Why (fancy) restaurant menus shrank

Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this video! Go to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to squarespace.com/ragusea and add code “RAGUSEA" at checkout to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
"Menu Design in America," John Mariani and Steven Heller, 2011: bookshop.org/books/menu-desig...
2013 story about the woman who's dying wish was to eat at Olive Garden: www.41nbc.com/dying-macon-wom...
"The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, With a New Preface," Dr. Rebecca L. Spang, 2020: www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.p...
More about Dr. Spang at Indiana University: history.indiana.edu/faculty_s...

[@sloth6171]

I worked at the cheesecake factory for a year, fun fact everything on the menu is made fresh everyday except for the ... cheesecake. We had 1 freezer and all It held for the most part was cheesecake. It also had fruit puree and ice cream and such for the bar and deserts. But from what my managers told me is the way they were able to host such a large menu is having a ton of prep cooks that work very hard in the morning, but more importantly is the ingredients are used across many of the dishes, its like interchangeable parts in an assembly line. So we didn't need to stock a TON of ingredients unique to each dish.

[@azilbean]

Than you for sharing that insight!😊

[@bradondundas5434]

Sounds almost... Factory like

[@marinamagalhaes3812]

that's amazing

[@science3879]

it IS called The Cheesecake Factory lmao

[@lethalcheese]

@@bradondundas5434 😳

[@sir_numbskull]

Hey Adam, former Cheesecake factory server here. While the CCF has a very... extensive... menu, it's almost entirely made fresh. The only real exception is, oddly enough, the titular cheesecakes which are made in a factory (surprise!) and shipped frozen. What CCF does have is a very extensive ingredient bar with 6-8 cook stations in the back. They make fresh sauces and dressings daily in big tubs and have a special walk-in just for those bases. The rest are prepped for the line in the back each morning and then distributed into hundreds of chilled metal bins to be combined in any number of different ways to produce the food you get at your table. The key to CCF's success, I suspect, is that while the menu is extensive, the TYPES of cooking on display are really very simple. Grill station, salad station, salamander, etc. So despite the plethora of choices, the methods of combination and transformation are all very similar.

[@superfluidity]

I guess they must put a lot of effort into designing the menu to use the same ingredient in many different ways, ideally without making it to obvious that that's what they're doing.

[@UTeewb]

I've heard that as well, the cheesecake factory ironically is one of the better ones in terms of freshness . Especially for the price range.

[@SuperDamm123]

@@superfluidity lol as a Fry/Grill cook at the CCF this is mostly true alot of the ingredients are shared amongst the line if you run out of an ingredient you can usually find it at another station. Only thing you can find is the specialty sauces that each stations uses. But even the Ranch and Bleu cheese and all the pasta sauces including the specialty sauces are made daily by the prep cooks. The only thing that isn't made there is the bread and cheesecakes.

[@devanbrowne8706]

"salamander"?

[@sir_numbskull]

@@devanbrowne8706 another name for a broiler in a professional kitchen

[@michelhv]

There’s also a “generative grammar” aspect of big menus: take a few ingredients and give a different name to each of the resulting combinations. Mathematically, you will end up with a huge menu out of a decently-sized kitchen inventory. That’s why I’m fond of big menus in Chinese restaurants. You pick your meat, your veg and then you narrow it down by the seasoning or the cooking method, and everything tastes great!

[@iamjustkiwi]

Never really thought about that but it explains a lot, both about how they can make the food so fast (lots of preparation, high heat woks) and have such a variety despite many items having several ingredients in common without seeming similar

[@WanJae42]

When I realized (as a kid) that's what Taco Bell was, I thought I'd unlocked a secret to the universe.

[@joannaatkins822]

That is an excellent point well made

[@minuteman4199]

A local Vietnamese place has the same sort of menu.

[@SteinGauslaaStrindhaug]

I would actually like it better if it were written that way: a list of main ingredients, a list of sauces, a list of sides; that way the menu would be much more manageable.

[@ThisIsntmyrealnameGoogle]

It sounds silly to say but the part where you talked about the elderly woman’s dying wish to have a simple Olive Garden meal and how you don’t trash things other people enjoy really struck something in me and caused me to reflect. I genuinely think I became a better person after this video lmao

[@itshammertime5036]

Being wiser means being humble in my opinion. Judging people on their preferences is just another way of portraying ones insecurities. It's like with people who pretend to know so much about wine and judge people on buying cheap, well known wine brands. Taste is the definition of Objectivity, right? And i even think it's appropriate here to reference the Ratatouille-Moment (that name is here to stay), even the fanciest food critic will still enjoy the 1€ strawberry pudding from the packet because it reminds them of their childhood when their mom made it for them.

[@Craxin01]

I feel sad for that woman. Olive Garden quality is easily replicated with shitty frozen foods in the supermarket. I've eaten there twice, both times getting the so-called highest quality items on the menu and found that Staufer's frozen Lasagna was better tasting and more filling, not to mention about a tenth the price. It's sold as luxury to middle and working-class people. If you like their food, fine, but it's not quality AT ALL. Makes me wonder what kind of restaurants she's visited in her lifetime.

[@gracegetzie2779]

@@Craxin01 I think this sort of thing was precisely what Adam was trying not say...

[@Dakinginnanorf]

@@Craxin01 I think you might have missed the point here buddy.

[@dianaburn2474]

@@Craxin01 Yep, went STRAIGHT over you head and off into the horizon!

[@JKenjiLopezAlt]

Really interesting as usual, Adam. When I was a cook at one of those fancy places with short menus, our chef always talked about how amazing the cheesecake factory was because of the choice it offered: “They’ve got meatloaf for grandma, and lettuce wraps for Junior.“

[@fredguo2538]

Kenji’s here 👀

[@Froge4291]

Hello Kenji :D

[@MajdFreiji]

Oh hey there Kenji (extra points for anyone who gets the reference)

[@frds_skce]

Oh nice, you ever go to the cheesecake factory, Kenji? Really curious about it

[@alexh4935]

Cheesecake Factory is perfect when you have a large, diverse group, like a debate team and their moms, and you gotta make everybody happy. Then it’s perfect.

[@ErikHinrichsen]

Could everything on the Cheesecake Factory menu be good? What we need is to get two huge nerds to go try every item on the Cheesecake Factory menu and review it all for us. Perhaps some weirdos would even pay to hear that.

[@zachdavisson6110]

I mean.. Keith Habersberger will probably eventually get around to doing the Cheesecake Factory. And based off what I've seen with smaller menus he's done, he'll probably die shortly after filming.

[@tjenadonn6158]

ReviewBrah's magnum opus.

[@keithkannenberg7414]

By what definition of good? I'm no expert on the Cheesecake factory (only been once) but I can comment on the other chain he mentions in the vid - Olive Garden. I know lots of people who sneer at that chain. But I think it's good. Nothing earth shattering - I've had much better Italian food in the US (let alone in Italy). But OG food is tasty, filling and very predictable (the same in NY as it is in the Carolinas or Cali). I consider that good. YMMV.

[@bonzupippinpaddleoxacoppil484]

Keith from Try Guys sweats nervously in the background.

[@appa609]

@@tjenadonn6158 ultimum opus

[@ThatMakesSenseToMe]

From anti-gatekeeping you-don’t-need-knife-skills videos to full hearted defense of people who like Olive Garden, I love this channel.

[@cr4zyj4ck]

He's recognized that food is just food, and the most important part of food is if the diner enjoys it. No amount of fancy chef skills or exotic ingredients matter *at all* if the clientele doesnt enjoy what's being made!

[@billdiemer]

I almost cried when I got to that segment! Being from Kansas, I know a couple of people like that. And they just so happen to be the kindest people you could ever meet. Fuck me and my pride if I were to judge them for loving Olive Garden. They consider that place their fancy date night when they drive an hour in to the city. And what's wrong with that?

[@Aetheried]

@@ZRodTW The concept of a large city or downtown area where you can find a fancy restaurant of every cuisine style is NOT the norm, especially in the enormity that is the United States. A lot of the land in the US is rural or rural-suburb and, as such, there’s a limited variety of what kinds of restaurants you can go to for a lot of people here. A lot of people go to fast casual chain restaurants not out of ignorance or a lack of desire to “expand their palate” or whatever, but because that’s sometimes their only choice. Also, people are allowed to like Olive Garden you gatekeeping cheese cube

[@billdiemer]

@@ZRodTW Trust me, nobody understands that better than me. I live in a town of 500,000, there's three Olive Garden's and maybe 1 REAL Italian place where they serve good food. And it's not even great, it's just good. Olive Garden is not good in my book and I'm in an Italian-food-desert. It kills me. But I just love the idea giving mercy to people and not being too snobbish.

[@billdiemer]

@@ZRodTW maybe I went a little too easy on Olive Garden lol but you know what I'm saying

[@Grumpini]

One thing I would've tackled here, is that some places have long menus because a lot of the recipes are riffs on the same ingredients. You could have 10 different burgers and 10 different salads all with overlapping and minimally different ingredients. Same with Sushi. You can serve the same 2-3 ingredients as sashimi, nigiri, maki, temaki, etc.

[@TheMilitantHorse]

Exactly. Went to a sushi place recently and they had 3 pages of different sushi combos, all with minimal ingredient changes.

[@genericusername4596]

The restaurant I work at has shrimp & pork dumplings, shrimp & pork spicy wontons, shrimp & pork wonton soup, shrimp & pork potstickers, and shrimp & pork shao mai, all with ingredients lists that don’t differ by more than two or three. But it makes the menu at least 25% longer and I’ve seen people order all 5 in one sitting. With buying in bulk making this significantly cheaper, being able to sell the same thing to someone 5 different ways is a huge advantage.

[@blackmber]

It can go the other way too, with a menu displaying ten dishes but allowing substitutions, additions or omissions of most of the ingredients. The menu can be shorter if the restaurant expects customers who don’t worry about the exact price of their meal, and therefore don’t need to see every possible option listed.

[@mistersonnen848]

Chinese restaurants usually have this. Each page is basically a repeat of the last page with different noodle, rice and etc

[@BoxStudioExecutive]

@@mistersonnen848 This is funny to me. Was eating at a Chinese restaurant ever considered "fine dining" at any point given the illusion of choice? rofl

[@horacegentleman3296]

Short menus tell me the cooks are a little less miserable lol I worked at a place... Well really moonlighted at a place next to a college that tried to be an everything restaurant/bar/grill/cafe/taqueria and it payed well because they couldn't keep staff. That kitchen was downright gladiatorial.

[@ginnybaez8394]

I feel you. I work at a small restaurant in my town and the owner likes to make new stuff to post on social media to attract people to come dine in. It becomes quite taxing considering it's only 3 people cooking including myself, we have to make, plate this new dish, plus make the old dishes which require a lot of prep.

[@horacegentleman3296]

@@ginnybaez8394 you have to do prep too and there's only 3 of you? I'm so sorry Jesus

[@cfv7461]

Ah yes, the "I don't understand how they have worker shortages here, they pay so well" moment followed by the "ohh" moment.

[@horacegentleman3296]

@@cfv7461 yup lol

[@JoshDragRace0688]

@@cfv7461 Not a single restaurant in America pays their kitchen staff well, or even offers fair pay. The most underpaid industry in the country by far. Heck the servers make 30 dollars an hour or more in most restaurants. The cooks are making 15 - 20 dollars an hour. 20 dollars with 10 years of experience. This is why every single restaurant you walk into is ALWAYS hiring. They are 8+ hours on your feet bending over a counter looking down cranking your neck, sucking in smoke, burning and cutting yourself sweaty crap jobs that are vastly underpaid. They are lucky to get people to work for more then a few months in their restaurants before they quit, usually in a storming out in the middle of a shift manner. They never have a problem getting servers though... I would never suggest to a youth to become a chef or enter the food industry, its a dead-end very laborious underpaid profession.

[@praetorfenix69]

I have a question I'd love to see you tackle: when and why did Americans stop eating savory pies? They used to be just as common in the US as they are in the UK/Australia/NZ so what happened?

[@finlaywightman7126]

Great idea i would love to see this

[@Linialomdil]

they're still popular in a lot of places in the midwest! I haven't really seen them elsewhere though

[@Linialomdil]

though sometimes it's "pasties" rather than a proper pie, but I think the idea is still there

[@ironicdivinemandatestan4262]

Chicken pot pie still exists, as does shepherd's pie.

[@mrp4242]

I still enjoy a good savory pie. We make chicken pot pie not uncommonly in our Dutch oven. But they do seem like they were much more pervasive when I was younger. When my wife and I traveled to Scotland a couple years ago, we were blown away on their take on savory pies, and very much enjoyed it.

[@mrp4242]

9:39 Great take, Adam. My dad loved to go to Sizzler. When I would take him out to dinner for occasions I would tell him to be sure to choose some place nice and fancy and he’d want to go to Sizzler like 2/3rd of the time (he also liked this ma & pa Mexican joint down the street). I would roll my eyes when he’d choose Sizzler. But we’d go and have a good time. My dad passed away this past December. Oh how often I think how i would love to take him to Sizzler! A good reminder to stay humble and just let people enjoy what they enjoy. There may come a time when we won’t be so lucky.

[@BigSnipp]

Thanks for sharing the nice memory.

[@blacksteveman]

You should give the ole sizzler a visit one day and enjoy it for ole time sake for your old man, if you have a kid maybe start the tradition yourself? My wifes family is from very rural Appalachia in WV and what I have seen at events sobered me to my snobbish and pretentious attitude towards most things in life. Every christmas the family on that side goes over grandmas house to open presents as one big group. I was visiting one christmas and the tweaker cousin brought their 3 little girls (6 and twin 3) to open presents. The 3 girls got decked out with new backpacks, some cute outfits and a couple of toys, all of whom were absolutely ecstatic to get. I remember playing with the twins with their new stuff. However, the tweaker parents were off the walls irate that no cash/giftcards were given and left in a hurry with the kids, leaving all their new stuff behind. Im haunted by the screams of those kids as they were hauled off without their gifts. Ever since then I realized how blessed I am to not only live in an area where jobs are abundant, but that I also got a good job as well in a good field. When we visit I try to spread some love to their community. I remember watching some kid clean up all carts from a slush filled parking lot and made sure to brush them down and everything too. I decided to run into the target starbucks and get a 25 dollar gift card for the kid and ran it out to him for his hard work., the least this kid deserves is some hot foo foo drink. He was floored that someone would do that, like cartoon level jaw on the ground eyes wide open. He thanked me profusely and said all he has to offer me was his favourite bible verse, which I totally forgot, but what I do remember is the absolute cheer he had on his face. Drop in the bucket for me, the entire world to him.

[@awhite3747]

Absolutely right. I have been humbled in a very similar way but I wish it had been at a much younger age. What a priggish younger self I was! (Not saying that I'm not now but give me ten years and I'll come back and tell you! 😁). 🇬🇧

[@terubokmasin3247]

Aye, my late dad was the opposite. He loved fancy food so he would choose the fanciest restaurants in our small town. The man totally deserved it as he had successfully taken care of his family and raised five kids despite never receiving any formal education at all and orphaned at like 5 years old.

[@shangerdanger]

I always mock cheesecake factory for their book of a menu. A friend wanted to go and I loved it... been back like 4 times since then lol

[@shadowguard3578]

I agree with your friend. I think the Cheesecake Factory is very good.

[@ll4680]

Cheese cake factory is still delicious with the giant menu

[@Donovarkhallum]

Their prep teams kick ass to make that many things easy to slap together

[@Broockle]

their cheesecake is kinda crazy tho They're so rich, I'm about ready to pass out after 1 bite 😅 Me and my friends sometimes share just 1 piece and we'll still not finish it lol

[@oldpelican5181]

Diarrhea Emporium

[@itsPenguinBoy]

I remember going to a restaurant with my extended family in the middle east and they were positively offended by the existence of a menu like "goodness me! How could you assume I would ever be so selfish as to choose my own food" the more usual thing there was to show up to a place because they specialise in a dish you like, the owners brag about what the dish is they're going to bring you, and the leader of your dining party is like "bring us that nice thing for my family" and they bring a spread for the table, which always includes their signature thing, breads, spreads and salads. Even drinks were mostly already on the table and you were billed on the empty bottles at the end, like a minibar.

[@stockicide]

Fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

[@radhiadeedou8286]

As a control freak this sounds like a nightmare to me

[@PredictableEnigma]

That sounds lovely. I definately get in moods where I get stuck when given too many choices to decide between. I like suprises sometimes!

[@jasonhaven7170]

Empty bottle of juice, you mean?

[@CordeliaWagner]

I don't like Middle East Culture. How they treat women is just evil.

[@ileutur6863]

This method of focusing on quality and freshness applies to cheaper places too. There's a pasta takeaway in my town that has a tiny and focused menu of like 5 pasta sauces. The catch is that you don't get to choose anything about your order. Takeaway only, the seasoning is fixed, no extra parm, even the pasta shape is decided by whatever they bought in bulk that week. However, all their effort goes into the sauces and the result is so good it genuinely rivals luxury italian restaurants I've been to. They get freshness-sensitive things like carbonara and pesto right every time, I'll sometimes have them over my homemade versions.

[@stam7250]

Pasta takeaway places like that are the best. Especially if they do their own noodles

[@Simon-lo7mk]

what's the name of that place? it sounds like an interesting way to set up a restaurant

[@courage_the_cowardly_cam]

I too am interested in this pasta place!

[@ndesi62]

I would also love to know the name of this pasta place! Hoping it's in my city lol

[@someguy4262]

Carbonara is one of the least time-sensitive Italian dishes. It's preserved pork mixed with a highly aged cheese and some eggs. Eggs are the only thing in that list that are even vaguely perishable in terms of restaurant turnover, and they last weeks in the fridge.

[@15oClock]

I'm getting flashbacks to the UK Kitchen Nightmares. A common problem for the restaurants was overfilling the menus, especially with a mishmash of dishes the chef couldn't manage. A few even went for the highest quality ingredients or most expensive dishes, despite them usually being in a ton of debt. And with the "simplicity and freshness" mantra that Ramsey repeated, I can see where the shows coming from a little better.

[@sihollett]

The US Kitchen Nightmares had some extremely bloated menus too. There were many times he got them to cook one of everything, laid it all out across several tables crammed in. Typically they got the message, but sometimes it was a real fight to get more than a couple of items off the menu.

[@_Ekaros]

Nothing really wrong with massive menus if you can manage it. But when they can't it certainly a problem.

[@rayelgatubelo]

There is another reason behind shorter menus: quicker service. People not being bogged down by a huge menu helps you seat more people because they eat and go home faster.

[@rayelgatubelo]

I think Adam got hacked

[@Mrgamer1120]

I've always been thinking why your journalism style mixed with food culture and science always got me hooked. Idk if it's just me but your style is a lot like Alton brown with good eats. Something that made up my childhood. Thank you for the amazing content.

[@slickl9608]

I agree. Alton Brown was very innovative in the sense that he went against the grain of the omniscient narrator and really made an effort to establish a relationship with the audience. It was a big TV show but compared to today, the production quality is quite similar to KZbin DIY styles.

[@hotelmario510]

Adam freely admits he owes a lot to Alton, so you're not wrong

[@loudpacifist]

Sameeeee

[@FishWash]

Alton brown mixed with Journalism

[@mrgeorgejetson]

I think this sells our man Adam a bit short, to be honest (and regardless of whether or not he himself credits Brown with inspiring him). I always found Brown rather gimmicky, clownish and irritating, and it seems to me that Adam is able to convey in around ten minutes roughly ten times what Alton could get across in twenty-two, because the latter was so concerned with dumbing everything down to the level of a dull third-grader. I don't always agree with Adam, but I respect the hell out of the guy. No stupid gimmicks needed in these videos.

[@arijeanz]

as a non american i am shocked to my core to learn that cheesecake factory, does not, in fact, only serve cheesecake

[@forestshepherd253]

As an American I was shocked by this fact as well when I visited one recently.

[@katl8825]

The first time I went I thought the same thing. And I’m an American…

[@Dahkeus3]

Adam, you’re a good guy. I appreciate you talking about differences without degrading others for their choices.

[@goldenghostinc]

I feel like the personnel factor was missed in this video. I could be entirely wrong but if I'm not mistaken then the kitchen staff was also much larger than today per head of the people eating there. Labor was dirt cheap so a restaurant could employ dozens of cheap labors that each only performed a very small task. In today's market its just no longer possible to employ such a big staff, and thus cooks need to be more versatile and can't focus on, for example, only making sauces day in day out. A smaller staff thus logically also leads to a smaller menu if you want to keep offering quality / don't want to reheat everything out of a freezer.

[@SherrylCursed]

>get to video early >don't realize it until you realize the comments haven't gotten good yet

[@horacegentleman3296]

You could always go procrasturbate for a while and come back.

[@ilovegod0106]

I waitressed in Quebec, where French and english coexist, and sometimes meld together as frenglish. The word “entree” was very confusing at times. Some anglophones use entree as an appetizer and others as the main dish.

[@timmunroe8001]

I work at Cheesecake Factory and I can confirm they really do make almost every dish fresh every single day. They have an absurdly huge kitchen with so many cooks which is how they’re able to do it. Whether the food is good or not is up to you, but I’d say most dishes are at least decent. But yeah, hard to believe but they really do make fresh food (doesn’t make it healthy though!)

[@TheSkyline77]

The fact that it's mostly decent is still impressive to me. Probably not my first choice of places to eat (more because I'd rather support local folks than anything particular against the restaurant) but usually not my last choice, especially if all my choices are mall food anyway

[@PredictableEnigma]

I think it being mostly decent is the key to its success. It's the one place you can bring a crowd to and everyone can find something they will eat. What are some of your favorite dishes? I like the miso salmon

[@kuebby]

"As long as I live I will try not to mock the things that people truly enjoy." I love you dude. Just found your channel but that's 1000% a message I can get behind and I can't wait to watch the rest of your videos.

[@hidarling641]

except gordon ramsay, a LOT of people enjoy Ramsay's personality: but adam has a very petty hatred towards that man.

[@keekee300]

Menus with shorter lists of foods tend to say (to me) that each food is actually great considering they just focus on those and they actually made the food with care, tho no shade to fast foods, I still love yall as a snack or an alternative or guilty pleasure lmao

[@davidnotonstinnett]

This is an illusion; this is advertising. Whether it is Applebees or a 5 star place I can’t name because I have never eaten anywhere like that, it’s just a head chef, people working under them, and a house menu where they have broken down the steps into repeatable and fast chunks. Now, there are real advantages I can imagine for a shorter menu, like sourcing a smaller amount of high quality ingredients, but you know, the convenience and being able to get the meal you want rather than what some chef decides you can eat. My point is that there is nothing inherently more magical about the food based in menu length, the quality is coming from the staff employed at this higher quality places, not from some higher focus they can give to the food.

[@iltoni6895]

@@davidnotonstinnett how on earth is is advertising? For author kitchen and high class restaurants it's entirely true. When the menu is too diverse it tends to be meadiocre

[@Vendzor]

Take In N Out for example of fast food done right. They don't have any gimmicky menu items, salads, and no chicken whatsoever. What they do, they do right (they could improve their fries)

[@davidnotonstinnett]

@@iltoni6895 because what you are tasting is ingredient quality and cook skill, not some magic of the chef being able to “focus on a single thing”. The actual method of cooking doesn’t really change whether you are working in Applebees or Chet la fancy placé, it’s just a bunch of cooks assembly lining the ingredients together. The fancy place isn’t a bunch of artists crafting these bespoke masterpieces out of ingredients fresh plucked from the garden. As the video stated, the fancy places used to have more stuff on the menu. Are you under the impression that they are buying better ingredients now? Or are they just arrange those ingredients in fewer ways to match customer expectations? My feeling is that they are just arranging the ingredients in fewer different ways, and this is advertising because it apparently tricks people into thinking that the food is getting “more focus” or something. I base this on experience working in professional kitchens. We could make dozens of different kinds of burgers, but we don’t, because it wouldn’t match the “vibe” of the restaurant.

[@iltoni6895]

@@davidnotonstinnett You really need to look up what Advertising is then come back to this video. Not even close

[@slothfulcobra]

That also happened with the cheapest restaurants as part of the invention of fast food and the streamlining of the cooking process. It's mainly midrange places that have big menus

[@ejgoldlust]

"I'll give you a brown dumpling" had me nearly spit out my coffee, thank you for that 😂

[@breadcrumb382]

Adam isn't afraid to indulge in his inner child 😅

[@LatinaCreamQueen]

That last part is why I enjoy your stuff, man. You're genuine. If I could just eat at Shakey's again as it was with my family, the giant automatic big band machine in the corner... I would in a heartbeat.

[@williamaitken7533]

I appreciate your stance on not being mean about food people enjoy. I think the menu (and architecture) of The Cheesecake Factory is ridiculous and hilarious. But I don't think it's good to insult the people who eat there. It's the difference between laughing with someone and laughing at someone. I like short menus because I feel less pressure to get the "right" thing. I'm willing to bet that everything in a short menu is probably pretty good. So if I come back, I can get another item and it will also be pretty good.

[@acctsys]

I judge for myself although I take hints from what other people do. Between resto A and B with A having more people go into it, I'd wager A is better. Taste is subjective and for that reason, I stand by what I taste, not what others think about it, especially not how others think I should think about it. Fancy can have mediocre food. Cheap can be good. When someone focuses on how he/she is seen by what and where he/she eats, that's when I judge hard, not the food, but the person.

[@mgkleym]

The cheesecake factory is honestly very good at what it does. I would take it over most other chain restaurants.

[@dianaburn2474]

It's funny, I'm the opposite as you. With SHORT menus, I feel more pressure due to the more limited options!

[@bofud]

The thing I'm most worried about when going to a place with a giant menu is that often times they never change the menu and how absolutely sick of making the same stuff the kitchen personell has to be. Making the same list of things for years and years. Places that have small menus that are frequently changed on the other hand, appear to me much more as a chef friendly working environment. So in my mind, happy chefs produce good food, maybe I'm over analyzing the topic but that's genuinely how I feel about it

[@hawaiidispenser]

I love Cheesecake Factory. The menu is huge, but the food still manages to be quite good (above average), and the prices are reasonable. The only downside is it's usually crowded (there's a reason why), so I just go at off hours.

[@Roanix1]

Prices are reasonable... Once you realize you're buying about 5 meals at once

[@pnourani]

It's good for big parties. Better to spend your money at a local restaurant and get better food at the same price.

[@Wayzor_]

I know this one! A Green goose is a young domestic goose that is not stuffed. While a Mongrel goose is a hybrid of a wild and domestic geese.

[@melaneykk5986]

When ever more than a few of the family gets together there are two choices, Cheese Cake Factory and Cracker Barrel. I have to admit I am never disappointed in either. Nor is anyone else. There is no one left feeling like there was nothing they could eat or like. It takes the stress of the food off the gathering of a big and diverse family.

[@SweetSweetVideoBoom]

Great concept and question for a video. Adam is so interested and smart. Especially love that he goes right to the interesting stuff and doesn’t waste our time. FASCINATING!

[@falconlord7811]

Rip debrah. Having the gusto to chose your wishes with such confidence is impressive.

[@znarch]

I absolutely love it whenever you do videos that focus on the history of food and the industry around it! Thank you and keep up the great work!

[@ablindgy]

Definitely one of my favorite videos to date. Love the recipes and food science but what I love more is the culture and society surrounding food and how people got their food at different times in history

[@xero110]

Pre- and post-pandemic menus have shrunk also. Most restaurants in my area have kept their small pandemic sized menus. I'm not sure if this is the same all over or not. I live in a very popular and heavily visited part of the US.

[@themikeroberts]

I haven't noticed that where I live, just things temporarily not served for a week or so because of supply disruption.

[@its_casual_thursday9090]

"I will try to not mock the things people sincerely enjoy" Thanks for being a kind person and making me cry with that account.

[@DHL1]

The Cheescake Factory menu is basically the same as a Jersey Diner menu... They are encyclopedic and vary from Greek to Chinese with a flip of a menu page.

[@manof1000voices]

CITY CAFEEEEE

[@zachpw]

And it even goes to the extreme. The most expensive restaurants hardly even have menus. You go in, pay a set price, and the chef gives you whatever he feels will be good that evening. You experience the height of sophistication where you don't even have to put in the effort of choice.

[@acctsys]

Yup. And if they did have menus, they don't even tell you you can have things the "impress me" way.

[@dianaburn2474]

Nice for some people, but not for me. I'll stick to the less "sophisticated" options :)

[@llyrghmnghyll]

@@dianaburn2474 sucks for us with dietary restrictions though - no dairy and no potatoes.

[@washinthewind]

This is fascinating! I knew a lot of this stuff, but having more info is always awesome! As a chef and restaurant consultant this is especially nice since the number one thing I tell my clients is to not have so many menu items. Seriously, everyone wants 20-30 items that they do alright and I constantly have to convince them to pare it down to 10-15 items that they can do really well.

[@BatCaveOz]

In Melbourne, Australia it is pretty common for upmarket venues to have maybe 4 entrees, 4 mains, and 4 desserts. Venues with huge menus are usually inexpensive Asian places with 10 different types of protein with 10 sauce options.

[@ryanhastie7693]

I've never really thought about historical menus and the idea of that book sounds fascinating. I would personally love to see similar videos to this one or the history of different regions' menus!

[@cliffwood7386]

I was just thinking to myself this past weekend on this very topic! Went to a nicer restaurant for a birthday, and when I went to look at the back side of the menu, there wasn't one! Got me thinking that the grungy "family restaurant" in my hometown had a huge menu with all sorts of mediocre-to-bad food on it, while this place had just 4 pastas to choose from, all of which I'm sure were good (the one I had sure was). I guess with many things - food, fashion, architecture, etc. - the thing that's desirable is what's hard to get, not necessarily what is "objectively" good (if there is such a thing)

[@appa609]

food is mostly not a status symbol. fries are trivial to get and beloved by billions.

[@cliffwood7386]

@@appa609 Sure, but I think that most people aren't going to pay $10 for a McDonalds fry, but they might pay that much for a side of fries at a fancy restaurant. Fries are actually a good example of being somewhat "hard" to get - I rarely every fry in my home kitchen, so fried potatoes - while certainly cheap - are "scarce" in the sense that I'm unlikely to make them. So I put more value in fries than I would, say, mashed potatoes, even though they have similar material costs (potatoes, fat, salt) and are both very tasty. In any case, while food is mostly not a status symbol, but it certainly can be - and what people order at restaurants (the topic of the video) reflects that.

[@BlueJazzBoyNZ]

Excellent presentation that widened my awareness

[@93giwrgos]

Don't you ever stop making videos, you are the comfort food of entertainment/learning for our souls! Watching takes my mind of problems and makes me feel safe!

[@SixOhhGeeTeeOhh]

High quality content, great message, historical facts, and a nice & soft spoken personality

[@davidwright7193]

These old menus are also the a la carte menus. It is also likely that the same restaurants were also offering menus de jour which would be a single or a small set of dishes which would change daily and were cheaper. Those daily menus are much less likely to survive. Some of those roasts or boiled meats might have to be ordered in advance.

[@davidnotonstinnett]

According to a design class I took in high school, basically there is a cycle of building menu complexity until eventually you get a few “artist” types who cut the menu down to a few items for “simplicity”, only for the cycle to repeat. This is more of a marketing thing than anything really to do with food. Whether you are making 5 things or 50, an industrial kitchen is basically an assembly line with each meal having a set of predefined steps (obviously. That is called a recipe), rather than a group of artists crafting masterpieces in the back.

[@izsaf]

As far as I've seen that's true in every creative endeavor throughout history. For example, classical music was a simplification from baroque, romantic a more complex classical, and so on.

[@davidnotonstinnett]

@@izsaf Hegel called this “The Dialectic”, the way ideas and actions influence eachother, divide and combine over time.

[@zekewalker1350]

Adam I must say that I was already enjoying this solid video, and then you mentioned the story about the hospice patient who's dying wish was a meal at the Olive Garden. Your dedication to "let people enjoy things" is beautiful and moved me to comment. Thank you

[@c.jarmstrong3111]

All my favorite channels posting today!

[@arthaal]

10:03 - "And as long as I live I will try to not mock the things that people sincerely enjoy" Life lesson right there, hopefully other food KZbinrs watching this learn from it.

[@NigelGrab]

*cough* Joshua Weissman - I find his "use smoked duck fat in your carbonara and if you do it any other way you're wrong" attitude highly irksome

[@deborah_chrysoprase]

*cough* Uncle Roger *cough*

[@arthaal]

@@deborah_chrysoprase just missing one more youtuber in the replies and you guys will have covered the ones I was thinking of

[@ethelredhardrede1838]

@@arthaal OK show some guts and tell us who is your third? I have not seen either of the first two and I suppose I don't want to do so. Then again maybe they are exploring how to do things in what might be the best way as Alex does. There I keep pointing out that there is no single best way, most of the time and that Alex is obsessing over stuff that was never intended that way. But you can learn a lot about how and why to do things with that sort of channel. I prefer Adam's way but that too is not the only way.

[@arthaal]

@@ethelredhardrede1838 Disclaimer: I haven't watched his videos in at least a year so he may have changed since then, but the third is Vincenzo's Plate. He has the same issue as Uncle Roger where the first time it's kinda funny but after the 30th time he's said "omg this is so offensive to my italian roots" in the same video (and does so in every other video) it gets pretty bad imo. And tbf, I can totally see it as a joke, and I get it from a more humoristic perspective, but rather than getting a funny experience out of it you end up with this cult-like following that goes to every single video of a regional plate with some variations due to any sort of limitation, and they just go NO THAT'S WRONG YOU DON'T DO IT LIKE THAT, or the typical "lol! my favorite youtuber should react to this!!" spam. What I'm trying to say is it generates a very toxic culture with a lot of people who know nothing but what these people said, and then try telling everyone else how wrong they are in doing it like that. Also the typical "i just hate fast food because it's cool to hate it" people who probably wouldn't tell the difference between a fast food item and a "regular" food item if they were repackaged in the same way.

[@utdminiman]

At this point I'm adamant Adam deliberately says silly things for the Ragusea out of context videos. Will be keeping an eye out for "I'll give you a brown dumpling" haha

[@Butterandbacon]

That will be in a YTP by the end of the week.

[@JMSouchak]

That was the most wholesome thing I've heard in so long. Thank you for the Olive Garden story.

[@RupertFoulmouth]

I am loving your living in Knoxville. Having watched your videos for a long time, i respect your view on food and your respectful honesty. I have added two new places to my "restaurants to try" list.

[@AlexE5250]

How did these old fancy restaurants keep everything from spoiling without the use of modern refrigeration/freezing? Today, the Cheesecake Factory can have such a massive menu because most of the food is frozen. But before that existed, where did they keep all the food for all these different dishes? Or did they only have a few of each dish and would sell out quickly?

[@MrRacerhacker]

they had iceboxes, ice has been used for quite along time

[@Blackpapalink]

Ice and cold, dark underground storage.

[@naughtiusmaximus1811]

He made a video about it a year or two back, check it out.

[@poochyenarulez]

Guessing people ate out more often back then due to no refrigeration at home, so people couldn't just buy weeks worth of food for at home.

[@robertlowe6367]

I would also guess that sanitation was not great too, a lot of that stuff probably was what we would consider spoiled.

[@rockdrummersrock]

Adam, this is exactly why I love your stuff. Most people would take the easy shots but I share the same thought you do about the factory. It's not going for michelin stars. It's going for a place where you could probably take several families and everyone have something they could enjoy and top it off with some cheesecake.

[@azilbean]

Another great video about something I didn't know I wanted to learn about until...you did it. Plus, the smoothest transitions to sponsors of ANY KZbinr...as always!

[@adamchurvis1]

Nicely done, Dan.

[@toniedemare]

Adam, you are so noble. I enjoyed learning why you don't mock things. Thank you for sharing the story about Ms. Debra!

[@luked4043]

Short menus are the way to go. Interestingly, I would say that the maxim (shorter menus tend to be more thought-out and higher quality) also applies to fast food. Consider in-n-out with only a few items on the menu. Everything is fresh and quality controlled to a tee. Then consider any fast food with a big menu? A lot of those items will be frozen or poorly prepared if the cook doesn’t make them often.

[@krangitebacon5039]

i feel like this is touched on in the film "The Founder" about the origins of Mcdonalds, the original restaurant was a two brother operation who did nothing but a burger, fries, and a milkshake, all made uniform and incredibly fast, and then naturally evil capitalism seeped in and pushed for more items and constant expansion of different ways to do things which is vilified in the film as one would expect. i'm not sure how real to life the films depiction was, but it was a good movie either way.

[@iamjustkiwi]

Five guys too. Very few items, all very simple to prepare, but just very well made with good ingredients. It also lets them have prices comparable to McDonald's despite (in my opinion) being the superior option.

[@luked4043]

@@krangitebacon5039 It is certainly a good movie that touches on that. Now, I don’t know if I would call capitalism evil as much as men evil. Uncontrolled and left to the wits of the weak, capitalism is certainly a ghastly force.

[@luked4043]

@@iamjustkiwi Five Guys is fire

[@MoinV]

Then you have a place like Jack in the Box which is basically a grocery store frozen fried food section

[@FutureCommentary1]

King of smooth transitions to advert. Nice one.

[@jobeth5344]

Omg I will try my hardest to not mock the things people enjoy. Thanks for putting it in perspective, Adam.

[@TheEpcwin]

As someone who worked at a cheesecake factory as a cook for years, I can tell you the only not made hot and fresh every day is the Cheesecake. Adam feel free to hit me up if you want to know how we pull it off

[@SuperDamm123]

And the bread.

[@NameTaken123]

Honestly, cheesecake factory is really great for what it is. I don't think I've ever gotten something at one that was bad. I've also never gotten something at one that was really amazing. Sometimes what you need is a jack of all trades though.

[@Duiker36]

Same. I might fault them for how they treat their employees (though it's an exceptional restaurant that's not bad to its employees), but I've never faulted their food. Sometimes I don't like it, but never because they did a bad job.

[@pyratenemo3617]

Sometimes a guaranteed okay experience is better than a riskier, 'I might like this, I might hate this' experience. I don't go to mcdonalds because it's amazing, I go because it's the same every time and I know I won't have a bad time.

[@jakilahmoulien9070]

This channel is one of the most interesting on KZbin. Everytime I watch a video from this channel, it's like a therapy. It's just perfect.

[@lemonadeslices]

i'm relatively new to your channel, but i love these sociology/anthropology-related food videos. this was brilliant, and i enjoyed it immensely. thank you.

[@BLAPYOU]

Adam, you are one of the best KZbin channels out here. Your choice not to put something down is refreshing. Also I always get a Good Eats vibe from you, would love to see you and Alton Brown do a video together.

[@sant-oyo387]

I started working at the Cheesecake Factory a month ago or so. From what I’ve seen as a prep cook, I feel like there’s lack of precision with the recipes bc it’s so extensive, something is bound to go wrong. The food is just ok. Also it’s the nastiest kitchen I’ve worked at. Planning on leaving soon.

[@leenae5937]

Where’s your location?

[@danroot84]

I have recently discovered your channel and videos. I am looking forward to trying your NY style pizza recipes. I also want to say I really appreciate your kindness - as was highlighted in this video with the clip about Olive Garden. Keep up the great work, Adam. Thank you.

[@annslow41]

Always keeping it classy! Love your content, Adam. Keep it up!

[@goalie5733]

I will say this for Cheesecake Factory- they have a few things that surprisingly I just haven’t seen at other restaurants. Although the last time I had them, their menu was still a bit more condensed than what you show!

[@WanJae42]

I've always distinguished between "eating" and "dining". Eating is going to a place and telling them exactly what you want and (more or less) getting it. Dining is having a chef present his/her creation, not so much so you can fill your stomach, but to enjoy the experience. Sushi (in the west) has especially taken the turn from a chef's dining experience to just "eating out".

[@Crokto]

yeah i kinda hate the sushi places with 50 "special" rolls on the menu, takes like 5 minutes to pick out a few for the table. i dont get sushi much anymore, but i recently went to bamboo and they kinda nail it. something like 10 special rolls, all of them distinct and interesting and not just riffs on spicy tuna and california rolls.

[@hjaxsc2]

My hobby is trying to predict when Adam is going to segue into his ad read.

[@Louis.Campbell]

Great video Adam! Very informative - thank you!

[@djmayna87]

My guess on the old menu’s, they’re price lists only. Not an actual indication of what was available. I’d garner the server probably listed off a few of each section as available; implying the rest, while listed, we’re not available to order. Printing multiple menus would be expensive. They make one menu of all possibilities, then rotate through options. Just a guess.

[@ahadmrauf]

I love the implication that those festival stalls that sell only one thing are peak fanciness 😂

[@briand.6359]

I go topl festivals purely for the gyro cart. Doesn't matter what the festival is, there will be a gyro guy there.

[@_Ekaros]

You know what is the absolute peak? A water fountain. Serves very simple dish done with minimal modification. How could anything be more fancy?

[@toographik]

9:41 made me tear up. I appreciate your take there.

[@paulonatorman]

Great informative video, once again. Thanks Adam for making my day so much better!

[@Nintentheheartless]

I think the biggest example of this phenomenon of 'less is more' for menus is Raising Cane's. They sell exactly one thing and one thing only: chicken tenders. When a place ONLY sells one thing (two I guess if you count the sandwiches), you reason "well, it's GOTTA be good if it's like the only thing they're selling"

[@Drkbowers1]

It's also great because no matter how long the line is, you don't have to worry you'll be there long. There's just no way for there to be a bottleneck in getting the meals out, it's all the same food lol.

[@robhacklblumstein]

In my family we have people who limit their diets for basically every conceivable reason: taste, lifestyle, allergies, medical conditions, religion, etc. So whenever we have more than 2 or 3 of us eating together, we basically have to go somewhere with a big menu, or someone won't be able to eat. I feel like a lot of those things are becoming more commonly recognized, at least in the US, and I wonder how that could affect the future of restaurant dining.

[@fabiospringer6328]

Some are just betting on "super meals", a vegan meal can be good for people who don't eat meat, pork and milk. If you don't use nuts it covers most allergies as well. So one or two options that covers a lot of restrictions at the same time.

[@nicolescats2]

I know a few places around town have medium size menus (~12 mains) but have easy customization of them. When you have a menu helpfully marked with symbols like VV+ (can be modified for vegan), it feels less intimidating to ask for detailed ingredient information and other modifications. I wonder if not just marking which items can be easily modified, but coming up with a cute symbology will become more common in fancier restaurants.

[@kofer99]

I think burger places are usually a safe bet (at least in germany) most burger places (outside of fast food chains) have solid meat, vegetarian and vegan options, as well as a selection of sides like fries or salads. So you can usually find something for everyone with little issue.

[@dianaburn2474]

@@kofer99 Yeah, but they also mentioned food allergies. That's hard to avoid, depending on the allergy, and you can even go further with issues of cross contamination.

[@wonderershistorypodcast]

Fascinating bit of culinary history here, and some very valid points made. Short menus means the place knows what it can do best and who it can deliver it to.

[@dbensen]

I really appreciate the "I don't make hate on stuff people love." Thank you.

[@jjdawg9918]

I love the part on history. That said, a closer look at the Cheesecake Factory menu and you will notice that 90% of meat based items are chicken. So that 1000 item menu is really about 10 ingredients.

[@BTobiasJ]

Well there's 2 ^ 10 = 1024 ways of choosing any of 10 ingredients, so it checks out

[@beerzer4625]

Amazing, truly wonderful video.

[@Braincain007]

Bruh you haven't even watched it yet

[@beerzer4625]

@@Braincain007 exactly.

[@DoubleU555]

Typical adam nausea fan

[@JasonMemeoa]

That clip was heart wrenching :(

[@whiteraven23]

I had to order that menu book. That looks really cool. Good episode Adam! Keep up the awesomeness!

[@josephdemarchi2128]

I have always loved how the cheesecake factory is normally an NBA players favorite restaurant. They are normally open late so the players can go after the game. They are in every town the NBA travels to and the players know that the food will be decent. And the menu is big enough that they don't have to worry about getting bored of the food and there is something for everyone who comes to dinner with them that night from other players to coaches and support staff.

[@erinhowett3630]

And the portion sizes are huge

[@obscuritymage]

I used to work at a Cheesecake Factory and while the menu is absurdly large, it is made by a lot of dedicated line cooks who bust their ass to make whatever you could possibly dream of. It may not be 5 Star but it isn't all prepackaged garbage either.

[@adoseofbeauty6443]

Great video! I remember reading a fiction book all about differences in classes and social mobility and during one scene at a restaraunt, when a character asked a waiter to choose a wine for their dinner, it was considered a grave faux pas.

[@HobieHighLife]

I like your non-judgmental take for explaining the topics in your videos. Factual, informative, and entertaining.

[@kittymarch8455]

One problem with the short menu places is that they tend to make everything “creative” and “original” so that you can end up with everything having some unusual ingredient that makes the dish inedible for people who actually like the dish in question. So there is literally nothing to eat for anyone with tastebuds that are at all sensitive. I have autistic co workers and it’s awful how so many people want to be snobs about how some people just want food they can eat without sensory harm. On chains and places like The Cheesecake Factory, Boston’s Phantom Gourmet has the best advice - eat the trademarks. If a restaurant cares enough to trademark a dish, they sell a lot of it, so it’s probably good, the cooks know how to make it, and the ingredients haven’t been sitting around.

[@TumblinWeeds]

Hey Adam, I want to say I appreciate that you don’t make fun of people for so called “trashy” taste. I’ve seen a lot of FoodTubers, especially when they get big, make a big fuss out of “throwing up” when they eat from a chain store like McDonald’s or shop at Walmart’s. “How could anyone possibly enjoy this trash” well that’s what your audience can afford. Olive Garden is a good meal for some people, and Walmart steak is a luxury for others. Perhaps without such a trashy audience, the big foodtuber wouldn’t be in a place to put truffles and caviar on everything they eat and mock the less fortunate.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

I think it's funny how in a ton of jokes Taco Bell is implied to cause people to nuke their toilet but I never had an issue.

[@dianaburn2474]

@@ChucksSEADnDEAD Same. While I've had some issues at other fast food places, I always found Taco Bell to be easy on my stomach. Not saying it's healthy, just a note.

[@aolson1111]

Olive Garden is expensive as shit, no poor person is going there, so don't pretend you care about them. Also, it's pretty fucked up that you think people shouldn't be able to criticize giant corporations.

[@j.thedemonkat6572]

Oh, how I loved this video. I started collecting books on the history of food, and cannot wait to get my paws on these. More, please!

[@garygary4856]

Surprisingly interesting video. Nice change of pace from your normal videos.

[@dr4d1s]

Disclaimer, I have not watched the video yet but as someone who worked in fine dining for about 15 years as a Sous Chef, here is my experience. It's easier to control the quality of your ingredients and the final dish when you have a more limited menu. Why serve 50 different menu items when only 20 of the items regularly sell? That is a lot of possible waste depending on how you menu is set up, ie, having menu items that share ingredients. With less waste, comes greater profits. Also if you only have 20 menu items to sell, your cooks can get really good at making those 20 dishes. This is just a surface level overview, I am sure Adam goes much deeper into it. I just don't have time for a diatribe right now.

[@user60521123]

Smaller, more focused menus means that the choice is made about which place to eat depending on what you want. Where the larger menu means each person choices what they want once at the restaurant and the group dining doesn’t have to make a choice for everyone beforehand. Also, labour before the late 20th century was not seen or heard. Patrons didn’t consider the skills and work that goes into what they consume. Now people are aware that huge menus cannot translate to good food. This is just a hunch. Btw, everyone has to take a shot at Cheesecake Factory. It’s okay, Adam: they have to be used to it by now.

[@camilozs3735]

Dude, you made me cry with the story of the lady in Olive Garden. Lesson learned.

[@ghostlightning]

Fantastic video and persuasive POV. I appreciate being convinced by decency. Thank you.