Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Durham

I have eaten at this location numerous times over the last year+. I visited Sunday night and business was slow. I got my usual meal that I always love to have at CB, but Sunday night I was very underwhelmed to say the least. First of all, with so few people in the restaurant it took us a good 10 to15 minutes to be waited on after we were seated. After finally ordering, our food did actually come within a reasonable amount of time. This is where it gets interesting. Firstly, the biscuits and the cornbread were not even warm. The butter would not melt. Then the food came out. My granddaughters chicken strips looked to be over cooked and it looked like there was more skin than meat. Possibly had been sitting for a while and served. Just looked dried out. She said her fries were just okay. The Mac and cheese she said was good. I ordered my usual grilled tenders, mashed potatoes and the light brown thicker gravy. Not the white gravy nor the very dark brown gravy(which I had never even seen before at CB). Well, my potatoes had the dark dark brown thinner gravy which is never what I have been served at a CB before on mashed potatoes and I have been going to CBs for years. I didn’t like the dark brown gravy so I asked for plain potatoes as she said they did not have any of the what she called “turkey gravy”. I had never heard it called that. The potatoes were okay but nothing was super hot except the baby carrots. The grilled tenders have always been my favorite there but I must say Sunday night was some of the worst. I felt like they were undercooked. They weren’t really hot and the marinade was runny and tasted more like pineapple juice. I just wasn’t sure if these strips had reached the proper temperature during cooking. The baby carrots were just okay. Some seemed mushy. . Overall, the entire plate was underwhelming unlike usual. I asked my friend that also went how his was. His reply was basically the same as mine. He got country fried steak which he said was not as good as normal. He left about half of his steak. He said the French fries were not very good either. Just tolerable. He also got slaw and he said that was the best item he had to eat on his plate. We asked for more cornbread and biscuits and the biscuits came out burned on top the second time. They also were not hot the second time. I was surprised that they even served burnt top biscuits. They looked unappetizing. After we left and returned home, a couple of hours later he asked me if the food was bothering my stomach any, and I replied that it was. I was very bloated and he said he was also. We also noticed the sanitation grade while there, and it had dropped from our last visit. Not sure what is going on there now, but I will not be returning to this location for a while until they can get things back up to par and in good operational order. I can’t imagine how it would have been if it had actually been a busy Sunday night. I don’t like to leave bad reviews, but when you spend $50 on food you expect it to be good and no surprises from what you are used to. If just one food item was under par you could understand, but when 3 people felt the food was unsuitable then there is a problem at that location that needs to be rectified. Maybe it was just the working crew on that Sunday evening. I don’t know. It just didn’t look tidy either and could definitely use some upgrades inside also. We drove 45 minutes just to eat there and we were very displeased. I believe reviews, good or bad, are needed to alert those that...

Update: I wanted to be able to order and pickup our food – so I downloaded the App from the Apple App Store. The Cracker Barrel App is quirky and the one thing you can count on is frustration and the certainty of failure. I am normally determined to figure things out but when it just doesn't work you will eventually come to that understanding. Then you will call them directly and get connected to someone in the kitchen to "take your order". The phone staff are WELL AWARE that their online app doesn't work. They will take your order and ask when you can be there. Count on the following: They will NOT prepare your order in advance and have it hot and waiting. In our experience (several times) instead they will await your arrival and only then will they put your order in the mix. If they are busy - it will be a while. Count on it. For my most recent order, I called and explained my son was traveling from Ohio and I had spoken to him when he was coming through Greensboro and would reach the Cole Mill Road exit at a certain time. Could they have it ready by then (about 25 minutes later). "No problem". So I ordered three meals and three desserts. They said they could not take my payment by phone - so my son had to pay for the meal and I reimbursed him (another shortcoming.) He arrived when I said he would and wound up standing there (after a 9 hour drive) for an additional 45 minutes after he walked in the door. One couple arrived at the same time he arrived – they got a table, ate their meal, and left before our order was delivered to him. I will have to be VERY hungry and VERY desperate before I return to this restaurant because they apparently cannot get a clue of how to do business. If they have a policy of not putting through a call in order - why would they lie to you on the phone and say that they do??? I am profoundly sad that this is the case since I have enjoyed their food for years and had many happy meals there. I hope I hear (through the grapevine) that they "finally got a clue" and have made changes so I can return. Good food, okay time to deliver (take out and had to wait for 14 min in the restaurant - after being told it would be ready when i arrived). I was sorely frustrated with the online app for ordering. The item I wanted and always get was not functioning on the app. I tried over 6 times to order that item and the app would not allow me to order the entree with sides. I was forced to select another entree that would cooperate with allowing a selection of sides. Once this hurdle was accepted - I was able to order and the app told me the food would be ready 1.5 hours after the order was approved!! I had to call the local restaurant to determine when it would really be ready to pick up. They gave me a time and were 15 minutes later than the...

THIS CRACKER BARREL WAS HORRIBLE...& ANYONE KNOWS ME... KNOWS CRACKER BARREL IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! HOWEVER, THIS ONE WAS TERRIBLE! THE INDIAN OR GUYANESE WORKER TOOK OUR ORDER, DIDN'T GET MY DRINK CORRECT EVEN THO HE WROTE IT DOWN... KEPT COMING TO THE TABLE TO ENSURE US THAT OUR FOOD WOULD BE OUT MOMENTARILY...IT WAS JUST 3 OF US... WHY IS THIS FOOD TAKING SO LONG, NOT TO MENTION... WE ALL ORDERED BREAKFAST & THE RESTAURANT WAS NOT CROWDED... AFTER SITTING THERE FOR AN HOUR AFTER WE ORDERED...& LOOKING OVER TO A PARTY OF SIX WHO CAME 45 MINUTES AFTER WE DID AND THEY WERE BEING SERVED THEIR FOOD, (THEIR DINNER FOOD) the waiter comes over and says... I'm so sorry, I put a rush on your food because I forgot to put the order in...😳😳😡WHATTTTTTT!!!! I am sitting there thinking, how can you put a rush on food... food takes the same amount of time to cook all over the world... IT'S PANCAKES!!!! Finally the food comes... the pancakes are paper thin... you can almost see through them...I looked at them and said what is this... he then comes back over and said my manager said I can offer you a free desert... I'M LOOKING AT HIM LIKE... ARE YOU SERIOUS.? MY SISTER THAT WAS WITH ME... TOLD ME IT'S OK DON'T MAKE A SCENE...& BECAUSE OF WHERE HER HEAD WAS, BECAUSE WE HAD JUST HAD AN EMOTIONAL CONVERSATION, IF IT WASN'T FOR HER. I WOULD'VE ASKED FOR THE MANAGER & REQUEST THAT THE FOOD BE GIVEN TO US WITH NO CHARGE... OR WALKED OUT...ESPECIALLY LOOKING AT THE PANCAKES THAT YOU COULD SEE THE PLATE UNDER IT... IT WAS HORRIBLE! TO TOP IT ALL OFF... HE CAME BACK WITH ONE DESSERT...WHEN IT WAS 2 ADULTS AND ONE CHILD AT THE TABLE... HOW DARE YOU!!!! I'M CONVINCED EITHER HE WAS RACIST OR BIAS....BECAUSE WE WERE FEMALES...& I BELIEVE HE WAS THE ONE THAT COOKED THE FOOD... IT WAS A COMPLETE LET DOWN...I SAID HE MUST HATE HIS JOB AND WANT PEOPLE TO COMPLAIN SO THEY CAN FIRE HIM... THERE'S NO WAY, SOMEONE WOULD THINK THAT THAT'S ACCEPTABLE... IF YOU SEE HIM... ASK TO BE MOVED...

Updates Review...8/24 I returned to this restaurant...it was much better... altho the food took extremely long to come out...& guess what... it was pancakes again... the waitress said...I'm gonna give you the food free because it shouldn't have taken this long to come out... however, the food was delicious... now, that's how you treat a paying customer... Of course, I ate there 3 more times, and it was a long wait... but the pancakes are worth it... but they definitely have to work on timing... because none of the times we went was...