Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Gas City

04.01.23

This review starts with me saying that the Gas City location deserves 4 1/2 stars but as Google doesn’t seem to allow that.

I was last at Cracker Barrel a year or so before COVID and to be honest the food, cleanliness, and staff were not good at all. At that time they were deserving of a 1/2 star at best.

WOW how things have changed.

My family placed an order around 5:30 pm today which on a Saturday is a busy time so I was apprehensive from the start that everything would be good and the order would be correct.

My wife arrived curbside and a member of the staff came out and she apologized repeatedly because in the course of checking the order to ensure it was correct they discovered one of the entrees was not there. They immediately made the missing entree and did it so fast that the rest of the food didn’t have a chance to get cold. 5 stars all day for the staff.

When my wife got home we unpacked the bags and discovered they had placed a piece of chocolate brownie/cake in the bag in what we can only assume was another apology. This wasn’t needed but now we have to order a piece the next time we come in because it might have been really good and I personally am not a chocolate person. 5 stars all day for customer service.

Now to the food. I ordered the grilled catfish and it was tender, moist, and seasoned just right. The only thing I could knock some is that the portion size was on the small size compared to the photos in the menu. That isn’t something that the location has control over however because they are sent what they are sent by suppliers and corporate. I had a baked sweet potato that was perfectly done. I ordered a loaded baked potato which I plan on having tomorrow for lunch and am looking forward to it. My wife had the Cheesy Bacon Homestyle Fried Chicken. Even after the car ride home it was still crispy just like it would have been if we went into the restaurant and sat at a table. She devoured it. Not only was it crispy but it was moist like chicken should be, seasoned well, and piled high with the topping that came with it. She had the sweet potato as well and agreed it was perfection. As another side she chose the loaded hash brown casserole and it will have to be eaten tomorrow at lunch time because stomachs were to full tonight. We all tasted it though and I have to say that other then mine (I’m conceded) it is the best we have had. My oldest daughter had the Bacon and Egg Hash Brown Casserole and considering that a 14 year old left no trace of it I can only guess that she enjoyed it. Personally I thought the portion size was a little small for it but she was happy. My youngest daughter had the Saturday special - Country Fried Pork Chops. I tried a bite and was impressed that it was the same as my wife’s chicken, crispy and tender in all the right places. The flavor was very good. We did throw in a couple Bacon Mac and Cheese sides which really surprised me in how well it was made and tasted because most restaurants Mac and Cheese is not good at all. It was some of the best I have had from a restaurant. One let down — We ordered the Biscuit Beignets which were honestly an overpriced and much smaller portion of any Chinese restaurant that serves sugared covered “donuts”. The biscuits were cut into small triangles and had six to an order. They did not resemble a beignet in taste or consistency. Save your money and stop at a Chinese restaurant if you are really in the mood for fried biscuit donuts covered in sugar. Food wise 4 1/2 all day long.

We will be adding Cracker Barrel to our list of restaurants to go to. I just hope that Cracker Barrel pays and treats their staff well so they can keep good people working for them which will keep up the customer service and...

We stopped in on September 13, 2014 at 7:20 pm. They told us that it would be a 25 minute wait, we were fine with that. They sat us in the time frame they said. After seating us ( which was the manager Dave McIntyre) we sat there for another 15 minutes before our waitress came and took our drink orders, during this time the manager kept walking by us and did not even acknowledge us of not having any drinks yet, same manager mentioned above. We finally received our drinks and she took our order. She came back and said that they had ran out of certain food items such as mashed potatoes, and dumplings. So I changed my order to meat loaf and my husband changed his potato side for something else. So we waited and waited and waited still no food, no waitress, no manager or anybody getting back with us. Finally after 25 minutes of waiting for our food, my daughter-in-law goes to the gift shop and ask for a manager. Dave comes and listens to what she has to say then he goes and checks on our food. He comes out and apologizes to us and why our food was taking so long, that they were busy and had ran out of mashed potatoes, dumplings, and meat loaf. That they happens from time to time ( like were an idiot and don't realize this happens). I was in disbelief that our waitress took it upon her self to let us sit there and wait and not even come out and tell us that they are now out of meat loaf.By this time I was furious over this whole situation ! Finally when our food came out to our table it was 8:46 pm. They still did not have all of our food, one order was missing carrots, the waitress said that the mashed potatoes were done and she would go on and bring a bowl of those out too, and she didn't. We didn't get our biscuits and muffins.The same manager came out to see if we had everything and we told him what all we were missing. He cames back with some of our items that were missing. He brought the mashed potatoes with white gravy out and went to get out bread. The waitress come's out with another side of mashed potatoes and gravy and what she brought out was not appealing at all. The potatoes and gravy had a darker look then what the manager brought out. It was terrible experience at this location !!!!! Then we went to go leave and this manager comes out to the gift shop to get on the register and they were not that busy at ll by this time. I feel he came out to get on the register to make sure that we did not dine and dash. By no means were we ever going to do that. I called this store today and talked to another manager and explained what happened. His name was Jeremiah and he was there that night too and he was in the kitchen cooking. Not one time did he or Dave offer us anything other than an apology. Jeremiah kept saying we were busy we were running out of things we were short handed. Like it was our fault that you are not capable of running a business correctly ! We were the paying customers. With out the customers, none of you would have a job right now ! Not until I told Jeremiah that I was calling corporate headquarters's did he offer to do anything ! Guess what guess I am not a fly by customer that was traveling on 69. I live 30 minutes away from your store and I will never be back at your store again !!!! The managers not about the company, they were about saving a few cents instead of taking care of customers. Horrible service, and horrible managers at...

Cracker Barrel is one of my all-time favorite restaurants, and this Cracker Barrel is one of the best I've been to. I visit often, enjoy eating here, and rarely leave dissatisfied. If you like Cracker Barrel, I suggest eating here. But if you've never had Cracker Barrel, you should totally stop in and try it! This place offers some of the best country cooking and comfort food any restaurant could offer.

Pros and cons:

-Food-

Pros: The food here is usually pretty delicious! Definitely satisfies my desire for home cooking. The food is usually cooked well and you get great portions for an excellent price. There is a great variety of food on the menu to satisfy about any taste.

Cons: There are times when the food is REALLY overcooked. It's not often, but it's enough to be a tad frustrating and partially caused me to rate this place 4. It's almost like the cook has an off night 1 out 10 days.

-Service-

Pros: Most of the time, the servers are friendly, professional, and hardworking. They usually make sure customers are well taken care of.

Cons: There are several servers who are VERY unfriendly and I almost cringe whenever those specific servers come to my table. Those servers are some of the reasons I'd give this place a lower rating and make eating here not enjoyable.

-Restaurant-

Pros: This place is nice and clean. It's in a good location. Pretty typical Cracker Barrel.

Cons: This place is usually pretty packed and can sometimes have a long wait.

-Conclusion- This is a great restaurant and one...