Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Decatur

Update 8-6-2024 The service was so bad that I wrote to Crackle Barrel proper. I must say that they handled the issue very professionally. Albeit with the standard blah, blah, blah word salad response saying how they will strive to improve etc... I am happy as they at least responded to my comments. Now if they do anything to improve the service, who knows. My ratings remain unchanged.

Original Post Went in for an early dinner as I had a late appointment in the area. The hostess that meet me at the podium should be a hostess at a funeral home. Zero customer service skills. No greeting, no nothing... I knew we were off to the races. The server comes and although a bit intimidating, she warmed up after a few mins. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak, with a side of Greens and fries. I waited the requisite 10 ~ 15 mins even though the place was empty. The food arrives and it looks like a Cracker Barrel meal... At this time the waitress asked me if I needed anything and I asked if I could please have some hot sauce and some mayonnaise. She turns and disappears, starts taking other orders and bringing out other food. In the mean time I am eating... with no hot sauce and/or mayonnaise. Certainly, this is a first world problem and not the end of the world. When I finally get down to the last few bites, she shows up with the hot sauce and mayonnaise. What got me was that not a single word was said... I asked for my bill and went to pay. Yes, I left her a 20% tip which in retrospect I wish I had not as that serves to enable her to continue providing terrible service. Anyway, I pay the cashier and ask to speak with the manager. Mind you I was not looking for a free Chicken Fried Steak dinner, I just wanted to inform them that some of the staff could benefit from some 'special training' on greeting customers and paying attention to what customers ask and pay for. After a few minutes a very young lady shows up and tells me she’s the retail manager with a big smile on her face. I told her about my experience and I swear you could see she must have been thinking about the parallel universe and how it affects the moon! No clue, but of course she provided the same canned excuses, e.g. were sorry, we'll do better next time, blah, blah, blah... She probably forgot about everything as she went back to arrange the 'Beanie Babies' on the shelf. Anyway enough of this nonsense. The hit is on me for going. I promise you all that next time I will make a salad out of grass pulled from the middle of I-65 before going to ANY other Cracker Barrel. Your results may vary. God Bless and...

I came in for a late breakfast and Cracker Barrel did NOT disappoint! Two hot, soft, fresh made biscuits, sausage gravy, 2 fluffy scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese melted in, crispy bacon, and a bowl of steaming grits with pools of melted butter warmed my hungry tummy and left me very satisfied. I washed it down with a steaming mug of hot tea with honey and lemon. Delicious! My waitress was friendly and on the spot to take care of anything I might need. My only complaint is about the atmosphere. It was freezing cold in the Restaurant, and even though I requested a table where I could be warm, apparently there's no such thing! I got so cold within 5 minutes of sitting down that I actually got up and went back to my vehicle to get not one, but 2 blankets that I keep on hand for emergencies. Those blankets have been in my truck for 9 years and this is the 1st time I had to make use of them because I was cold. Keep in mind, it's August in Alabama! While we all appreciate air conditioning and even a ceiling fan to move the air around, deliberately freezing out your customers so they'll buy a sweater, jacket, or blanket from the Country store while they wait for food is really bad form! I bet it was 60° in that Restaurant. Way too cold for comfortable dining. I wrapped the big fuzzy blanket around my front torso and legs/feet, and used the light weight woolen blanket to wrap around me like a shawl, so my arms and hands were free enough to feed myself with, without making a mess. My waitress commented that she "would warm the place up for me, if it was up to her". Just for the record, I had on a skort (skirt with shorts underneath), and a long top that was lined, and boat shoes. So I was appropriately dressed for an August day out. Cracker Barrell please stop freezing your restaurant customers in order to drum up business in the Country Store. Your food and Wait Staff are excellent! I LOVE YOUR FOOD! Please don't run good and faithful customers away with a freeze out to get more Store business, especially when so many already struggle just to get by in this economy. And if you want to sell more items from your Country Store's, maybe lower...

My husband & I went for THANKSGIVING, to avoid cooking for 2. Arrived around noon, told 1 hour wait. Waited over 1½ hours & shocked at virtually EMPTY restaurant. Told only 3 servers, but throughout our dinner only 5-7 tables were EVER occupied! So apparently those servers could only do 1-2 tables each, at a time....No wonder there were DOZENS of people waiting for HOURS!!! Another problem: they concentrated the customers in tables directly beside each other, instead of spreading them out for more safety during Covid, so we had this family turning their heads to CONTINUOUSLY COUGH on us!!! I finally had to tell them to cough on their own family! Scary & all because of Cracker Barrel's bad practices. As for the Turkey Dinners, they WERE very tasty, but NOT ENOUGH FOR LEFTOVERS, even for people who usually only eat half their entreés. And they ran out of tea halfway through our meal, plus served the Pumpkin Pie with NO WHIPPED CREAM. That said, we had wanted to have some leftovers, so we ordered 2 duplicate dinners (including teas, which they'd brewed more of). Well, we were surprised that those ToGo orders, which cost just as much & were on our regular Dine In check (so tipped at 20+%), were actually even smaller portions than our Dine In sizes! But really, after that experience, I don't know WHY we were surprised....As for people who did ToGo orders only, I CAN say that I happened to glance at that rack beside the end of their Cashier's Counter, while waiting before & shopping after our dinner & there were bags for the same customers that had apparently been sitting there during that entire 3½ hour time frame! NOT SAFE!!!! And lastly, they need to tell that girl with the filthy hair and B.O. to clean herself up (20s, light brownish straight hair to bottom of her shoulder blades, brown Tshirt & apron, no nametags or stars on apron). I only gave them 2 stars, instead of one, because the dinners did taste good and the atmosphere was still charming. I guess they might light the fireplace if it...