CALABASAS HILLS Calif. The casual-dining Grand Lux Café chain is undergoing the most extensive menu overhaul in its 10-year history, including the addition of a small-plates category called “Minis, Bites & Tapas.”
The move follows sister brand The Cheesecake Factory, which earlier this year introduced its “Small Plates & Snacks” menu category, which chain officials have deemed a success and which has helped to raise check averages.
Both the 13-unit Grand Lux brand and the 146-unit Cheesecake Factory chain have suffered from declining same-store sales as fewer consumers choose to eat out, especially at casual-dining restaurants. For the third quarter ended Sept. 29, same-store sales fell 2.4 percent at The Cheesecake Factory and 6 percent at Grand Lux.
The smaller, more value-focused options at Grand Lux is part of a menu overhaul that includes the addition of more than 30 new items.
“This menu reflects our ongoing commitment to offer our guests a wide variety of innovative and globally inspired tastes while making Grand Lux Café even more appealing during these economic times,” said David Overton, founder and chief executive of The Cheesecake Factory Inc., the Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based parent company to both chains.
In addition to the Minis, Bites & Tapas category, new sections include “Fresh Baked Mini Rustic Pizzas,” and “Big Plates.”
The Mini offerings range in price from $3.95 to $7.50 each, and include dishes such as warm goat cheese salad, tempura vegetables and barbecue pork sliders.
Among the seven rustic pizzas, available at $4.95 each, toppings include mushrooms and goat cheese; artichoke, tomato and arugula; and pesto, prosciutto, garlic, oven-roasted tomato, pine nuts and mozzarella.
Under the Big Plates section, with items ranging in price from $12.95 to $13.95 each, entrée options include lemon-garlic chicken; Grand Lux Meatloaf with wild mushrooms; mustard-crumb coated devil’s chicken; and pappardelle with pesto and proscuitto.
Most Grand Lux locations also are featuring daily cocktail specials for $6, with the beverages varying daily from sour apple martinis on Monday to Mojitos on Wednesdays. The specials will be available both in the bar and in the dining room.
The new menu also includes a variety of desserts, such as the Cupcake Collision, a trio of chocolate cupcakes paired with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
