Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Dothan

I am writing to share a disappointing experience my husband and I had during a recent visit to your Dothan, Alabama location. While our meal was satisfactory, and we were fortunate to have a truly wonderful waitress named Nikeria — who was polite, prompt, and provided excellent service with a smile — the rest of our experience was negatively impacted by inappropriate and unprofessional behavior from other staff members.

During our meal, a manager approached our table and asked what my T-shirt said. My husband immediately felt the need to question whether the manager was staring at my chest, as he lingered uncomfortably long while trying to read the shirt. His behavior came off as intrusive and inappropriate, and it made both of us feel uneasy.

Additionally, our waitress let us know that if we signed up as Cracker Barrel members, we would each receive a complimentary appetizer, which would be applied at checkout. However, when we proceeded to the register, the cashier — who may have been named Sierra — was dismissive and unhelpful. She repeated multiple times that "we can't do that" and made no effort to explain how or where we should enter the membership number. Her tone was condescending and entitled, and she made it very clear that she works in retail and is not part of the restaurant, as if that justified the lack of cooperation.

When I pointed out that she was focused on what we couldn’t do, rather than helping us understand what we could, she grew even more argumentative. I finally stepped away from the counter, and my husband asked to speak with a manager. Unfortunately, the manager stated that he would retrain our waitress — the one person who had been helpful and pleasant — rather than address the cashier’s behavior or his own earlier inappropriate conduct.

To be very clear: if anyone is in need of retraining, it is the cashier, for her poor customer service, and the manager, for making guests feel uncomfortable and failing to address the issue with appropriate professionalism.

I hope Cracker Barrel takes these concerns seriously. Nikeria deserves to be commended for her excellent service. The behavior of the cashier and the manager, however, was unacceptable and detracted significantly from our experience. We truly hope future guests are treated with more respect and courtesy...

We always stop at Cracker Barrel because the food is usually good, and the service is consistent. We arrived about 2:30 and were seated right away. The hostess was friendly and polite. Our server, Judy came by and asked for our drink orders. She was back in a few minutes with our drinks and silverware. My granddaughter ordered macaroni and cheese, I ordered the Thursday lunch special, turkey dinner with a side salad. Our server went on about how they haven’t had side salads in two years, and I would have to get the larger house salad. Then she said, she would have to check if they still had the lunch special. She finally came back and said they did. My grandson ordered the cheeseburger without cheese. My mother ordered the country fried steak and also asked for a side salad. She said again, they have not had the side salad for two years, but she could get the house salad for a small up charge. My mom said OK. The salads same right out but they had bacon on them. I said we don’t eat bacon. She took my salad back but left my mom's. She then sent the hostess out with a menu. The hostess said, “Your Server said you needed this”. I did tell the hostess I did not request the menu. She looked bewildered and said the server had put her in an awkward position. She said, she was sorry and left. I was about to tell the server my mom's salad still had bacon when my salad arrived but after the menu incident my mom just said forget it. My mom picked around the bacon on her salad. The meals came out and they were good. My mom did not eat her country fried steak because the salad was too large. The kids enjoyed their meals. The turkey dinner was good and like many I have had at Cracker Barrel before except the dressing was overpowering and had a lot of sage. Our sever returned to check on us and asked, how was everything Dad. My granddaughter told her I was her grandfather. She then asked my mother, and how was everything Mom. My mom just said she needed a box for her meal because the salad was too big and filled her up. The food was good, but they missed the mark all around with service here except the hostess who got thrown under the bus at our expense. I am giving two stars...

We had a birthday party on February 17. The guest of honor was late due to her being in a wheel chair and the family bringing her. We apologize for being late. The GM was great and asking and checking on us. The problem we had was it took us forever and repeatedly asking for our checks. We started ordering our food around 5:45, I was the last person to leave I asked for my to go order repeatedly same meal different sides. I finally stood in front of the kitchen and asked for my to go order they gave me my order over I checked my order and I said not correct my sides are wrong. When I got my food it was given to me very rushed and she left. I said I lost my 10.00 dollars that was her tip, when she left, I said oh well she didn't want her tip. I ordered 2 pork chops with white gravy turnips and fried apples. 2nd order was 2 pork chops with macaroni and cheese and steak fries. Didn't get my food and get out of there until 8:30. Never ever have I been treated like this at cracker barrel before. This waitress didn't handle it after the GM went to her and she brought my food to me. And the reason I say that is, she had to go back and get the correct sides then she forgot the gravy. I have been in management before. The kitchen manager should have been on this matter ahead and this should have not happened, but the waitress gets the brunt of it all. And the GM should have made sure I received my food correctly. I know it was busy. But if you have a party please, please put people with them to get them out of there and in a timely manner. My party had been gone for over 30 minutes. We would have been gone a lot sooner had our checks and food come in a timely manner. Ps our whole party was very upset over the whole waiting for checks. Just thought you would like to know how to better improve your establishment. I know people are human, but you are here to serve the customer. It started out that way but it did not end up that way. Me personally I spend a lot of money in your establishment every year. I will not be treated the way I was treated that...