Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I just left this location at 12pm today 2/4/2025, didn’t bother to get the managers name as he was rude and condescending and I just wanted to interaction to be over. But whoever oversees these reviews should have a talk with the manager on shift. That said I am a young looking male, you wouldn’t be able to tell looking at me but I was a general manager at a restaurant for some time. I was told that I could not receive a beer because I had a voided ID (just renewed my drivers license). I was specifically told that a PDF of my temporary alongside it couldn’t be accepted because by New Mexico State law, you need a permanent ID to be served. I automatically knew this was not true, by the NM restaurant association (the governing body for restaurants alcohol laws in NM) a temporary ID can be accepted alongside the voided ID. I showed them this law alongside my PDF and voided ID. I was told I needed the physical copy of my temp to receive my beer, after double checking my car I found it. I was still refused service because the manager said, “Yeah well I just feel like if it was legit you would’ve presented that first” implying I was doing something sketchy finding my ID? Like I forged a government document and printed it up in the span of a few minutes while out at a restaurant? Once I called him out on his lying and unreasonableness, he offered to get me a general manager. I wasn’t about to drag more people into it and have them waste their time over a beer. He also just had a pissy attitude towards the situation, came up sounding and looking annoyed going, “so you wanted to talk to me?” I also acknowledge that a restaurant is allowed to refuse identification for any reason, but to assume I’m just ignorant and lie to me is one thing. To tell me the terms in which I can be served and then go back on your word is another. Bad service and I wouldn’t ever treat my customers like this. The steak was also over cooked. Server was kind though! Nothing bad to...

Atmosphere was nice and cozy, and the service was great. Everyone was friendly and attentive. I was being a major pain in the neck because I kept thinking of things I wanted from the Country Store to add on to my purchase after thinking I was all done shopping, and the cashier couldn't have been friendlier and more patient with me and my silly ways.

I ordered the Chicken Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes & white gravy, hashbrown casserole, and green beans. The food was nice and hot, gravy was plentiful, chicken was flavorful, green beans were delectable, and the biscuits are to die for...so fluffy mmmm!

Food wise i was quite pleased, with the exception of one thing — the Hashbrown casserole. Which makes me very sad because historically that's been one of my favorite side dishes, but this time it was super dry and wasn't as cheesy or special as it used to be. It was just kind of bland and basic and made me want to cry. I thought maybe it was an isolated incident, but I was recently talking to a good friend of mine in a different state who recently had the same meal, and also complained of dry and disappointing Hashbrown casserole. I searched and saw others online complaining of the very same. This suggests there is a new and not-improved recipe for what was once one of the dreamiest side dishes in all the land. So I looked into it, and apparently frozen hash browns used to be used, but now they use dehydrated hash browns, which decreases the quality of the dish. So that sucks.

This cannot be. Cracker Barrel, if you're listening, cut it out with this dry af hashbrown casserole, and bring it back to its former glory. Pretty please. It was perfect the way it used to be, all nice and cheesy and creamy. Permanently changing it was a bad idea. Please don't ruin one of the few pleasures I have left in life, thank you.

Other than that,...

We have been going to Cracker Barrel locally for many years since it is comfort food, the service is consistent, and we love the homey atmosphere, especially during the holidays. Over the past year or so, however, many changes have been happening with the restaurant, starting with the menu, which my family doesn't like. They have streamlined the menu and no longer serve some items that we liked. Most annoying however, is that the atmosphere has become more commercial and less appealing. Examples? First, their seating policy. My mother is elderly, set in her ways, and doesn't like change. In the past we were always able to sit in the main room, by the window, whenever we dined in the restaurant. Recently, however, the hostess has been seating us in other places, even when the restaurant is not busy, insisting that the tables we wanted weren't available, even though no on was sitting there. The hostesses have claimed that it was a staffing issue, but then other people were seated at or near the table that we had wanted by the window. And the hostess during our last visit was not even apologetic and seemed irritated by our asking politely why we couldn't be seated in the main room, since other people were already sitting in that area. We got no response; she simply walked off. Also, we went only a few days before Christmas and in the past there would have been a roaring fire in the fireplace but this time there was no fire at all. So while the food was okay and our server was attentive after we were seated, the overall experience was disappointing which is sad because what was once a go-go place for us to go whenever we felt tired and wanted a downhome meal in an inviting atmosphere now seems cold, commercial and not interested in whether we enjoy our overall dining experience. This will likely cause us to go less often in the...