Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Our family Pulled up in our RV from driving all night and was excited to have breakfast. Well as we were pulling in an employee ( in uniform) parked his motorcycle in the RV/bus spot and gave us a very menacing look. Our very 1st impression ! Some guy with a r Then there was some beat up RV with wood under the tires right up against the building it looked abandoned? Some girl came out of a red SUV and got in the old RV and had three or four dogs one of which pooped right by the little bench they had out there and didn't pick it up. We were trying to get our gear and get in to eat when my daughter pointed out some guy in a beat up old gold van with a dog loose playing fetch with it, this guy had a wheelchair out by his van and he kept watching my daughter( creepy). He then tossed a plastic bottle or something out the side door of his van for his dog to chase it was all over the parking lot. You could tell this guy was homeless! Another spot to watch out for was in the back corner of their lot to the right of the dumpsters. A big black and grey van (again beat up, trash around it and stuff) my wife said they were living there you could tell! So we're walking in and a lady in a pink and white Ford mustang comes flying into the lot and parks in another RV/bus site? Get this she works there too!!!! Why have RV/bus sites if ALL OF YOUR EMPLOYEES PARK IN THEM? The restrooms were trashed no toilet paper, the sinks looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a while, like at a truck stop and paper towels EVERYWHERE! We bit the bullet and had breakfast. Disappointed. I realize times are tough and people are having to sleep in their cars however, when you have a homeless camp set up in your lot it's disgusting. Urine could be smelled also out by the RV/bus parking as well, just filthy! When my wife went to pay she mentioned the creepy guy in the gold van with the dog and mentioned it made her and our daughter uncomfortable the cashier said oh yes our manager knows and said he's been living in our parking lot for 3 years and hasn't done anything about it. The cashier appeared to be embarrassed by the creepy old man in his van and he had his side door open and looked like he didn't have clothes on! When we left we went around out front, people out front camping too and an old dirty dog bed out in the far end of the lot. The dog bed looked like it had been sitting for a while??? Saw some guy brushing his teeth! Nasty!! hadn't been to Cracker Barrel in years and now won't be back EVER! The cashier didn't even offer to ask if my wife wanted to speak to a manager?? Good training on that also!! Rather stop and a Mom & Pop place! We saw Denny's across the street and it didn't have any beat up or abandoned looking cars in it. I am sure the food was better too and the customer service.

Or waitress/server took forever too! Why? They weren't in the parking lot or restrooms cleaning them! Stay clear! Denny's is right across the street and again go local!

Management must be awful or doesn't care!

*Watch out for the hundreds of piles of dog poop everywhere

*The smell of urine.

*Dirty restrooms (mens & women's)

*Unsatisfying food

Basically a homeless encampment stay away especially if you have children, lot of creepers...

Well, another terrible experience from a restaurant that I chose to seek out. Was here at the San Antonio location in Albuquerque NM on January 18th, 2025, my son and I drove to this location after the annual Albuquerque Comic Con, we ordered and waited and waited, I kept looking around and noticing people that came in way after us, were not only eating their appetizers but were also on their entrée, finally when I caught my server she was delivering the table behind us their appetizers and drinks, I caught her and I said, excuse me, did you forget about us, she says, oh no, I'm just waiting for them to ring the bell for your order, I just knew, she indeed forgot about us, because she comes back and says, they have not even started my steak, and our fried pickles were just now being fried, that's when she says, that she'd handle our tab, I must say, I did feel a little bit bad that she was doing that, until! Until we got our order, my steak was cold, the grits? They were cold and lumpy and the fried pickles! Yuck... When she came back and asked how my order was, I said, it's okay, meaning it wasn't okay, but at this point I was like, now I have to complain about how bad the free meal is! I had had it at this point, asked for a to go box,(by the way for my poor dog) .. and I left very disappointed! It was cold and windy outside, it was cold and dark inside Cracker Barrel, I mean it's cold outside! Cracker Barrel, light your fireplace, damn!! 🤬 It did not end on a good note for us. And I do not think we'll be back to Cracker Barrel on San Antonio Drive in Albuquerque, NM. I did not get my server's name. But after sitting for probably an hour and a half from order to getting our food, I no longer felt bad for the server picking up our tab, as she she should have, anyways she's the one that dropped the ball by not putting our order in, and she also was oblivious to the fact that we had been sitting there the entire time our section was all eating appetizers and now their entrees as well before I caught her attention! I understand mistakes and all, but the food being terrible on top of that. I did notice after reading several reviews, that it seems to be a common complaint, server's not being good at being server's, cold food, long wait time, by the way we also were seated in the middle of the room, as I sat there I felt very uncomfortable, with the entire room around us all being served and their server checking on them, we were also never offered a refill on anything, something is happening to our old fashioned Cracker Barrel restaurants in Albuquerque NM, on Saturday when my son and I went, we thought of Cracker Barrel because it used to be the restaurant that we'd think of for old fashioned, cold weather food, not anymore, the atmosphere wasn't even good, as I said, it was freaking cold and windy outside, these guys didn't even light the fireplace or light the lanterns at the table for blustery cold weather ambiance. Too bad, another American staple restaurant going...

We saw the one review of the homeless people living in their parking lot and thought maybe they had cleaned it up. Nope. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn right next door and thought how nice it would be to walk over to Cracker Barrel (The Hilton Has an amazing dinner and breakfast available it's a lot nicer than Cracker Barrel with what we saw in the parking lot and the service. The desk clerk said we could walk around the back and they had a sidewalk connecting the hotel with Cracker Barrel. They do but as we walked over a guy in a gray Ford Explorer was backing into a parking spot and blocked most of the sidewalk... The driver got out and works at Cracker Barrel!!! He saw us in my Scooter and my husband walked We had literally walked in the bushes and the guy that works at Cracker barrel gave us a menacing look! We made our way inside. (My husband said the men's restroom was filthy) Paper towels everywhere no toilet paper the sink basin was gross from not being washed out. It took forever to get anyone to come take our order when the lady did she didn't greet us or say anything except what are you having. Then it took a long time to get our Luke warm meal. What a disappointment!!!! This is around 4 in the afternoon as we ate our mush I noticed some shirtless man brushing his teeth and getting "cleaned up" out in their parking lot directly in plain sight!!! The guy then spit out his toothpaste and started to use body wipes and clean his upper body. All this while we tried to finish our meal...Other people noticed the man out there and his car had those shades on them that people use when they car camp! We were more appalled at the employee who had to park over the sidewalk and then this guy cleaning up! We mentioned something to Virginia and she said their employees wouldn't do that!! Ok, sure. We left and on our way home we drove through the parking lot and saw the same guy in the same car 4 weeks later still parked out front and had a towel on his trunk drying it! This is definitely the most disgusting Cracker Barrel we've ever been too! Between the employee in his "beat up Ford Explorer" blocking the sidewalk the guy brushing his teeth and spitting the toothpaste in the grass where people walk our dogs! And the restrooms! The food was awful and the service well, didn't exist. Odd how the management team doesn't notice someone living in their parking lot right in front where people are TRYING to have a decent meal! Denny's is across the street we had breakfast their the next day it was good and didn't have dirty looks by employees who almost run you over to park their glorified ride in two spaces and block an access walkway! ADA?? years ago I think Cracker Barrel had issues with this??? Surprised they are still in business! Eat...