Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

Visited on the evening of 7/30 and what occurred that evening was frankly unacceptable in my eyes from a company like Cracker Barrel. Kelly, a manager at the location was extremely rude right from the start. We had placed our name on the wait list prior to arriving at the restaurant and had a text message that we would have a 20 minute wait for our party of 6 (and a 3 month old baby). We arrived about 10 minutes later and Kelly was at the stand and when we asked how long a wait could be still, she said "I have no clue, there's only 3 tables big enough for 7 and the people won't leave". The tone and attitude that Kelly had was not at all welcoming, felt as if we were a burden on her day, and also she could not wrap her head around the concept that our 3 month old baby did not need menus, a seat at the table, or anything but just to sit in his stroller near us... we were baffled. So, after waiting 35 minutes over the 20 minute wait time that we originally were told, we finally sat after continuously following up with Kelly and David who were at the host stand. Neither of them seemed to have any clue what they were doing. As someone who works in the service industry as well, I know that nothing about our experience there that night was standard or acceptable at all. The story does not end there...we finally sit down and now are trying to rush as we had tickets for a show and had waited 3 times the wait we were originally told so we had become pressed for time. What followed right after was the only positive experience of the night: our server Suzzanna. She was so upbeat right from the start, despite the dining room being at least 80 degrees. She seemed distressed from having many tables to tend to, was overheated for sure, and yet had a smile on her face immediately. We placed our order with her, she cracked jokes with us, and truly made us feel important (unlike anyone else in our experience on this night). I ordered Chicken n Dumplins that night as I always do when I go to a Cracker Barrel. The food came out and everyone else's meal arrived, but just my sides were on the table. Suzzanna explained that they were making more chicken n dumplins so it would be a few more minutes. Minutes passed and she came out with my meal, but the kitchen definitely did not make it correctly at all. What I saw in front of me was grilled chicken tenders sitting in a bowl with some Dumplins thrown on top. Suzzanna immediately noticed that it was not correct and wanted to fix the error without me even saying anything about the meal. Due to the time restraint, I did not have time to wait any longer for the meal to be corrected again. While we were eating a member of our party went to try and find a manager to express concerns about the evening, as well as to compliment Suzzanna for being an excellent server. Another bright light in this experience was Robbie, who was a manager who actually came over to the table to see the food error, express his concerns and apologies. I just really cannot explain enough how much needs to be improved at this Cracker Barrel location. The customer service from 99% of staff we conversed with was sub-par and the communication skills were almost non existent. Once again, shout out to Suzzanna for going above and beyond for us, we hope that everything turns out great for you.

To Cracker Barrel, you need to truly look into improving customer service skills at Coastal Grand as well as reevaluating who you choose to be a manager. The conditions with air conditioning was atrocious as well...servers have to deal with extreme temperatures in the dining area while the store was nice and cool, where they aren't even able to...

‼️Disturbing Experience + Rude Management‼️ The day before the Fourth of July, I visited this Cracker Barrel location and was immediately met with a loud, cackling witch display at the entrance and the sound of a cat screaming as if it were in pain. The sound looped every 30 seconds and was extremely disturbing, especially for a cat lover who hates to hear that sound. It completely ruined the atmosphere for what should’ve been a peaceful family meal. I thought I could ignore it by not hearing it in the dining area but even when we were sat down I still heard it in th background and as I said I hate hearing cat scream sounds like a cat in distress. Just like I hate to hear any kind of distressful sound especially while eating. I didn’t pay to go to a haunted house! I was coming here for a family meal!

I asked management politely if they could lower the volume or turn it off. They told me “corporate requires it” and that they had no control. When my family also went out trying to reason with them as well, they were met with sarcasm and mockery. One employee said, “You’re the only one who cares, no one else cares,” which was incredibly dismissive and rude. Another argued that “it is Halloween,” despite it being July 3rd. And they kept smirking and saying no one else cares and oh well it’s Halloween. Someone else even said, “Well, recently there was a baby screaming—so what?” as if that made it okay and I said this isn’t a baby it’s an annoying loop of a cat screaming every 30 seconds. The staff was unprofessional and antagonistic.

My mother, who loves Cracker Barrel and was excited to eat there, became visibly upset by how we were treated especially when she heard how the other lady kept smirking and telling me no one else cares. We ultimately chose to leave and drive to a different Cracker Barrel nearby and the difference was night and day. That location in North Myrtle Beach had the same witch display but kept the sound off, making the space calm and welcoming which I usually expect when coming to Cracker Barrel. When I thanked the manager there for keeping the environment peaceful and not having a cat scream sound loud on loop, she was kind and listened to what I told her happened to my family and I at the other Cracker Barrel store.

Clearly, the claim that “corporate requires it” wasn’t true. The issue wasn’t just the disturbing noise it was how poorly our concern was handled. A restaurant should never feel like a haunted house, especially in July unless that’s what was advertised. As far as I knew I was coming to have a peaceful meal...

This review is tough because I love cracker barrels and would normally give 5 stars! Unfortunately, one staff member ruined it. My husband, who is African American(important for later), our son, who is autistic, and I went to cracker barrel for dinner. The gentleman hosting(manager?) was the best part of the entire experience. The lady at the front was kind as well. They are the reasons I gave 2 stars for service, 1 for each of them. We ate, we shopped around the store, we sat on the rockers outside and created some memories with our son. It was a nice night. When we got home, one of the toys we got for our son didn't work, so we decided we would return it the next day. Let me just say that my husband and I have been in the restaurant industry for over a decade, in supervising positions! He is currently the general manager of a restaurant! Anyway, I say this because what happened next, we consider absolutely unacceptable. My husband walks up to the front and the lady from the day before was there but helping another customer. So he is "helped" by the other lady. My husband gives her the receipt and toy and said he needs to return it because it does not work. Her response was, "we don't sell broken toys." But... it was broken. She seemed to have an issue with this return. Not sure why.. but okay. Meanwhile, our son is having a meltdown because he wants more things from the store, so we just want to get out of there ASAP. My husband asks for a manager, which she is hesitating to do, and then out of NOWHERE, this lady blurts out, "IM NOT RACIST!" Um...ma'am? PROJECTION much? You just told on yourself lady! My husband then looked at her and said, "so, manager or refund?" In which she finally gave us the refund, because she knew she just told on herself. UNACCEPTABLE! This cracker barrel has a racist employee working the front area, I wish we had her name, because they aren't all bad(I hope), but she is. She told on herself. Horrible. We will not be back to this location unless she's been identified...