Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Columbus

Arrived at 7:30pm on a Sunday evening. Place was open, but quiet and not very busy. We decided that we wanted breakfast foods, since they proudly proclaim that the serve "breakfast all day." So . . . My wife ordered Mama's Pancake Breakfast, consisting of pancakes, two eggs, and sausage or bacon. She asked if Blueberry Pancakes could be in that order and was advised to the affirmative. So the TOTAL order consisted of Mama's Pancake breakfast with blueberry pancakes with bacon and eggs over-medium, then another order of Mama's Pancake breakfast with buttermilk pancakes with sausage and eggs over-medium, and my daughter ordered off the regular dinner menu (country fried steak dinner). and unsweetened tea all around (we use Splenda). The tea arrived first and a plate full of biscuits with no butter, and the tea was sweet. Without tasting it, I added splenda and then took a swig having to choke it down. At this point . . . honest mistake, happen all the time. Asked for butter and UNsweetened tea and the server returned with essentially frozen butter and by now the biscuits are room temp. We're famished so we make do. Next, the food arrives. We are immediately informed that the cook "can't make over-medium eggs." On the plate in front of us is overcooked scrambled eggs. No question of whether that OK or not, just matter-of-fact - "this is what you get." Then my wife notices that I have regular pancake syrup for min meal, but no blueberry syrup for hers. So I get the attention of our server (as she's vigorously scratching her head with all five fingernails) to ask for that blueberry syrup that my wife had actually requested warm. "Oh, we don't have any." Seriously? That would have been good information to have at the beginning. Again . . . we're famished, so we just shake our heads and begin to eat our meal. Wife's bacon is like jerky, my sausage is cold (not room temp - COLD). Listen . . . when traveling, we frequent Cracker Barrel because they are CONSISTANT. This was literally the worst Cracker Barrel Experience we've ever had when it comes to food quality. If I wanted lousy food, we would go to Beef O'Brady's. I get that there's supply chain issues. I get that there's staffing issues, but if you don't have the ability to deliver something that's CLEARLY on the menu, train your staff to politely inform and redirect the customer to better choices based upon the food...

I appreciate the owner’s response, but it’s done, that can’t be fixed. I also understand that the employment personnel today is “not quality” people and most think they are owed something to begin with. The young man that served our table was ( pardon my French) piss poor to start with, never filled our tea glasses or asked if there was anything we needed. When he brought the bill all he said was have a good night, yet I was asked by the young lady at the checkout if I had left him a tip or did I want to put it on my card. My reply was a rude no. You need to monitor your serving staff and cull quickly, if not it will surely hurt your business, like me, I’ve mentioned this to many people and most say they don’t go there to start with. I can honestly say your service and food quality has dropped since the pandemic. It will be a long time if I return.

I was at this location and can say it really surprised me, the service was average at best and the food was about the same, but expensive. Almost $45 for two people to have supper is high, I have always loved the Country Fried Steak meal and can remember when it was $10. Then the tea at $2.50 per glass, that is absolutely ridiculous. Then the real slap in the face was when I paid my bill they “asked” for a tip. The server was slow, came to our table to take the order, someone else brought it to the table, never saw the server again until he brought the bill but I’m asked to give him a tip. Let me share some ideas with you, a tip is for great service or better. You are not guaranteed a tip……tipping has gotten out of hand and I will not accept that. You want a tip……work for it and bringing my order to the table is in the price, if not I need to go to a different...

The strangest thing is the title of this experience. We stopped and had a late dinner at this location. It was an hour prior to closing time. I have never actually experienced a taste of slavery, thank God...until this dining venture. The service by the main waiter and two other waitresses that stopped by to check on us was nothing less than immaculate! These three saints were the best I have ever had at any Cracker Barrel, and I daresay at any restaurant! They were incredible efficient, kind, friendly, polite, fresh-faced clean and personable angels, but if they spent more than 30 seconds chatting with us, their fat-faced overseer came by with his keys jangling, and told them to move on. I have never experienced such belligerent rudeness from management, especially at a Cracker Barrel. He was simply disgusting in his manner to not only us, but these poor sweethearts that worked under him. It so reminded me of slaves w' their overseer. I just pray he doesn't whip them! When he *escorted us out and the mind-numbing alarm went off, he said nary a word, but an f/u was on the tip of his mind. We felt kicked out and spit upon. I feel like we should rescue those poor kids from the jerk they probably call Massa. I wish I would have seen his name tag. I just know he was slinging those keys like a whip, sporting a pink-checked shirt, and probably headed to a Klan meeting at closing time. What a bad name he paints for such a staple restaurant in the US. He needs to be canned and toosed in the do not...