Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Bardstown

We stopped in on the way back home from visiting family over Thanksgiving.We have stopped here several times before. We were sat quickly and took a while to be greeted. Several other tables came in and were sat around us. I believe we had a new server as she was wearing a T-shirt and no apron. We ordered ribs, mammas breakfasts and old timers. These are our usuals. The food took about 45 minutes to come out. Meanwhile the tables around us kept asking why we had no food, while they had already ordered and eaten most of their meals. When our food came, it was partially delivered, and incorrect. My husbands eegs were dry and hard. He likes over easy. My pancakes were cold and tough. They brought me 3 pieces of dried out meat. I just wanted a piece of the city ham. I asked for sugar ham- the MOD was quick to tell me the correct name of it. I saw the server standing to the side and asked if she could please get me some fresh pancakes. I did get some that were better. I could tell she was new, young and trying. My son loves ribs; that is what he had ordered. The ribs were very tough. No where near moist, fall off the bone. Cracker Barrel may consider not having these on the menu. The MOD wanted to argue with us about our concerns and tell us how the ribs were fresh. They may had just come out of the oven, but they were not cooked properly. The MOD was defensive about everything we brought up. We are very reasonable people and I have personally worked in the restaurant industry in my past for several years. She decided to give us half off the eggs and half off ribs. I’m pretty sure she didn’t know I had asked my server for new pancakes. The first time she brought out the ticked I think it was maybe $6 off. The server came back and asked if everything was ok and apologized. I said no, the manager said she was taking half off eggs, and half off ribs and it’s around $6. The manager came out again with another updated check with a little bit more off- and honestly it’s not about the money-but about the way things are handled. I know she’s probably been at that store for a while and moved up in position. But part of customer service is not being combative and do what you say you’re going to do. Again Chloe was kind, and trying. The MOD may need further training. I could go further into how we were treated. But I...

The last four months I have been traveling back and forth taking care of family business and I've been stopping in to your restaurant at every trip there and on my way home at least twice a week. It's kinda like a place to relax and catch my breath. I have stopped and came in last two times and a certain server you have has been the most attentive most sweetest just overall caring person. This last time I came in and she was my server again. I come in and my emotions are usually all over the place and last time I visited I was truly just sad. She went out of her way in her bust routine to make sure she ask me if I was ok and as she was doing this she was still working diligently tending to my needs. I want to say this she was working her tail off while other servers were standing there it looked to me she had been over seated and she still never missed a beat. I used to be a server long ago so I know how hard it is and this lady was holding it together like nobody's business and not one server who was standing offered to help her with the first thing not a refill not one thing. Also she had a smile on her face and had a lighthearted way about her and still yet took the time out of all that to reassure me that whatever I was going thru God was there before me already and that it would be ok. After watching her work and seeing her steadfast and not letting anything get in her way of getting her job done note and with a smile made me see that what ever it is I'm facing that it would be ok. Sometimes your help comes in the form of a stranger. Thank you Mona Lisa for reassuring me that life is life and that God is in it. I will be visiting again and hopefully I can get her as my...

Once upon a time, I was a wide-eyed child, sitting in a wooden rocking chair, thinking Cracker Barrel was the pinnacle of fine southern dining. Fast-forward to adulthood, and now I’m sitting there wondering if my childhood taste buds were broken or if I just really liked food that didn’t actively hurt me.

Two stars. One goes to the gift shop, because I can still distract myself with oversized gummy snakes and quirky coffee mugs that say “Live, Laugh, Lard.” The other star is awarded purely out of respect for the ancient tricycles and butter churns stapled to the walls like some kind of Appalachian museum on a budget. They serve no purpose except to distract you from the sadness on your plate.

The portions? A comedy show in themselves. For the price, I expected at least a meal—what I got was the culinary equivalent of a passive-aggressive shrug. The food? Drier than a Baptist potluck during a drought. Flavorless, joyless, and somehow aggressively beige. I get now why the elderly love it—your taste buds just give up the will to live halfway through the biscuits.

Service is a game of Russian roulette. Sometimes it’s decent. Sometimes it’s like they’re daring you to complain. But the real kicker? Last time, my wife got sick from breakfast. I got sick from chicken tenders. That’s two meals, two stomachs, one big red flag. Cross-contamination, anyone? Because if you’re giving people food poisoning with two completely different meals, something in that kitchen is playing fast and loose with the food safety code.

Cracker Barrel used to feel like home. Now it just feels like betrayal, served with a side of regret and one lonely, dry...