Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Matthews

Come on Cracker Barrel, you can do much, much better than this! I went to dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Matthews, NC. It was moderately busy for a Sunday night and I was sat very quickly. That was the highlight of the evening, unfortunately.

The server was polite, but it seemed an unusually long time for her to finally acknowledge my presence and to take my drink order. I order the Grilled Chicken Tenders with Fried Okra, Macaroni & Cheese and a cup of soup as an appetizer.

After the order was taken, it was a very long time before she returned to the table to tell me my food would be out shortly. I asked about my soup appetizer and from her expression, it was obvious that she had forgotten about it. I did eventually get it before my meal.

My meal was brought to the table by another employee and was missing items like my requested BBQ sauce, a steak knife for the Chicken and my bread. The other employee brought that to me as well. I didn't see my server between the soup and my eating my meal. I eventually ran out of drink and flagged down my server and asked for more. She acknowledged me and then never returned with anything to drink.

I eventually got up and went to the service area where servers come in and out of the kitchen and asked another server for more sweet tea and a glass of ice. Eventually I was given an unsweetened tea with no ice. A manager corrected the issue and gave me a sweet tea and a glass of ice. I then returned to my table and finished my meal.

Upon almost completing my meal the server came to the table with a glass of sweet tea, although she had two glasses and wasn't sure if the one she gave me was sweet tea or not. Upon sampling it for myself, it was determined to be sweet.

After completing my meal, I asked my server for the check and a empty to go cup so I could take my tea with me. She gave me the check but never returned with my cup. Eventually I got tired of waiting and got up and left. I am retired and I am not an impatient person, so when I say the wait time was extensive, it was.

The food quality at this location is average, at best. The cleanliness is average to above average, depending on the time of day and the business volume. The service has a lot to be desired. I am not degrading service workers, but it isn't rocket science either. Its about serving others like you would like to be served, listing to the customer's requests, and putting a little care into it.

Cracker Barrel isn't an inexpensive meal any longer either. Prices have gone up and the quality of food and service has taken a big decline. I used to eat there 5-7 times a week, but now I go once or twice a month. I wonder if others are...

On the way to Indian Trail, we've ridden by Cracker Barrel on more than occasion. This morning a friend of mine suggested that we stop this morning and have breakfast. I've seen the restaurants regularly during my travels, but had never actually taken the time to stop in and eat. Even though I was fortunate enough to have eaten from their dinner menu before. Just a brief sidebar; I am a Marine veteran and a few years ago while I was recovering from surgery, my county VA rep had given them my name around Christmas time, I believe and someone else gave me a ride to the Cracker Barrel and they gave me multiple packages for the most amazing holiday meal(s). There was at least enough food for 10 people. I've never had the opportunity before, until now, too thank them for that most amazing meal in a public forum...until now. And they deserve my thanks for this. It was a fantastic gesture that arrived at just the perfect time. There were a number of other veterans that also received these meals at no cost whatsoever. Back to my review and photographs of this particular Cracker Barrel. Amanda was our hostess today and did an outstanding job. The restaurant was absolutely slammed and they were taking reservations at the hostess stand. A very professional and courteous young lady, who kept the crowds moving seamlessly along with the rest of the staff. If you've never been...go, you will not be disappointed. Everything is extremely well-maintained and sanitized in between guests. All areas are handicap accessible. Even before entering the restaurant itself, you'll see dozens of rocking chairs to relax in, either before...or after your meal, if the need arises. The decor is strictly country store, from a bygone era. Country antiques abound, throughout the exterior, as well as the interior of the restaurant. When you entered the building itself, it was almost like walking back in time to a local country store. Old fashioned candies and books from a bygone era. Clothing, gifts and almost anything else imagineable. I'll close for now and let my plethora of pictures speak for themselves. If you took the time to read this review, please take a 1/2 second and click...

This restaurant and hopefully it's not the whole supply chain has lowered their standards of expectation for customer service. It is a very racist set of employees and I guess there's no wonder because the management doesn't have any good quality customer service skills. I place my order by phone and went to pick it up inside and paid for it and browse the store while waiting for my food to be prepared. I go check back in for my food and I was told by the same cashier that I should go check on the shelf over there because they just brought more food out and when I get over there to pick up my food from the shelf another cashier comes over and stalks me and ask me about my order and asked me did I pay for it and I told her yes and then she questioned me again and asked me how did I pay for it online or in person. Finally, I go find the previous cashier that took my payment and then she yells across the store "She paid for it"!, drawing all the attention to myself. I leave the store with my order very upset and decided to call back to speak to the management and hopes maybe they can put their employees back through some better customer service training. However, I'm left on hold for 10 minutes and then they pick up the call to just hang it up. If this is the kind of service we can expect from restaurants these days we might as well take our chance and go shopping the grocery store since we're already in the middle of a economic inflation. My order number is 212-346 just in case if a manager just so happened read...