Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Belton

I do not like to post bad reviews, but this one needs some attention. My wife and I love Cracker Barrel. It is a great spot with great food and a good atmosphere. We also love to walk around in their stores and observe all of the knick-knacks in the store. However this particular Cracker Barrel needs a change of mangement and tender loving care.

My wife and I were seated at a table and our server came out and took our order. Our server was very inattentive and did not know the menu very well. When my wife has asked her what was in the casserole she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know." On to of this our server had an airpod in her right ear and could not hear us with this device and over the noise in the restaraunt. I ordered the Lemon Rainbow Trout with a side-salad and steak fries. The steak fries that I had on the plate were appoxmiately eight fries. My wife ordered the roast beef (without gravy because of my wife's allergy) and a sweet potato with marshmallows and pecans, and a side of broccoli. We were given two biscuits and two cornbread. The biscuits and the cornbread were cold and hard and appeared to be out for quite awhile. Our server went back and returned with roast beef (with gravy, which she did not ask for because of the allergy). In addiiton, the sweet potato that she ordered was lukewarm. When my wife asked if she could address this issue the server said the following, "I can just put this in the microwave and warm it up." She took the sweet potato and this was the last time that we saw our server. We stayed at our table over 4 minutes and we decided to go up to the cashier, ask for our check.

I gave this review one star because they at least gave us a discount off of our meal, which I appreciated. However, this is not the first time that this happened to us at this same Cracker Barrel. My wife and I had received bad customer service before and when we discussed it with the manager (whose name is Kay) she did not acknowledge the bad service my wife recieved, or did not do anything to remedy the situation.

I really liked this Cracker Barrel when it first opened. The food always came out hot and ready to be eaten. The customer service was five star and the waitresses made you feel at home. This service, combined with all of the other things, gave Cracker Barrell its charm. I will not be attending this Cracker Barrel for awhile, and perhaps next time I will be able to give it a more glowing review. My suggestion, go there for the shop and the merchandise, but find another place to spend your money, at least until...

They were missing multiple menu items. Food came out cold. Very slow service, had to wait for my drink to be filled multiple times, and had to ask to receive the biscuits and cornbread that should be brought out standard. There were a few servers running around like crazy and a solid 5 to 6 people standing around doing nothing.

I understand a wait time, okay. The time it took to get our initial drink order took way too long, okay. Then the food comes out way later, and it's cold? I didn't have stuff I ordered or stuff that was supposed to be out there anyway... when I brought up the poor experience, they offered an empty non-heart felt sorry with no action to back it up.

The atmosphere was amazing. They had a beautiful fireplace, a great shop with good prices... great decor, amazing.

I can see the potential. Maybe new management, more help, better inventory control... could be a great place.

As for now, I would not recommend it.

EDIT: 8-19-23 7 months after original. 2 to 1 star.

These guys are consistent, if nothing else!

The server was quicker to get our drinks and order. They were also friendly, motivated, and upbeat, however...

The first three things we tried to order, they did not have or something wasn't working for them to serve.

In their menu they had all the sides shown together, though, once we went to order they told us they would have to add certain things individually because the computer would not let them change out certain sides even though they were listed on the menu as potential options.... which leads to a more expensive outcome for us. Of course, why would they try to make it right?! They instead charged us more or told us to order different sides. These were just normal sides, not premium. Something to do with breakfast vs. non breakfast sides with a breakfast meal.

I, once again, had to ask for the biscuits and bread to be brought out. They were not fresh, and we were not brought a mix like I asked for.

The food was at least warm (not hot) this time and tasted okay. Very small portions and very little flavor. The cornbread had zero flavor as well.

Overall, I really want to like this place as there are not many options in the area without a decent drive... but we will not be back and would urge others to go elsewhere.

UPDATE: On our way out a manager named Alyssa comped our whole meal and added dessert for free. I commend her and thank her for good...

We ordered curbside take out. When we arrived about 10 minutes earlier than the estimated time, we called to let them know we had arrived. We were told that the food was not ready, but she would bring it out when it was ready. We waited until about 20 minutes after the projected time and still no food. I decided I better go inside and check on our order. They did not seen to be very busy and there appeared to be a lot of empty tables One young cashier way heading to the back as I entered the restaurant. A few minutes later she came out and let the other cashier she would be back in a few minutes. I waited for the now solo cashier to finish up checking out a few customers. I let her know we had been waiting quite awhile for our order for curbside delivery. She looked on the computer, but their was no order there. She went to the shelf where there were bags of food. She handed me the bag with our receipt stapled to it. As I was checking the food versus the receipt, the younger cashier came back and inquired what I was doing. The cashier explains I am picking up my order and the young cashier says both bags are mine. I took the bags to the car. As I looked at the tickets, I realized my food had been sitting on the shelf for nearly 15 minutes and we had been charged for two items that someone had written they were out of on the receipt. None inside had said anything about this. A call to the restaurant and they refunded those two items. To be fair, I enjoy Cracker Barrel. I don't mind going in to pick it up, if I know it's ready. I was very disappointed that the young women said she would bring it or order as soon as it was ready, but our food sat on the shelf behind the cashier for nearly 15 minutes getting cold and who knows how much longer it would have sat there if I would have waited for the curbside delivery. The problem is I shouldn't have to. The young women said she would bring it out when it was ready. I can only assume this is the same young women who walked past our food to take a few minutes to herself, yet knew exactly what food was mine when she came back. In the future I won't be ordering takeout from Cracker Barrel. There were too many issues and frustrations to spend $80 for a cold family dinner. My son loves their pancakes and the hash brown...