Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Buford

Stopped to get breakfast for dinner. The server we had this evening was not on her game. It took about 12 minutes for her to perform her 1st table touch (greet the customer & take the drink order). Overall, our stay was 1 hour 15 minutes - I'll get back to that in a minute.

We were finally able to place our order. We didn't see the server again until our food came out - which took a long time. The server asked who ordered cheese eggs. Neither of us did. Rather than reviewing the order & asking what we did order, instead she stated, "Well, you got charged for them so who wants them?" Good thing my two kids w/dairy allergies didn't come! I ordered Old Timers w/hard scrambled eggs, extra crispy bacon, & hashbrown casserole. The hashbrown casserole was the only thing that came out correct. The eggs were more than hard scrambled & were in lots of pieces & the bacon was still wiggly at the ends. The french toast my child ordered was not the right color - it was very gray in appearance. We had to wait a bit for our server to come back around (my child had finished her scrambled eggs, bacon, & the extra hashbrown casserole she ordered). This is now the 3rd time we saw the server. I pointed out to the server the discoloration of the french toast & she just stared at it. I asked that it be remade - the gray color was very off-putting & since Mama's French Toast is one of my frequent choices I knew the color wasn't right at all. I should not have had to ask - generally when something doesn't look right a server knows to offer to remake it. The server did have it remade but at my request. The 4th time we saw her was when she brought out the remade french toast & the final time was when she brought us a box to put it in because we were running late to get back home. She offered one drink refill during the entire time we were there & that was to my child. I wasn't real happy I had to pay for cheese eggs I didn't order - that should have also been remade & the receipt corrected.

Now back to the time we spent there. I left my other disabled child at home w/a special sitter at the rate of $16/hour. Because our server took so long to do everything, we didn't make it in & out in 40 minutes - it was 1 hour 15 minutes. Add travel time & it ended up costing $32 on top of the cost of dinner. Show respect for your customer's time. There is a trickle down effect you may very well be unaware of.

When it was time to check out, the cashier didn't greet us. She didn't ask how dinner was or how service was. She just took my piece of paper, rang up the dinner, I paid, & we left. Being friendly goes a long way. At that moment, the cashier had no idea she had an opportunity to leave a pleasant taste in our mouth for your location. She didn't seize the opportunity at all.

In addition to the service, our server never cleaned the table right across from us until just before we got up. It was an utter mess w/food on the floor & the table & all their dishes still there - it had been 3 young boys, grandma, & mom. The menus the server took from us sat on the next table on a tray the whole time we were there & were still there when we left. It felt like she had a lack of desire to do her job, perhaps didn't get the training she needed, maybe she didn't feel well, maybe she had too many tables & not enough support - any myriad of reasons. She just wasn't at her best. Management should be watching and checking on servers who don't seem to be on point. This could just as easily be lack of support from above.

The overall number of stars I gave for this review you have your hostess to thank for. She was doing her job with a smile on her face. She quickly sat us, asked about the menus we needed, & was friendly throughout.

Real change in behavior needs to occur - & offering customers a gift card to come back (which no one did for us) is not going to be effective. Offering gift cards to dissatisfied customers is a nice gesture but doing so is designed to change OUR behavior & not the behavior...

Waited patiently for our entrees while others that came in after we placed our order ate and left. Was assured several times by server food would be out soon. Finally, when a customer that came in after we ate our appetizer finished their meal and left I stopped the server again to ask where our food order was. She said she would check and came out a few minutes later with our order. She made a comment about how lucky it was she went in there at that moment because someone else was apparently trying to walk off with our order. She placed our food on the table using a towel acting as though the plates were very hot. At this point I think anybody reading this will know where this is going. Everything was cold, a couple of pieces were kind of warm, and dry. We waived down the server and told her our food is cold and she immediately said she will get the manager. I said that was not necessary I just want hot food. Again, she insisted on getting the manager. I said fine. Manager came over seemingly not knowing what’s wrong so I had to explain again the whole situation and simply stated we would just like hot food. That didn’t seem to be clear to him so he asked if we wanted a new plate of food and I stated that yes, of course we wanted that. I asked only to have my wife’s complete order replaced and to bring me hot fries. The manager came back out within five minutes with the replacement meal. I questioned how it was possible to bring the food out that quickly but he just smiled and shrugged. He then brought out fresh(hot) fries for me. My wife’s food was hot but appeared to be a lesser quality than her previous (cold) food. I ate my new fries and she ate two of her bee sting chicken tenders and a few fries and then we decided to leave so we boxed up the rest. We had actually lost our appetite after going through all the hassle, and nobody seeming to care. Here’s the kicker, shortly after leaving the restaurant my wife started having abdominal pain and ended up having food poisoning. This was the worst experience we have ever had here. There have been a few problems eating here over the last few months but they were things you could write of as having a bad day, but this…? We have been coming to this specific Cracker Barrel for seven years and always had a nice experience until a few months ago. Not sure what they changed, but they need to change back. The food was substandard, and being chicken, was hazardous as delivered. The server statement that someone was trying to walk off with our order was probably in fact someone returning our food to the kitchen after being delivered to the wrong table. The over the top acting while serving the food made it even more suspect and exposed the server as being aware of the condition of the food she was delivering. What was done is completely unacceptable. Honesty and a new preparation without contamination would have been a much better way of handling this situation. We tipped the server but really regret doing that because in hindsight it’s obvious she was actually a participant in...

This was the first at this location & for a Thanksgiving dinner anywhere but home & most likely the last time we eat at a Cracker Barrel unless we find one in metro-Atlanta that's decent - if not, we'll wait til we visit family/friends in PA. We were forced to move out of the home we were in for 5yrs (landlord broke lease that was signed/renewed on 6/3/22 ending 5/31/23) and with the move we've ran into things that needed fixed/ replaced at new (rental) home not to mention my husband dealing with a couple big kidney stones. Therefore, with Thanksgiving we decided to eat out & see a movie. We've been told that Cracker Barrel had a good dinner & we haven't eaten at one upon our move to GA 5yrs ago. For starters, as nice as the waiter was, I think he was new and a little clueless. I felt for him, as a customer & former restaurant server/hostess. My coffee mug was dirty, so I had to ask for another. A girl brings out new cup with coffee & says they've been busy & having trouble with cleaning dishes - not her exact words as they were more ignorant. Still no utensils or napkins. We ordered & they had no sweet potato casserole or sweet potato anything, I asked for the sliced apples as an upcharge instead of the cranberry relish & wanted brown gravy for turkey & mashed potatoes. My son ordered 2 sides of fries with fried turkey. Meals come - still no utensils, but the cornbread dressing is dry like sand - literally, mashed potatoes, turkey, carrots, gravy are either lukewarm or cold. I ate a couple of bites of turkey & mashed potatoes (yuk) & moved quickly to the carrots as those I can eat cold, warm etc. My husband ordered the same as me except he has mac & cheese instead of potatoes & said the macaroni was "ok" but cold kraft dinner would've been better. What is going on here?!? They were overwhelmed & I believe they should've taken reservations because they simply could not keep up at all. Tables were dirty, even after they cleaned them, it was just gross. The pumpkin pie slices we got & brought home weren't even cut right & one was missing 90% of the crust, the best part. The slices together made 1 slice so I told my husband he could have mine. I'm not a big pumpkin fan - I love apple pies & anything apple but they didn't have any & novother kind of desserts for that matter. We paid $14.99/person, I never did get apple slices. This was beyond the worst experience ever especially on a holiday! We just wanted a break from the stress that we've endured since 10/21/22. #LetsGuide #ThanksgivingDinner2022 #Thanksgiving #Buford #CrackerBarrel #CrackerBarrelBuford...