Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Hemlock Township

I'll preface this bad review by saying I've been to Cracker Barrel in various areas about a hundred times, and had no issue. Or at least not enough of an issue to remember it later in my life. And this is inconvenient timing due to the ongoing "rebranding" discussions. But we were up visiting some family where I grew up, and my 6-year old daughter decided that we must go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. My 6-year old loves cracker barrel due to the salt and pepper shakers and toys, and all the different sides we end up getting so she at least eats something. Its one of our big things. I came into the store with 3 gift cards raring to go.

Its me, my gf, my mom, and my 6 year old. We sit down and order as usual. Food comes. And my face was just like O_o .... what is that? Turns out it was an almost/at least 3" coiled metal shaving sticking out of my loaded casserole. Then my mom found a coarse white dog hair cooked into her scrambled eggs (none of us have dogs). Then my daughter found a couple chunks of eggshells in her single scrambled egg. Then my mom realized that the Country Fried Steak she ordered came out as a Country Fried Chicken. (I will say we're unsure if she actually said chicken or steak, so we'll pretend it didnt happen). And not that I'd personally care, but the daughters apples had a huge stem still sticking out of the apple. Thinking back to previous visits, that may even be normal.

We notified the waitress of the big 3, who of course came back with a new loaded casserole and Chicken Friend Steak (mom ended up just finishing her eggs, and eventually, so did my daughter.) Waitress talked to management who came back and comped the kids meal and one of our Country Boy meals. So $20 off, sweet. I get it. Whatever. I wouldn't make a scene over it (primarily because I didnt end up eating metal). But of course a few others at the table probably wished for management to speak to us directly (they did not), or comp something additional. Then we never saw the waitress again, so we never actually got any refills either, and asked some other waiter for a box for moms leftovers.

The worst part was of course the 6 year old had to experience any of this, and not feel comfortable with her fun little meal at her favorite restaurant. Yes, chewed up plenty of eggshells in my time. She wasnt exactly upset, but now it was the talk of the day in our little circle. Will she want to go back again? She didnt touch much anything else besides the egg, and ended up getting something else somewhere else a little while later.

And then we dumped $110 into crap from the store. lol. I'm sure metal shavings in food isnt a common occurance, but with the few other things, I just had to write about it. Hopefully it's not common, because my teeth are already bad enough these days and I have a feeling my eyesight will start...

Okay. This was with out a doubt the absolute worst restaurant experience I have ever had in my life. There was 5 of us including my 3 year old niece who we ordered fried shrimp and Mac and cheese to come out first( This was the only thing that came out in a timely manner) my mother’s lemon for her coke came out a half hour after she ordered the coke. We waited over an hour for our food. We are watching people who came in after us being served and finishing their meals. My mother ordered vegetable soup and a grilled cheese. I ordered a sweet potato a salad and hashbrowns. My brother-in-law ordered roast beef, and my sister ordered sides as well. Eventually, we got up to tell the manager what was going on. She came out, looked at us and instead of apologizing and taking credit for the awful service, she literally said that it was taking so long because they were ‘slicing the roast beef’. During this time we had to clean our own table and After having to complain AND having to beg for some biscuits while waiting an abnormally long time for food, The waitress came with our food. My mothers grilled cheese was literally two slices of cheese on plain bread and it Looked as though they did not even try to make it appear melted. We sent this back immediately as it was laughable and insulting. They forgot my sweet potato which was the main course of food I ordered. My brother-in-law‘s roast beef looked awful and my sisters food was cold. This was a nightmare after being out traveling all day and us thinking we could go to a familiar restaurant for a comfortable sit down meal. We will never return to a Cracker Barrel again… it was so terrible that it was actually funny. This was my brother-in-law‘s first time to a Cracker Barrel which he was looking forward to. It was absolutely awful. I would never waste my time with a review otherwise. These people should...

Terrible! Ordered 3 sides with my chicken and dumplings...but when I got it the carrots were thrown into the chicken and dumplings! That is NOT on the side. I ordered the meal, not the soup. So I complained to the waitress. She said "we always do it that way". I said "no you don't. I had this before and all side orders were on the side. That is what a side is." She said "technically it's still a side if it is in the dumplings". ??? I said "no it is not. If it is in the dumplings it is an extra ingredient". She was as stupid as a brick and could not understand what I was complaining about. She asked me if I wanted extra carrots. I said "no, they are already in the dumplings which is what I am complaining about". Two minutes later she appears at the table with an extra side of carrots. I said "I told you I didn't want those. Take them away." She said "I can't because they already touched the table." She asked me if I wanted to speak to a manager to which I said No. Two minutes later...a manager shows up because his waitress told him there was an issue. I told him it was resolved but repeated how it bothered me to order a side that was not an actual 'side'. He said "we are instructed to put certain sides right in to the chicken and dumplings" I soon gave up. I did not leave a tip. Cracker Barrel in Bloomsburg PA is TERRIBLE. They make people feel like idiots, the waitress was a moron, and the manager looked like he had been drunk all night the night before. Who the heck wants a "side" tossed into the chicken and dumplings? I will not return. Plus they are focused on shrimp dishes now...what the heck happened to...