Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Houston

Woman served bloody meal at Kingwood restaurant

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June 29, 2011 8:04:48 PM PDT

By Demond Fernandez

KINGWOOD, TX --

After eating half a meal at a Houston-area restaurant, a woman was told there was blood on the food -- human blood. That woman is worried about her health and demanding action from the restaurant.

It happened at the Cracker Barrel in Kingwood on Highway 59 near Northpark Drive.

Susan Mosher says the problem stems from an injured restaurant worker, and she says it's left her paranoid for days.

Mosher says her problems with cracker barrel all started two weeks ago.

When she was dining with her husband at this location off Highway 59 in Kingwood and ordered the BLT.

"I ate about half of my sandwich and a couple of the fries, and I looked down, and there is blood," Mosher said.

Human blood, according to Mosher, was covering some of her fries and the plate.

"Actually, it looked like fingerprints from someone's hand. Like they took the fries, and you could see the prints on the fries, blood," she said.

Mosher says she freaked out.

"The waitress had came over, I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Because as soon as she seen it, she knew also what it was, and she just kept saying Oh my God, Oh my God, and took it and ran to the kitchen," Mosher said.

Mosher says the waitress told her the blood was from a cook who'd cut himself while preparing food.

And now this worried cancer survivor says she's demanding some answers from Cracker Barrel.

"I want them to run a blood test on the gentleman that cut himself at the restaurant that exposed me with his bodily fluid. He's endangered my life, and I don't think that a large thing to ask," Mosher said.

In a statement issued to Eyewitness News, the restaurant's spokeswoman says, in part:

"Cracker Barrel Old Country Store was very concerned about this incident and investigated to the fullest extent possible. We regret that the guest's desire to have the grill cook who prepared her meal tested could not be fulfilled. A company by law cannot compel such testing. We understand that the guest believes such testing would mean she wouldn't have to go through testing herself, but that's actually not the case. For complete assurance, the guest needs to work with her doctor for medical guidance. In such cases, Cracker Barrel always agrees to consider and evaluate reimbursement of medical bills. We, of course, would do the same in this case.

Again, Cracker Barrel was very concerned about this incident and regrets the distress it has caused. Please know that we have systems and processes in place to ensure that all quality standards are met. Food safety is one critical component of those standards. We strive everyday to ensure that all food served at our restaurants is of the highest quality and safe to eat. On the rare occasions when there is any question, we investigate and take appropriate action."

"I pray to God there's nothing wrong with me," Mosher said.

The company also sent Mosher this letter of apology along two $50 gift cards but says that does nothing for her peace of mind.

For now, Mosher says she's talking to her doctors and a lawyer.

We checked with the Harris County Health Department. A spokeswoman there told me inspectors did visit the restaurant yesterday and managers there confirmed the incident. She says the mangers were given a firm warning about safety procedures.

We worked on this story with our Houston Community Newspaper partner, the Kingwood Observer.

OMG!!! you would have thought that someone ordered a bloody marry from afar, little did you know it was bloody hands!!! Uuh right! True story about the cracker barrel in...

So, 4/5 of the last visits we’ve had here there’s always “something isn’t available because the truck was late or delivery didn’t arrive”. It’s the standard “dog ate my homework” excuse from the staff and many customers are starting to catch on. BUT this last visit we had with our out-of-town family was a cracker-catastrophe. Monday 6/3 at 9:30am morning we dined-in. They were out of literally every single side that came with the standard dishes, fried apples, casserole, etc. they only had grits. None of us wanted grits so we asked if we could substitute for two pancakes or a cup of fruit. Waitress says yes and manager standing around like Darth Vader gave kind nod and thumbs up— no problemo. We finish our order (2 out of 4 of us had ordered something that included Biscuits and Gravy). After about 35 minutes of waiting we started noticing TONS of trays coming out with ALL THE SIDES we had been told and confirmed were not available even though they were going to tables that had been seated at the same time as us. Great, we had already accepted this all was cool. Half of our food finally makes it out (with pancakes and fruit cups as sides for everything). The two of us who had ordered plates with biscuits and gravy were THEN told the entire store was out of biscuits and they would make us TOAST with gravy. Service was already defeated and we wanted to leave so we said yes hoping the toast and gravy would be fast. From the bottom of our hearts believe me when I say we were as caring and understanding as possible not a fuss. But when we then started seeing trays and baskets of BISCUITS come out just minutes after we received our TOAST and gravy we gave up on this place. When they brought our ticket they had added all changes as upcharges for the fruit, pancakes, and TOAST on the side that they had forced us to order due to “lack of availability”. All these upcharges for unavailable items that we learned was false when all the exact things were being brought to other tables. We simply paid for our completely false ticket, bid the staff a smile and thank you, and walked out of this garbage Cracker Barrel on Northpark one final time. Liars, thieves, and brutally incoherent establishment. The dishonesty we saw unravel before our eyes during this visit truly dashed our future hopes for the easy standard Cracker Barrels are expected to uphold. We don’t want to reach out to customer experience or get a $10 gift card. Just do...

2-27-22, The restaurant and adjoining store was very crowded. When we registered with the Hostess, we were texted a 25 minute wait for a table. We were seated 45 minutes later. The waitress was really sweet. We started with biscuits, 2 glasses of water and coffee after we placed our breakfast order. The biscuits were terrific but the coffee was VERY weak. Our waitress got us 2 new fresh cups of coffee and again it was weak. The breakfast menu for the Countryboy breakfast has changed. The main meat of that meal WAS the sirloin steak, but it has been replaced with sirloin tips and now has only 2 sides. So disappointing! We waited for our meal and others who came in waited quite a while too. We contacted our waitress after waiting 40 minutes for food and trying to drink the weak coffee to settle out our table and go home. We have been going to Cracker Barrel for more than 20 years for their consistently great food, outstanding service, and downhome feel. Unfortunately, it looks like the love affair is over. Someone should let corporate office know to STOP CHANGING OR RENOVATING the menu! Another thing, serving alcohol (mimosas, etc.) is beneath what Cracker Barrel stands for. I can see in the near future that this restaurant is going to fail because of the addition of alcohol and the renovations to the menu. That makes me sad to see this happening! 8/17/2025 Unfortunately, this location has not improved. Our waitress was wonderful, but we were seated at a table where the condensation from the air conditioner was dripping on our table. We were not moved, but we moved our table over ourselves. The portion sizes and plates are smaller as our breakfast was hanging off the sides of the plate. There was no creamer for coffee so our waitress was good enough to serve us with milk in a small to go cup. I thought we were being served creamer so I used what was given. I am lactose intolerant, so when I got home there were repercussions. We are disappointed again, but that seals the deal for us. We will not be back...