Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Garfield Township

This review makes me sad 😔 This is my absolute favorite place to go while traveling. We have visited many locations and were recently in Traverse City and didn't have a very pleasant experience. I was super excited as usual as I love it here, but when I asked the young man if we could be seated in the fireplace section he literally sighed and seemed annoyed while grabbing us a few menus and proceeded to seat us saying absolutely nothing to us at all, not even hello. Then our server (Joy was her name) took our order. I asked for an orange juice. My spouse received his beverage, but I hadn't. Once the food arrived she asked if we needed hot sauce or ketchup. I smiled and said just my orange juice and some napkins please. Her face and demeanor changed and she snapped back at me and said I'll bring your orange juice and napkins...I asked if you wanted hot sauce or ketchup! As if being scolded by a parent....it was awful, extremely rude and unessessary. I didn't understand what just happened or why? It ruined my entire experience. I literally wanted to cry. I had wanted to order a meal to go, but quickly changed my mind as I just felt sad and wanted to leave. She was "sarcastically" polite when she returned to check on us. I dont even get it. I didnt even bother browsing the gift shop because I just wanted to leave even though there were some souveniers that I wanted to purchase. I don't understand why she was so rude. At one point I saw her speaking to another server who then looked over at me. I have no idea what was going on. I just know this is not the experience we normally have at Cracker Barrel. On the contrary. It's almost always warm, friendly and inviting. Thanks for ruining what was a lovely morning Joy. Thankfully I was able to salvage the remainder of my day and make the best of it, but this never should have happened in the...

With chain restaurants and stores, I usually start at a 3 and work my way up or down. For this Cracker Barrel review, I ended up staying at a 3, mainly because this seems to be a tale of two restaurants. The food is normally delicious, and the servings are generous. But there seems to be a little inconsistency.

A month ago, we had dinner here and the service was absolutely awful. We didn't even get drinks at the table for 15 minutes after we were seated. We ordered our food and it didn't get to the table for 45 minutes, but I didn't complain because there were people around us who were seated earlier than us, who were also waiting for their food, and they were a lot more upset than I was. They complained enough for our entire section of the restaurant. Finally, the managers came out and delivered all of the food for the server, who had obviously let the situation get away from her.

However, once the food got to the table, it was fresh, warm and delicious. It was well-seasoned and well prepared. The managers were horrified that the server had let us hang there for so long, and they apologized.

Yesterday, we ate breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and the service was amazing. Our server Zach gave us some of the best service we've ever had at a Traverse City restaurant. He was attentive and fast, and checked in on us numerous times. But when the food came out, it was not cooked as well as what most people have come to expect from a Cracker Barrel. Most noticeably, the hash brown casserole was undercooked, it was cold and not tender.

It's a little tricky right now with a lot of places... because of the labor shortage, I think it's difficult to keep the engine running smoothly. But I think the managers at the Cracker Barrel are trying their best to get the entire team on...

I've been going to this location for almost ten years, a few times a year, so I am familiar with the menu, and the way the food is prepared when gone correctly. This location has been fine, and had been a good solid option for "down home" diner style food.

Definitely has gone down in quality. Husband and I tried to eat dinner here tonight. I ordered the cheesy bacon fried chicken. Came out with tomatoes on it instead of bacon. Husband attempted to order the French toast and fried chicken. French toast was burned, it came out with black edges. I had ordered a side of hash brown casserole, it was old. It was cold in spots, and dried out.

When I pointed out the missing bacon and asked the waitress for a side of hash brown casserole that wasn't quite so hard, she brought back three strips of bacon for me to crumble up and add to my food ( didn't address the issue of the tomatoes being on the food and they were not listed as part of the dish on the menu) and another side of dried up hash brown casserole.

We spoke to the manager who attempted to explain that it was silly to be crispy on top. I had to explain there was a difference between crispy and you know, old and dried out. I would be ashamed to feed someone something that old, let alone charge them for it.

She offered to get us something else, but we weren't interested in eating anymore garbage. We asked if we could just leave and did that instead.

This location has recently begun to serve alcohol and I presume we interrupted a staff sampling party.

I will not be going back to this location. This was the worst meal I've been served in a...