This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brian “Rusty” Russino, Area Kitchen Operations Manager for The Cheesecake Factory. He oversees nine busy Southern California restaurants across Orange County and San Diego. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I’ve spent more than 35 years in the restaurant industry and more than 22 years with The Cheesecake Factory.
Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about food quality, inventory management, and how restaurants handle fresh ingredients.
That’s why there’s one habit I’ve developed when dining out that still influences what I order at the start of the week.
I call it the “Monday bun.”
Thai Liang Lim/Getty Images
It’s something I used to joke about with my wife when we went out to eat on Mondays and Tuesdays, which were often my days off.
To be clear, the Monday bun isn’t about food safety. It’s about freshness.
It’s a personal rule of thumb I’ve developed over the years when eating at restaurants in general—not something I associate with The Cheesecake Factory.
Why I avoid buns on Mondays
In my profession, I’ve noticed that many restaurants receive deliveries on Fridays or Saturdays.
Courtesy of The Cheesecake Factory
If they don’t use all of that product over the weekend, some of it may still be in inventory on Monday.
That doesn’t mean anything is wrong with it. It simply means that it’s not as fresh as it could be. Bread is a prime example.
A bun that’s been around for a few days can be very different from one that arrived more recently. It may not be as soft and pillowy as I’d want.
That’s where the phrase “Monday bun” came from.
Another example is seafood. Again, I’m not saying it’s unsafe. I’m saying it may not be as fresh as it was a few days earlier.
The systems I rely on in restaurants
Courtesy of The Cheesecake Factory
One reason I have confidence when dining out is that good restaurants have systems in place to manage freshness and food safety.
At The Cheesecake Factory, for example, we date products upon arrival, follow rotation systems, and track shelf lives.
We have people responsible for validating products as they come through the back door, and we pay close attention to how ingredients are stored and cared for.
We also use forecasting and ordering systems designed to help us avoid carrying excess inventory. We’re busy restaurants, and that’s one reason we don’t have a lot of product sitting around after the weekend.
Still, after 35 years in restaurants, the “Monday bun” has stuck with me as a personal habit when I’m dining out. It’s simply one of those industry quirks that makes me think about freshness at the start of the week. But thanks to the inventory and quality systems we use at The Cheesecake Factory, it’s not something I worry about in our own restaurants.
