The Cracker Box Diner — Restaurant in Carson City

Definitely one of the tastiest breakfast spots in Carson City but you do need to be aware that it is a CASH ONLY establishment. They do have an ATM but of course, there is a fee to use it. Seating is limited and so it really isn't a good option for a group of more than 4 people. That said, my wife and I always include the Cracker Box in our rotation of eateries we like to frequent and mainly because the food really is that good. Really tastes like good home cooking with big portions and with a nice old school diner style atmosphere. I personally love the enchilada omelette whenever it's available and my wife loves their linguica, scallion and cheese omelette but there's a host of other good dishes that we enjoy as well. My only reason for pulling back from a full 5 stars is because of the service. Most of the time, it's excellent but there have been more than a few occasions where it's been just okay. On our most recent visit, our waitress was very polite and nice but just not very attentive. We got seated quickly, got coffee fast but then, she was gone. After we got our order, she was just nowhere to be found. And, I would have been understanding of this if they were super busy like they typically are on a weekend but, this was a Tuesday morning and there were plenty of empty tables. That said, I wouldn't discourage you from dining here - just be aware there are times when the service is less...

My wife and I like the hole in the wall places. They always have the best food and this place fits the description perfect. As soon as we walked in it smelled amazing. Unfortunately the young lady that was waiting tables and seating people was quite rude to us. She said it was a 20 min wait but we had to wait outside due to COVID. So we waited in our car cause we had our 2 year old daughter with us and we did not want to wait in the cold. She said she would call my wife's phone when the table was ready. We waited a half hour and no call. So I went to check to see if the table was ready. When I went back to check the young lady said she had called us and we did not answer so we missed our table. I told her we did not receive a call. I asked her what number she had and it was correct but we did not get a call. She gave me a lot of attitude and said let me see what I can do. She walked over and rechecked the tables and said ya go ahead and come in it's fine. The call log on my wife's phone had 0 recent missed calls but with an attitude like that we decided we don't want people that are frustrated with us serving us food so we just left. The other thing that was upsetting is while we where waiting two other separate cars pulled in and went inside and when I went to check the table the other people that pulled in the parking lot had been seated...

The food is decent, my fiance and I both ordered the Chicken Fried Steak breakfast. Everything was well prepared and Server was quick and friendly.

I'm knocking off a couple of stars for two reasons. Firstly, during our visit it seemed that their kitchen's ventilation is a bit underpowered, I don't mind a little kitchen smell, but the sharp scent of burnt toast was pretty pungent and the air in the restaurant seemed a bit hazy with smoke or steam. It made our meal a bit unpleasant. The second reason is that the restauraunt does not accept credit cards. Neither one of us had cash and had left my debit card at home so my fiancée had to draw money from the restaurant's ATM and pay all of the fees associated with non bank ATMs. Its 2016, these guys need to get a modern Point Of Sale system installed. The fact that the signage they have relating to this policy is a tiny and faded little sign on the door that reads something like "we gladly accept cash and checks" instead of "we do not accept credit cards" made it even more infuriating. Virtually every other service business in this part of the country takes credit cards, so I know I'm not alone in operating under the assumption that my credit card will be accepted when I want to patronize them. Get with the times...