Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Madison

My family and I came there for breakfast. We received the text that our table was ready. We came to the host. He had other groups of people who received the text that their tables were also ready. He looked at the list and told the group before us that he was going to take us first since we had more people in our group. He proceeded to grab the menus and utensils and told my husband to go straight to the table ahead of us. It was a little awkward as he didn’t lead us. As we got to our table, he didn’t come to us with the menus and utensils. We sat ourselves down and waited. No menus and not knowing what to do. We were confused as to what we should do as no waiter came to our table either. After sitting down for about two minutes, a waiter walked passed our table and asked if we received the menus. We said, “no, we’re not sure why the host didn’t come to our table with the menus when he told us to head straight to this table and he was grabbing the menus and utensils.” Our waiter asked, “so he didn’t give you guys the menus and utensils? Nothing?” We replied, “yes, not sure what we are supposed to do.” Just as she left, the manager walked to our table with the menus and utensils. Our waiter took our orders and we waited for awhile until our foods came out. No coffee refills (had to ask a waiter walking by for refill towards the end of our meal) and we had to flag down another manager for syrup. We were disappointed that the host didn’t come back to us knowing we went to our table and proceeded to walk other customers to their tables like we did not exist.

To make it even worse, the pain of paying at the ONE register and 8 people ahead of us, took forever, especially when the store is so packed with merchandise galore and not much space. There were other frustrated customers waiting to pay and another customer who was upset because they were double charged for gratuity. We will...

This dining experience was meant to be a treat for my mother, who is confined much of the time due to severe mobility problems. When we first arrived, we waited about 10 minutes before we could get the attention of the dining room servers. We waited an additional 5 minutes while they cleared and cleaned a table (the restaurant was NOT busy) This fact should have served as a red flag, but my mother chose your establishment as the restaurant she craved the most. After we were seated, we were given our drinks and menus...other than the several un-bussed tables, things started off alright. Well, that didn't last. After placing our order, we waited a long time for our food. We didn't receive our biscuits, and we had to ask several times for a refill for my mother's coffee. That was irritating, but not a big deal. Then the food was served. It was AWFUL!! My cheeseburger tasted like a frozen beef patty that had been reheated in a microwave. It had a funky flavor, on par with cheap grocery store brands. That was bad, but even worse was my daughter's chicken strip meal. The "chicken" tasted bad and was unrecognizable as chicken. It resembled old, dehydrated breading. Her macaroni and cheese side dish was a lukewarm, gloopy mess. Even my mother's highly anticipated chicken and dumplings were a disappointment. They were served lukewarm, the dumplings were chewy and the chicken was so tough she could not chew it. Usually, I would speak up and complain about the poor experience, but there was no one available to complain to. The ONLY employee accessible was the nice lady behind the counter in the gift shop!! We did pack up the mostly uneaten food for my dog, but decided not to risk feeding it to him after 3 out of 4 of us felt physically ill. This was a really awful dining experience, that left me thinking as if we'd been better off eating at the corner...

I didn't have any friends or family to spend Thanksgiving with this year, so I went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I was disappointed with the service. The waitress did not ask me if I preferred biscuits or cornbread muffins, and she did not ask me for my choice of the additional side. I only realized this oversight because I had snapped this picture of the menu. I caught the attention of the waitress and requested mac n cheese as my additional side order. When my food came out, there was no mac n cheese in sight. I stopped another waitress and told her I was waiting on a side of mac n cheese which she brought to me a minute later. My drink ran out before I was half finished with my meal. I was sucking ice cubes looking around for my waitress so I could request a refill. Thankfully the next time I saw her, she was already bringing me a refill without me asking for it. A little later she brought the bill and asked if I wanted a to-go box. I said yes, then she disappeared. A family was sat next to me and she attended to this family 4 times before calling to me from their table that she would bring me a box "right now" then she comes back and heads for that table first before finally bringing me a box. Its bad enough to be alone on a holiday and it feels even worse to be ignored by someone whose service you are paying for. The food was fantastic, but I really didn't appreciate being treated like an unwelcome guest. It wasn't even a matter of the dining room being busy. It was packed when I arrived, but about the time that my drink ran out half the people had left and while I was waiting for my to-go box the place was practically empty by then. Even so, there appeared to be more than enough employees to handle everything so it did feel very frustrating to be...