Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Maryland

So I absolutely love Cracker barrel but this experience was just absolutely horrendous and review worthy because I'm just that angry about it. Went Thursday evening and our server was Ashley I believe her name was. Absolute trainwreck. They were on a wait and clearly understaffed and were having their servers take more tables then they could handle. Which I've been in food service for a long time and I can relate to a certain extent. Our server Ashley stopped by when we sat and said she'd be right with us. 15 minutes goes by before she comes back to take our order, she was super friendly at first and she explained she had 7 tables and it was crazy and you know i get it. Been there done that, not necessarily her fault, she was clearly overwhelmed and me and my wife at that point knew it would take a bit longer for things which ok fine. App comes out hot and but no dipping sauce, she stopped by a few minutes in and said she'd get the sauce. 15 minutes go by never came back and entrees hit, and both are missing all sauces completely, no Gravy, no dipping sauce for tenders. Asked the runner for them. 10 minutes go by, empty drink glasses as well. She finally stops back over and we were like hey we didn't get any sauces and gravy, you never brought the one from the app you said you would and we also need refills, and she then snapped, raised her voice to me and said I'm busy and have other tables in a condescending manner like I was a child being scolded to be patient and she walked away. Which mind you all the food is cold at this point. The runner brought out the sauces and we asked to talk to management and the whole time we're talking to her she's glancing giving us dirty looks as she's helping her other tables. Now the manager was super nice, very apologetic offered to comp food give extra to go and what not which I greatly appreciated but its not about money, its about common decency and respect. I still left just mad and hungry because I didn't even get to eat my meal my blood was boiling so bad. Never been treated so disrespectfully just for asking for items that were supposed to be on the plate when ran to the table and a refill. We all have bad days but it's no excuse to take it out on customers, EVER!!! all she had to say was I'm so sorry. Still running behind but ill get that as soon as possible, or even just ask someone else for help. I would have been fine but to have the audacity to snap and speak to me that way was absolutely unacceptable. I work in food service as well and im constantly understaffed but you know i dont take it out on my customers because its not their fault for staffing issues and honestly after a crazy week of very long hours and callouts I really just wanted to sit down to a nice hot meal and relax but still angry 12 hours later. To management please coach your team on hospitality etiquette and the verbiage they use when speaking to people even when stressed out and to speak up and communicate to you that they need help, plus if your short staffed don't give them more tables then they can handle unless your more present the dining room and able to pick up that slack where needed, she clearly wasnt organized enough to be able to handle the sheer volume of tables in her section, because we clearly werent the only ones who had issues. Even if she was paced better in seating might have made all the difference. In any event just stay on a longer wait and give customers the dining experience they deserve, You spend less in comps that way. At most you maybe have toss a dessert here and there for a long wait. I hope you can use this as a learning experience for all people involved to provide a better dining experience for your customers in the...

I've been to cracker barrel 1000 times, (not literally) but each time has always been good service, good food and a decent selection of home style or southern comfort food. I have been to this particular one many times, and I think this was probably the worst experience I've had. It's just poor simply because of the lack of service. Overall the food was good, the place looked like a cracker barrel but the service was certainly mismatched.

This gentleman, must have been a brand new server and never served a day in his life, or was having a terrible day and just couldn't find his footing. Either way, we were on the receiving end of that poor service. We had to wait but that is to be expected at a cracker barrel and specifically for a party of 9. Once seated it took him a while to take our orders for drinks, those he said they were out of at least 2 or 3 of our requests and the kids asked for chocolate milk and apple juice. He returns and got the kids drink placement correct but that's it. The chocolate milk became white milk and he asked if they'd like chocolate syrup for it.

He took our orders and I checked my watch since we were seated about 8:40, it wasn't until 9:20, that we got the salads and appetizers. The food finally came out about 9:40, but was missing a kids meal and my wife's. They brought my wife's salad, but when we asked about the kids meal, she said she (the runner bringing our food) didn't have one in, but could grab one. The waiter finally came back and asked if we wanted refills but the other lady had gotten them for us about a minute before. He left again and she continued to check on us as we hadn't gotten our biscuits either.

Finally everything was brought to the table with about 10 min to spare. We ate and left before the restaurant closed. It was slow service and missed items overall. Unfortunately, this was a poor experience overall. My catfish was okay but not quite up to par with their...

We stopped at CB off of Route 50 just over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the Eastern Shore. We were seated quickly, but that was the last bit of good service we received. Our server must either be new or was having an epically bad day. When she finally came over to our table, we had been seated for about 10 minutes. She said she didn't know we had been seated there. Okay, fair enough. Her service went downhill from there. We ordered drinks (2 Cokes and water); another 10 minutes passed before she brought us one Coke, one water and one cup of coffee that we didn't order. We placed our order for food and asked for another Coke in place of the coffee. After another 10-15 minutes, our food was finally brought out to us, with our Coke. The food was good, thankfully, but it didn't make up for her bad service. When we left, my wife said that we had made a mistake coming to Cracker Barrel.

I understand that every review is different. I understand that patrons can be overwhelmingly rude nowadays. I don't believe we were rude; or being too picky. My daughter was a waitress for years, so I understand the industry from both sides. In this instance, we had a very bad server. She even admitted that she was not doing a good job. I wanted to tip zero, but my daughter had taught me over the years that sometimes bad service is out of a server's control. I try to remember that every time we eat out. However, this night's bad service was completely on our server. My 15% tip was about 14% too high. Perhaps she'll improve over time; or perhaps she was having a horrible day and it came with her to the restaurant. Regardless, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Lastly, there are other restaurants to eat at along Route 50. I'm fairly certain that we'll try those other restaurants on our...