Pros
The training is very thorough and emphasis is on quality and guest relations. In my particular store, the kitchen is very smooth and fast. Friendships can be developed with fellow staff that can become long lasting. The GM at my location is amazing and his good morale does flow downward when he's there.
Cons
Management favoritism is a big problem with my location as well as the others from what I've read. It seems that no matter how hard you work toward the "Cheesecake Mission" or how little you contribute, it doesn't make a difference. If you are on a mgr's good list and kiss a lot butt, you can pretty much get anything you want, and by all means don't make any waves - you'll end up a second rate number. The worst thing they did to us was take away our smoking privileges! The CCF became a multi-billion dollar company after 30 years with servers who smoked and when you walk by a fine dining restaurant and see that their employees can go out for a smoke and we can't it kinda makes you mad. After a busy 4 hours waiting on rude foreigners, a smoke would certainly be nice for the ones who have the habbit- instead you get a progressively more irritated server! Speaking of foreiners,, there is NO policy against auto-grats and we should be allowed to do it at locations that suffer the low or no tips from Europeans, Canadians and others who just don't wanna tip.....The company as a whole is aware of the problem yet refuses to do anything about it , to me that demonstrates they only care about their bank accounts and as long as the check total is paid.......One more thing......why for such a HUGE company am I having to pay $100 or more a month for health insurance ?