Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Berkshire Township

If this were the first time I had gone to Cracker Barrel I would absolutely never go back.

Where to begin: I expected a wait. Experienced 41 minutes. I'm ok with that, they set the expectation ahead of time. Spent a lot of it shopping and bought some delicious candy... perhaps too much. Picked up a few Christmas ornaments. Did you know they've got Reese cups with caramel? Now ya do.

So far so good...

I sit down at a table with my wife and we are not given silverware. OK so, that happens everywhere. Whatever.

After waiting maybe 5 minutes... Our waitress's first words to us were "What were your drinks again?" We had not spoken to her yet, so this took me by surprise. We then ordered drinks and food.

Included in the food we ordered was a "sampler platter" which could include meatloaf, chicken dumplings or homestyle chicken. we also ordered a Chicken pot pie. Sundays are the ONLY day this item is available; It is a Sunday Special. I ordered 3 eggs, 4 bacon and hashbrowns with ham and cheese (y'know, like a certain other breakfast joint). Apparently the concept of putting stuff on hashbrowns is such a foreign concept here that this part or my order gets a sub-story here in a second... bare with me.

The manager is standing around with a tablet/device counting god knows what. Goes back in to the back.

The sampler platter - 30 minutes later the waitress returns to our table telling us the meatloaf is not available. They have the dumplings and homestyle chicken and we think. OK... why'd it take so long, but that's fine bring us chicken and chicken and dumplings. We like chicken so whatever... Sodas are empty

I get 1 egg and 1 bacon delivered to my table. It's delicious. Remember, I order 3 eggs and 4 (not crispy) bacon. I like it still flavorful, soft? Floppy? however you call it. medium-rare? Just NOT crispy. I ask for silverware.

Our sodas are dry by this point, waitress offers to being more, does so, but it's like 5 minutes later. I can see she's frazzled. Not judging, but I'm not convinced it's all work-related. OK everyone has off-days.

We overhear her explain to the table next to us that though she took their order 30 minutes ago, she has lost their ticket.

20 MORE minutes later a different waitress comes to the table and explains that they are out of pot pies. On the ONLY day on which they serve pot pies, this is frustrating because now it has been an hour since we ordered. We prod a bit and then she admits that they are NOT out of pot pies, it's just that they are still in the oven, and that it would be another 15 minutes or so. We really want the pot pie so we decide it is ok to wait. This waitress must not like being questions because she has an attitude.

20 minutes later my cold eggs and overcooked bacon arrive with a piping hot (Delicious pot pie) The dumplings were good and the homestyle chicken we good as well. The sides were corn and green beans were meh, at best, but c'mon that's not why we're there. My bacon, eggs and hashbrowns arrive - Well sorta, I had hashbrowns sure enough, but no ham, no cheese. Well not the ham I expected anyhow. She brought me a plate with a piece of ham - like a 4ounce slice of ham. Still no cheese though.

I eat my cold bacon and eggs and probably half my hashbrowns having given up on the idea of getting cheese or ham. or another coke by the way.

10 minutes more go by and she brings me a cup of cheese and diced ham. She had heated in the oven so the cheese was melty. I ask her for 2 more drinks, we get those. ... more in photo. Apparently there's a...

It used to be you would circle around the building waiting for a parking space to open up and once you got inside, there would be a long wait and they would take your name and say you had a 40 minute wait. Now, you can pick your space but you might have to wait for the hostess because she's now got other jobs at the restaurant to try to keep her busy but when she sees you, no problem getting a seat! We saw 1 waitress and 1 waiter and they weren't at all busy.

A change has taken place and not in a good way. The change I'm referring to is the food.

Did they change the recipes? Did they change brands of their products? Everyone in my party of 6 asked each other about the taste of their food so it wasn't just me.

The sides ALL tasted different. The main courses all tasted different and not in a good way. Even the biscuits and cornbread tasted different.

I asked for more cornbread because someone at the table couldn't eat her food so she ate my 2 cornbread mini muffins. The waitress informed me if you order extra (even 2 mini muffins) you're now charged. 😮

My mother wasn't able to order from the senior menu because they dont have one listed. My mom swore they had one included on their menu but nope, only for kids. Also, the prices were significantly higher but then again, everything is however, the prices for their un-bottled beverages are higher than I've seen anywhere!

When our server asked how many boxes we needed, we told her we didn't need any and explained why. She said they've heard that a lot from the customers. Now we knew why the place was so empty on a Saturday.

I attempted to pay via the app you can scan ar the table and it said it was unable to complete and that I needed to pay out front.

The older lady at the cash register informed me it was already paid via the system that had just said it couldn't complete it.

The staff were wonderful and the place was clean.

We've decided not to return. It used to be a treat to eat there but for as bland as the food was, we decided it just wasn't worth it--especially since they no longer have our 4 favorite desserts...

As much as I hate to be that person leaving such a negative review, I have to here. Came in as a party of 5 this past Sunday after the lunch crowd. Walked right up to the host stand(nobody waiting) and put in my name. Was told 15 minutes tops. The hostess also asked if I would take a table where someone could sit on the end which I said I did not want. Received my check in text and then waited and waited. That 15 to 20 minutes long surpassed. Finally got the text to go to the host stand that our table was ready. First off, cracker barrel needs to revamp things inside. It was crowded at this point and you literally don't know right from left when you get to the host stand, on who is waiting in line for their table already called on and who is waiting to put in their name. You all want to make money off your waiting room/shopping so badly I feel, the waiting/check in experience needs a serious overhaul. On to the table I was called up for... get back to the host stand and was told we are getting a table with someone sitting on the end. Again, I told the sweet old lady working, No that is not what our party needed or agreed to as we have done that before amd its way too cramped. Back to waiting in line again! Time past by, for what felt like an eternity. Wait time was now well over an hour.... I'm losing my patience at this point. FINALLY! We get a round table in the back. At last, the family is starving, but we sit down. At his point people that came in after us, were already eating and leaving. The waiter, was not personable at all. Slammed glasses down on the table, seemed very scattered, which at this point seemed par for the course. Food luckily came out decent but the overall experience was awful. I believe we spent closer to 3 hours there from start to finish. Side note, I know this is not a 5 star restaurant but c'mon already. No one seems to care anymore when it comes to the service industry. Sloppy service, slow, lackadaisical workers. Do better...