Vantaggi
The money is great, as you'll get regulars who spend a lot of money because they consider the food better than your average casual restaurant, but you also get a ton of special occasion parties. If you live in a city with a lot of conventions, you'll make great money. My training has been a huge boost to my resume, as I am told at almost every service position I've applied for that Cheesecake Factory has one of the best training programs, and people who come from there are always a cut above. I started out with them, and it was hard without any experience at all, but once I learned how to be a good server with a place that big and with that kind of menu, I've been set ever since. They taught me a lot. I also loved how flexible the schedule was, compared to some jobs I've had. I miss all the cash flow!
Svantaggi
It's all about management. Starting out, the managers were there for the staff. After a few years, positions rotated, people left, and new Managers came in who dealt with staff as though they were wayward children, and it was at that point that I left. I liked that CCF treated us like adults and gave us respect. A few bad managers changed the whole dynamic, and the restaurant went downhill from back to front. My $ started to suffer because the kitchen was so badly managed and the FOH management was operating via negative reinforcement (taking away the bread knife, over-stacking the food-running schedule and still forcing servers to run food every time we came back on the line, etc.). I was sad when I left, as I had to watch it go downhill right before my eyes. It's a great company, but that bottom-line mentality seems to be affecting their standards.