Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Birmingham

AVOID THIS LOCATION AT ALL COST!!! Our experience was very disappointing on 3/23/2024, if I could give this location a -3 stars that would have been perfect. 1. Restaurant was not as clean as it should have been on a Saturday approx. 11am. 2. Hospitality was subpar for the server as well as the Manager. 3. Wait time was horrible and that is an understatement. I understand that it was on a busy Saturday, but I can honestly say it really was not that bad, our wait time was approx. 20 minutes for a party of 8 people. We were called in a reasonable time by the hostess with a smile (the only person that smiled on this visit), was seated and told our server will be with us momentarily, which was 20 minutes later. The server was Jasmine, she never apologized for the delay, just wanted to know our drinks and if were ready to order (of course, since we had been waiting for so long). We placed our orders for drinks and food at the same time and figured our drinks would be coming out quickly, but to no avail, it was another 20 minutes before our drinks came out and we did not receive our complimentary bread basket at this time. After about 30minutes of waiting for food and noticing that the customers that were there before us were gone and the ones that came after us had food and were getting their bills and preparing to leave and we still had not gotten any food. I finally stopped Jasmine to ask about our food and she told me that she HAD JUST PUT IN OUR ORDER AND SHE HAD SPLIT IT UP IN GROUPS OF FOUR SO IT COULD COME OUT FASTER. Someone in our group got the attention of the Manager to see what was going on with our food, lack of bread, and drink refills; she never apologized for our wait, drink refills, or bread basket, "SHE STATED THAT JASMINE WAS HAVING A BAD DAY!!" WAIT, WHAT, SO SHE GETS TO TREAT CUSTOMERS LIKE THIS DUE TO HER NOT BEING IN A GOOD FRAME OF MIND????!!! By this time, it has been an hour and we still have not received food and still no apologizes from either one. Fifteen minutes later, some of the food orders come out and they are wrong, and pancakes are burnt on one side and not cooked on the other, just horrible. A person from the party was asking Jasmine what was going on with the food orders, and she frowned up and started saying things under her breath, this person went and found the Manager again, and she states again " SHE IS HAVING A BAD DAY". Another 15-20 minutes pass by and the remaining food orders come out wrong or missing items, AND COLD, no apologizes noted. Finally got drink refills, but we were pretty much done. Most of us did not even eat our food due to it being so horrible, WE WERE BEYOND READY TO LEAVE THIS PLACE, but of course it would be forever again. After about 20-30 minutes, Jasmine brings out our tickets and they are wrong, we try to explain to her that these receipts are incorrect, but falls on deaf ears. Jasmine, raises her arms and storm off, saying "THE BILLS ARE FINE, LADIES" and that was the last time we seen her. I am a true believer in tipping big, especially since my dad was in food business with Marriott Hotels as an Executive Chef, and he taught me very well about tipping and why we should do it. A server should be friendly, not someone who acts like they were forced to be at work like Jasmine. If they can not smile, be friendly, or be polite, they need to be doing something else. But I fault management's unprofessionalism , this trickles down from the top to the bottom, servers and others are not trained properly and unprofessional, management here is seriously lacking the skills and it shows in the staff. I would look elsewhere to have an enjoyable gathering with friends/family since that is what it is supposed to be the experience when...

GO ELSEWHERE! I wish there was a way to post negative stars!!!

We usually like Cracker Barrel, but I would avoid this particular location. We went for breakfast about 0945 and we were seated somewhat quickly( waited about 15 minutes). When I registered online to "Get in Line" it said "0" wait time. However, upon walking inside there was hardly anyone there at that time. We were seated and then it all went bad. There were four tables with people in our area, and all were waiting on their food. I saw two-three different waitresses in that small area. To make a very long story short it took us about 30-45 minutes to get a waitress to the table (I had to get up and go find a manager to make this happen). It then took almost TWO (2) HOURS to get our DRINKS and BREAKFAST. Hard to believe right? Of course, when we did get everything the food orders and drinks were all wrong and THE FOOD WAS COLD!!! The sausage was burnt and inedible, the sirloin steak tips I paid extra for tasted just like warmed up beef jerky, literally I am not kidding. My daughters Strawberry Lemonade was see through pink water, we had to ask the manager to replace it since we could never find our waitress. The french toast was also burnt, and the chicken patty was overcooked so much it was hard, greasy, and inedible. The eggs were still raw and cold and the grits that we finally received were also cold. I will say that the coffee, bisquits and tator tots were okay though. I had to ask other waitress's for beverage refills to get any. Everything else was just absolutely horrible. I asked the manager why the service and food took so long, and she replied" It always takes about 45 minutes to get the food out of the back." I said wow, really! I figured at that point complaining about the food quality was a mute point. We packed it up to take home to the dogs(My Labs would not eat the chicken either,and they eat everything! ). All in all, the restaurant was not full in any way and had lots of empty tables. Our waitress nor the manager cared whatsoever about everything taking so long,being wrong,cold, or burnt. The people sitting around us waited forever to get their food or any drink refills, they were complaining about the food being cold and the lack of service as well, they took a few bites and got up and left. They were there before we arrived! We noticed several people that just got up and walked out, I am wishing we would have as well. I also noticed food all under the tables against the walls and dried jelly/ food stains on the table lamps and chairs. The place was pretty dirty to be that early in the morning. There are way too many breakfast places in the area than to waste your time going to this location. I would seek actual service and good food elsewhere to make your meal enjoyable with friends and family, since that is supposed to be the experience anyway! I spent way too much money on a breakfast here to get those results. I attempted to contact the corporate office, but could not get anyone to answer the phone all day. The online chat was also disabled. I guess Cracker Barrel truly doesn't care to hear from...

Let me start by saying Sarah (the sweet girl working to-gos by herself on a Sunday) and the two people working the registers (young guy and young girl) were doing all they could to help each other and deal with the kitchen being behind on a busy Sunday. Now here’s where my 1 star review comes in. A manager comes in the door, green Cracker Barrel shirt, male with dark hair (I’m assuming the retail manager), walks behind the counter and starts scolding the cashiers for not greeting him when he walked in. When the cashiers explained to him that they had been very busy with to go orders and most customers had been waiting a very long time (hence the 5 of us standing there waiting), he replied with a “you don’t leave the sales floor for any reason, the shopping customers are your priority”. NEVER even acknowledged the people waiting on orders to go and I was even standing there with a To-Go bag, waiting on my missing items. Mind you I’ve been waiting for an hour for my food. Not a “can I help you with something” or “have you been helped already”, NOTHING. He just walked around looking at the displays and adjusting clothes on the rack. Now I get that they are a retail store as well as a restaurant, but in my experience in the industry it’s all hands on deck when both sides are clearly busy. He had a “it’s not my job” mentality and scolding employees in front of customers is never ok, especially when the employees were just trying to be a team! Which is what you want in any establishment. I am in the industry and I’ve been in management for many years. This particular situation was not ok and I couldn’t just not say anything. I’ve tried to call the restaurant to let them know my concerns with his management style but I haven’t heard back. Again, 5 stars to the staff working as a team and trying to keep the customers happy, 1 star to this...