Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Madison

Normally, we have nothing but great experiences here, but due to our experience yesterday (9/30/18), for this visit we are leaving a one star rating where it would usually be a 5 star rating. It was Sunday afternoon, so naturally crowded, with an estimated 45 minutes wait, but ended up being only 15-20. We had most of our immediate family with us (meaning us and most of the kids). We were seated and given a couple of menus. The hostess took the drink order and got it wrong a couple of times before she left the table even, but eventually got it right. It was busy so we gave her the benefit. The waitress was very nice, but was handling a lot of tables struggling while we seen some other servers chit chatting amongst theirselves. It took longer than usual for our food to come out, but it was busy. When the food came, part of it was missing (not the waitresses fault) but it was taken care of within 5-6 minutes. Their chicken tenders are normally awesome, but yesterday they were overdone, dry, and too hard for most the kids to eat. The dumplings, much to my son's disappointment, were more like pasta in gravy. The Mac and cheese I received had a large amount of over browned chunks in it. The fried liver, which has never been anything short of delicious, was over done, dry, and hard. Then in the middle of our meal another customer comes to our table, doesn't speak to us but gets the hostess beside us and tells her she wants our table and wants us to hurry up. Nothing is said to us but we can hear her and see her visual cues. Said customer proceeds to sit on the bench near our table, the first as you walk in, and stare us down while we are attempting to finish our meal. A minute later she speaks to the hostess again and a minute after that we have not one, but 4 different staff members (within a matter of 3 minutes I guess) come up and ask if we need anything else, if everyone was good and if we needed boxes. A few minutes later, the same thing. I started to get uncomfortable as did the kids, one of which was already uncomfortable due to the amount of people and being stared at by the customer that was obviously waiting on our table, with an equally large table clear behind us. I wasn't going to cause a scene and really just wanted to leave, so we paid for our meal and left. Over half our food did not get eaten because of the over doneness, but I don't know if they have a new cook or what the issue was. Overall, I'm highly dissatisfied with this particular visit and likely will not be returning for a while. *No we did not contact the manager, mostly out of respect as the place was packed with plenty waiting outside and the...

Cornbread and hush puppies were old and hard. The fried catfish tasted old and spoiled, l or Earthy tasting is the best way I can describe it. Like it was just dug up from the earth. However, the manager promptly replaced it with some ham when I c/o. I haven’t eaten that yet because it was not ready by the time we got ready to leave so I got it to go. I ordered carrots, but she didn’t tell me they were out of them until she brought my food out, therefore, I had to wait for my replacement to be cooked, which was broccoli And it was pretty good. In fact, it was the best thing on my plate. That’s not saying much for Cracker Barrel to say that steamed broccoli with nothing on it was the best thing I had to eat there. At least this time the pinto beans were not spoiled as usual in the previous visits. It was very disappointing for a $30 meal for today. The strawberry cheesecake was probably 4 on a scale of 1-5. The waitress was very attentive, but strangely odd and hyper running around, rather disjointedly. She did not bring us refills on water and we were out by the time we left and of course I had not finished my meal. I took my ham and dessert to go. My husband was pleased with his hamburger steak. Everyone was pleasant and helpful for the most part and of course the atmosphere is always pleasant in there. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to shop this time because I really enjoy their novelty items and usually buy something for myself or the grandkids. This Cracker Barrel does not live up to my expectations for other ones that I have been to , which are consistently delicious. I just don’t know why they can’t get it right, because they are a chain restaurant and I’m sure most things are standard there. I love to eat at Cracker Barrel, but this one is below par every time I eat there. I’ll keep going back because it’s convenient On my way home And I’m accustomed to Cracker Barrel being consistently Good, but not...

April 16, 2025 8:25 am

I originally wanted Chipotle, but when I pulled up sat and watched through the windows AND THEN READ THE REVIEWS… I knew I was going to have to find another spot.

So I thought CB. It had been a long time, so why not.

Now keep in mind that when I walked in and stood next to the booth waiting to be met by the attendant no less than seven employees made eye contact and not a one (even three that walked directly past me) would not utter a word of acknowledgment. Almost as if they were to say something, the gods of Greek yore would hold them accountable and strike them down for speaking and not helping.

I was standing there so long I almost took it personally for being the guy standing there with the Afro and one of the clowns of culture that even make my own good folks hang their heads in shame for the 15% that make us look bad. I didn’t want to take that line of negative thinking and instead chalked it up to poor and ineffective training by management and poor social skills of the employees who did not ask if I was ok, if I had been helped or if I need anything in general.

Eventually, a young lady came to the booth and seated me at a window table. I was later greeted by KAYLEIGH, and she was very good at attending to my needs. I got the feeling she would have rather been off work or something, but the possible pretending to care was good enough for me.

The food was good and I left satisfied but slightly disappointed with the service that came before the meal. Maybe there is something that goes on in that community I’m not aware of or maybe in was a bad day to pass through this town but I still give it five stars since it was my own unique experience...