Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in East Windsor

Review 2 (second time): I went on a little bit busier day then the first visit and had bad service. Our waiter didn’t pay attention to us during our visit and didn’t check on us during the whole time we were there. Only once she gave us drinks we didn’t ask for. My boyfriend didn’t enjoy the lemonade and finished it and she gave us another one with out asking ‘did you want a refill or did you want a different or same drink’. We waited about an hour for our food. We were waiting for her to come back to give a status on our food, but we got lukewarm food. My mash potatoes were warm not hot and didn’t come with gravy like menu said. I asked for butter on them, but they were dry. The catfish was really good and super hot. And my boyfriends steak was dry. I hate complaining but it wasn’t the same experience as the first time. Review 1: (first time going) Excellent customer service from Darnel in the gift shop. He helped us with questions about prices as we picked out some mugs. Our waiter, Marie had amazing customer service as well. She was patience with us as we had a bunch of questions about the food as it was out first time coming to the restaurant. I ended up ordering the trout with broccoli and mashed potatoes. (I got them with butter instead of gravy that it comes with) the trout was seasoned well and the potatoes were amazing. My boyfriend had the sirloin steak it was a little under seasoned but cooked to perfection. They forgot the garlic seasoning it came with so we got it on the side. He also had home style hash browns it was really good with the bacon. We also got corn on the cob which tasted like it was hand picked and made here. The biscuits that came with the meals was a bit too salty, but was really fluffy. And we got white cheddar bites that were really good, but wish it had marinara sauce to go with it. Also there lemonade was also good, but the peach tea is a little too sweet in my opinion. So I mixed it with lemonade to make it less sweet. Lastly, they were out of stock on a lot of menu items when we went which was disappointing. We ordered dessert which was chocolate cake and it was gritty tasting and under cooked. I would...

I was accompanied by my 88 y/o mom and my 5 y/o neurodivergent (autism) grandson and specifically asked for a table that was out of the way of customer/staff traffic, particularly for my grandson who is easily distracted and overstimulated by activity. My mom, on the other hand though looks very good for her age, is yet, 88 y/o and needs walking assistance. We were seated in the very front where it was crazy busy and of course, my grandson became overstimulated and irritated which resulted in him acting out. This resulted in the staff speaking to me about him obstructing the staff's pathway by standing in the way of foot traffic. I responded with my initial request. I was told that I would have to wait until a more desirable seat became available. I stressed my concerns about my mom being unable to continue walking, but standing?! and my neurodivergent grandson who had already become irritated by the foreseeable overstimulation was now very hungry as well. He understands that when seated at a restaurant, food is coming very shortly. This did not happen in a timely fashion, therefore... Tables were not being attended to as stated or as expected. It was not until one of the servers took note of us and asked if we were seated at this dirty table, we explained the situation, and how the hostess was aware of our sitting there, but was making no strides in having someone attend to the table. So, She returned with eating utensils, wiped off the table, apologized with explanations, and waited on us. If not for my elderly mom who had her heart set on a particular dish and my living out of state, I would have left long before this story got this long. The food was not the same as I remembered Cracker Barrel to be! Totally disappointed! Had my food wrapped and ended up throwing it out! (OH. Did I mention we are non-white? Not sure if that had anything to do with anything but when you're non-white you know when you're reminded that...

Possibly the worst experience ever. Started with a text saying our table was ready and then having us wait 15 more minutes at the entrance while our table was “cleaned”. We then waited 20 minutes for our drink order. Never received silverware or napkins. 15 minutes later we received our drinks. So 35 or so minutes after sitting down we finally received our drinks. Another 15 minutes go by and we finally asked to order our food. 40 minutes later we ask where our food is as others around are receiving their food before us who’s ordered after. Still no napkins or silverware. We then receive half the orders cold and looking like they were sitting forever. I asked to speak to a manager as half our orders were not brought out. I was told that since our party was large they needed to place our orders in two separate orders. We were a party of 5 adults and 2 children. 2 of the adult orders were the same and both children's orders were the same. I explained to the manager that we still had not received silverware or napkins but had received half our orders. Not sure if he expected us to eat with our hands but he looked dumbfounded. He had no idea what to say. Looks like a deer caught in headlights. This was the most pathetic manager I have ever seen. He went in to say he had no idea here our food was and had no explanation about the napkins or silverware. He didn’t care at all. He clearly didn’t want to be there and definitely hated his job. Finally after another 15 minutes went by and we received the rest of our food. The food was disgusting. It was cold, stale and tasteless. I’ve had better food from a hospital. I have never wanted to walk out of a place without paying as bad as this pace. It’s a shame because this was such a good place to eat and come...