locations. We have a Kid’s Bow Tie Pasta that’s available with butter, marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce or Bolognese sauce (with sauce on the side- of course : ) ; Kid’s Macaroni & Cheese; Kid’s Chicken Fingers; a Kid’s Ice Cream Sundae; Kid-sized beverages; and Kid’s Sunday Brunch (French toast, bacon & strawberries) that’s available Sundays till 2:00. Our servers should mention these items whenever a family with young children dines with us. It sounds like we have a training opportunity in our Anaheim restaurant, and I really appreciate hearing about this – it gives us a chance to fix it!
Kids are very special guests at The Cheesecake Factory, and I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to think otherwise.
Thanks for the opportunity to clarify.
~Alethea Rowe
Director of Restaurant Marketing
The Cheesecake Factory Inc.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:28 am
What is important is to have “kid” prices for parents!! That is where they have missed the mark, in my opinion.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Much thanks Ms. Rowe, for weighing in…I have mixed feelings about blaming the server for this one. To be clear: I’m not asking for crayons, and a tree-killing booklet. I think CF could make it easier on the servers if you simply added your above mentioned kids selections in your menu. Certainly in an 18-page booklet, you can find the space.
Thanks, Nancy
May 10th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
We have eaten at several of your locations, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach and Irvine and your servers do not mention any of what you listed. Why is it so hard for you to have this printed and given to the family at the table with the other menus. If there are “kid” size meals, with “kid” prices, then it should be communcated correctly.
We have passed on CF alot lately because of the slight you have given to your little consumers. These days the kids make alot of our eating decisions and they do not feel the love in CF.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
We do not go to Cheesecake Factory because we get the feeling that kids are not welcome there. Sure you can share with the little ones, but the for bigger kids it is a bigger deal. Most kids want “their” own meal like everyone else. Many parents deal with this when they go out. Buying my 7 year old an adult meal at adult prices is rediculous.
Some chains go all out and offer a great kids meal, while others fall down. A good kids meal does not mean chicken strips or a hot dog. A good kids meal is a small portion of an adult meal with substitutes for french fries. We recently ate at Tony Rhomas and their kids meal should be a model for every other restaurant. They offer a celery appetizer and small portions of the main course. My two kids loved it and it did not break the bank. Mimi’s also offers a good selection.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Ms. Rowe, as long as we are offering our suggestions….
Can we have an Adults Only No Cell Phone Section please? It could be a special area cordoned off by velvet drapes, and inside this area we could enjoy your delicious Shrimp Scampi, and a piece of cheesecake, and two Bombay Saphire Martinis per adult. And the darling little 7 year old Kelsey’s of the world could entertain the rest of the restaurant with their adorable chatter and funny table tricks all to themselves, with their special teflon coated Kids Korner Menu all smeared in strawberry jelly and stuck to the underside of their padded chair.
That would be great Ms. Rowe! Thanks for implementing this!
May 12th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Troy: McCormick & Schmick has intimate dining “cubicles” that can be closed off with velvet curtains! (GardenWalk only ..I think.) My daughter, by the way, loves being seated in this area while she orders from her special kids menu!
May 12th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Troy, you seem to be anti-kid? Don’t you work at Disneyland?
May 14th, 2008 at 10:13 am
This response was provoked by “Troy” who does not have children, and yes… I could tell.
Troy, buddy. If we all stop making families then there will be nobody left to pay income and property taxes to the government - to keep everything running while you are at the cheesecake factory sipping martinis.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I eat at Chessecake Factory ALOT and my daughter always asks for the kids pasta with… whatever sauce she’s feeling that day. She has gotten an alfredo, marina, and even spaghetti. It comes a bowl of whatever type of pasta you ask for and a seperate bowl of the sauce that you can toss yourself or pour over right at the table. I have no idea what it costs, I dont pay attention to that when Im out. But we’ve never had a server tell us “No” or have no clue what were asking for.
Cheescake Factory is good as is, lets not try to start watering it down with all of our pickiness or demands. It is what it is… if not, there are many other choices that may be more suitable.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I don’t think asking for kid-friendly food choices at a restaurant positioning themselves near Disneyland to be “picky.”
May 16th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I agree with the maven. I live in Anaheim and decided to take my grandparents to the new location in GardenWalk and was also surprised to find out a) they don’t have a childs menu b) rude service. I don’t expect chicken nuggets or fish sticks but it would be nice for them to print it or have the waitress offer suggestions. Anyway, I think the service in most dining places has gone to hell.
If these waiter/ress don’t want to have people skills, maybe a crowded restaurant is not the place to work.
July 30th, 2008 at 2:00 am
[…] Cheesecake Factory balks at Kids’ Menu […]
August 12th, 2008 at 4:21 am
I am an Annual passholder to Disneyland and am mother of two.
Are you griping about this ONE particular CF near Disneyland or all CF’s in general?
What’s so difficult about asking “What do you offer for kids?” when you don’t see kid-friendly options on the menu? How hard is that? At that point, the waiter/waitress, if trained properly, will give you suggestions for kids.
These days, appetizers are big enough to fill one person. Ever thought about ordering the appetizers? What about the other dishes that Ms. Rowe mentioned? And as one reader suggested, how about splitting your meal with your child? That’s what I do. Is that so difficult? Also, what’s wrong with buying the child the actual adult sized dish? If they can’t finish it, the food doesn’t go to waste– it can be tomorrow’s lunch or dinner. Also, another thing that I do– save the rest so my children can eat it the next day.
Here’s the thing, Nancy– you’ve already been to other CF’s. You already know that they don’t have kid sizes. Just because one CF is located close to Anaheim that is really close to Disneyland, you expect kid sizes? You stated it’s a 5-min walk to Disneyland. Well, I’m sure a lot of other things are a 5-min walk to Disneyland as well, such as hotels and bus stations. So, are hotels supposed to have kid rates and bus stations to have small kid benches too just because of its locale? Yes, those are ridiculous analogies, but it’s ridiculous to expect a chain restaurant to just change their business plan just because one of their restaurants is located in close proximity to Disneyland.
If the lack of a kid’s menu is such a big issue to Disneyland goers, then you would expect to see that restaurant failing due to not catering to the Disneyland goers’ kids. But it isn’t, is it? Why is that? Because the clientèle doesn’t consist of Diseyland goers only. Anaheim residents or surrounding city residents go there too and I’m sure they don’t complain that there aren’t kid menus in this CF versus other CF restaurants just because it’s next to Disneyland.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I don’t know…after a long day of shopping or waiting in lines at dland, it would be nice if (since they claim to have all of these kid friendly options) they could just print the suckers on a piece of paper! WHAT is so stinkin’ hard about that??? I am the customer. How about customer-friendly? This has bugged us (and many of our friends) for a long time. I just don’t get it. Why can’t they just take a minute to put them all on a cute little piece of paper!!!!!! It just comes off like they don’t care…and maybe they don’t! Who knows!
August 31st, 2008 at 12:04 am
Queen Bee, you Rock! You make excellent points and state them in a very reasonable manner. I don’t believe any company, and especially a successful one at that, needs to change how it conducts its business for ONE locale; however, if they’re a smart business and get enough feedback re: this issue hurting their business nationwide, I see nothing wrong with them adjusting to their customers’ needs and demands. BUT, the last time I checked the Cheesecake Factory is doing just fine.