Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Florida

I usually enjoy eating at Cracker Barrel. My adult kids and I went here for Easter dinner recently, and the experience was not good.

Back in 1999, my (now ex) wife and I had just bought a new house and moved in right before Thanksgiving. We went to a Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving dinner that year in Brevard county because we just didn't have time to make a big meal. It was delicious, and a great value. It came with turkey, all the "fixin's", and dessert too! We were very thankful that Cracker Barrel is open for holiday meals!!!

Fast forward to Easter 2023. I'm divorced and my two adult kids and I all live in far flung places around Florida. None of us was able to host a big meal, so we chose the Cracker Barrel in Sanford because it is centrally located for all three of us.

Cracker Barrel offers an Easter dinner for take-home (heat it up at home), and I hoped that the same meal would be available in the restaurant. Well... nope. I don't know if they still have the full Thanksgiving meal inside the restaurant, but they definitely don't have an Easter dinner inside the restaurant.

So....

Our waitress was VERY inexperienced. I suspect that this is her first job in a restaurant (not only her first job in a Cracker Barrel). She made lots of mistakes, but that's not my primary complaint.

She went to ask the manager if they offered the "Easter dinner" inside the restaurant, and when she returned, she told us that they don't... and she suggested ordering the ham dinner from the regular menu.

She was a very nice young lady. She wasn't the best waitress, but I'm not writing here to complain about her service. I left her a good tip. I completely understand the struggles of a new waiter or waitress, and I am patient when a server is new. My complaint here is about the ham.

At Cracker Barrel, you can choose between "country ham" (salty) and "sugar cured ham" (less salty). The waitress didn't give us a choice. My son and I ordered the ham dinner. My daughter ordered meatloaf.

Some background: When I cook a holiday meal, each of my kids can eat multiple pounds of ham! Even at Christmas and Thanksgiving when I cook a big turkey.... my kids eat multiple pounds of ham! I can cook a 10 pound ham in the afternoon, and it is GONE by midnight! They love ham. (and, no, my kids are not obese... they are both tall and skinny)

My son and I got the "country ham", and it was unbelievably salty!!!

My son and I each got two slices of ham. It was so salty that neither of us could eat all of it. It was like eating teaspoons full of salt.

I don't think I've ever had ham this salty.... even when I've ordered the "Country Boy Breakfast" with "country ham".

It was awful.

My 27 year old son can literally eat several pounds of ham.... but he couldn't eat the two slices of ham provided in this meal.

Neither could I.

Awful. The worst meal I've ever had in any restaurant anywhere.

They might as well serve a big pile of salt!!!

My daughter liked the meatloaf, and all of the side dishes were good.

We also ordered dessert, and the only complaint about dessert was from my daughter. She said that the Coca Cola chocolate cake was too sweet. The chocolate cake is too sweet in every restaurant, so that's...

7-28-25 The summer special chicken and shrimp with all the vegetables wrapped in tinfoil that we had last time was so good that we decided to get them again and take them home.

Anna, took great care of me, as she always does. Ask for her and her sister Emily Rose when you check in.

7-10-25 We stopped and began to enjoy the summer specials. We previously had the chicken and beef wrapped up in tinfoil with vegetables and corn on the cob. This time we had the shrimp done the same way. Jennifer, our waitress, took great care of us. She was really nice.

3-1-25 Last night we had a great dinner. We ordered from the special "Early Bird Specials". Great selection at unbelievably low prices. Our waitress, Kristin, really took great care of us.

December 23, 2024 We stopped in for a really nice lunch. When we were checking out to pay something really unusual happened. The lady ahead of us was having a very difficult time maintaining good manners. She was actually rude to the cashier.

However, Shiloh, the cashier remained calm and collected. Her courtesy actually made the other patron slow down and a mildly less rough tone came from her voice.

Shiloh demonstrated exactly how to handle this difficult situation. If I was hiring employees, I would've offered her a big job right then and there.

December 16, 2024 Another great meal. Lots of new things on the menu. Savannah took really nice care of us October 6, 2024 We stopped in and tried the early dinner special menu. We had the meatloaf and they were absolutely delicious Kathi took great care of us.

August 26, 2024

We had a great Sunday dinner. The Sunday special pot roast was just like grandma used to make it. Julie and Shirley took really nice care of us.

June 6, 2023

What a wonderful surprise I had the last time I stopped in for breakfast.

Anna and Emily Grace, two wonderful sisters, were there taking care of us.

My wife Patricia and I have known them for many years and they have not changed.

Kindness, friendship, and a caring smile for everybody are the hallmarks of these two wonderful friends to all.

Cracker Barrel does a wonderful job in choosing their employees. There is a young lady, named Anna, who is truly remarkable. She gives her kindness, smile and friendliness to everyone. Want a treat? Ask for Anna the next time you eat at Cracker Barrel.

July 23, 2019 We had a wonderful lunch yesterday Emily Grace was our outstanding waitress. Also, her sister is Anna. These ladies are just so kind and friendly!

October 2, 2019 Another great meal! Ashton took great care of us.

December 2, 2019 I needed to have some gravy to take home to add to our Thanksgiving leftovers. Emily Grace took care of me, I requested her. While I waited for my to go order I had a couple coffee and she kept it full.

August 3, 2024

We had a great supper. Sherry was our waitress and she took great care of us. My coffee cup was...

I never leave negative reviews....unless they are well deserved. I always order multiple meals to-go, and pay online for curbside delivery. About three months ago I ordered I think 4 lunch entrees, two with hashbrown casserole as one of the sides. I no more got them home and found that the two with hashbrown casseroles had large pieces of plastic liners stuck all over the bottom of both of them (impossible to cut away, as the plastic had melted into the food). I waited until the lunch crowd had diminished and called to talk to the manager. He apologized and comp'ed me replacements. I've ordered to-go from here for the past 3 years and will continue to do so, but I hope they "iron out" some of the kitchen staff's issues.

I ordered three to-go meals yesterday (which being Thursday is their turkey dinner special). And I ordered a chicken pot pie that's always a pleasure. Both of the turkey dinners had this same issue with very long "wide strings, the width of a fettuccine noodle, but about 12" long stuck to the bottom of both of the turkey "dressing". At first I thought it might be long slices of onions, but nope, it was once again plastic. I tossed the dressing in the trash and kept the turkey & sweet potatoes which were fine. I waited until the lunch rush was over and called and talked to the same manager. He said he would talk to the kitchen staff, because they weren't supposed to be using what he called "Pan Liners" for certain dishes. And he said he would comp me two free desserts on my next visit (which is nice, but I am not a dessert eater).

If you ever find something strange (that's almost clear, and you can't chew it, or it's exceptionally long and tough, whether you're dining in, or getting to-go, please let the staff know you've had that happen. I hope they resolve this issue with their plastic "pan liners" in the future, as I hate throwing away food that I would typically have really enjoyed eating. I know that the manager would appreciate being aware that it's happened.

And they've been having online (cell phone) notification issues the past few months too. Meaning you log in and place your order online, and then get a link on your cell phone to use when you arrive. But at least four times now, (I showed the girl yesterday that brought out my order over 30 minutes late), that the message told me the website wasn't secure, and wouldn't let me access it to say which space I was parked in. So I had to call the restaurant, and eventually explained my dilemma to a person. She said "we'll bring your order right out". Then 5 minutes later I got a call from the restaurant asking if I intended to pick up my order (because it had been ready for over 40 minutes). I hope they upgrade their software links, as so many other restaurants have great cell...