Ford

The title will have haters. I know this, expect it, even welcome the comments in advance.

A restuarant is a machine. And anyone who tuned in on SaltyTalkRadio knows I love to use the phrase 8 cylinder.  Normally, I am joking about the size of a word that the host, Mark Salter is using but the amount of cylinders is as important as to how we got there.
Henry Ford(I may be telling this story in the stylings of CNN and not have ALL or ANY of the facts correct. Fair warning) walked into the engineering dept at Ford and said to his team "I want an 8 cylinder engine. And left. A year later he came back. No 8 cylinder engine. He repeated his demand without instruction. And eventually, yes we know the rest of the story of the V-8 engine. It is the standard of power in the automotive industry . And we accepted it as just that.
In restaurants we did the same thing. A standard was created, a benchmark (love the new clichic lines) and we all accepted it. No need to improve what's perfect. Right?
But the engine is not THE machine. It's a component of it. The power of it yes but not all of it.
A brand is the engine. Franchise, corporate doesn't matter. It may be about strength or speed we just accept that it is about power. In a car comparison, a restaurant is the model.
The sculpting of the body, aerodynamics, the bite of the rubber, yawl, center of gravity. Design.
Many models have come and gone. Some of our favorites have lost favor in our hearts. Why did this, how could this happen? Its was never about power, is was always about handling.