Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Parkersburg

An Enigma Wrapped in a Rocking Chair: My Baffling Love Affair with the Mineral Wells Cracker Barrel

There's a particular brand of magic associated with the warm, inviting glow of a Cracker Barrel sign, a promise of homestyle comfort and a friendly face. The Mineral Wells location, nestled conveniently for travelers and locals alike, is an establishment that, for me, has become a culinary enigma. It is a place that leaves me perpetually baffled, swinging on a pendulum between genuine delight and profound disappointment. To dine here is to roll the dice, and the results are as unpredictable as a West Virginia weather forecast.

Let me be clear: when this Cracker Barrel gets it right, they get it spectacularly right. I’ve been served pancakes so fluffy and golden they could have been spun from morning sunlight. Each bite was a testament to the simple perfection that breakfast fare can achieve. The desserts, a consistent beacon of hope, have been nothing short of "fire," as the modern parlance goes. From the gooey center of a Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola® Cake to the warm embrace of a peach cobbler, the sweet conclusions to my meals here have never faltered, offering a reliable and delicious final act.

However, the savory side of the menu is where the perplexing inconsistencies lie. The country fried pork chops have been a gamble; at times, they are succulent and flavorful, a perfect harmony of crispy coating and tender meat. On other visits, they have been disappointingly lackluster, a pale imitation of their former glory. The steak is another roll of the dice, a true hit-or-miss affair that leaves one wondering if the same hands could have possibly prepared such disparate plates.

But the most egregious offender, the dish that has cemented my culinary confusion, is the country fried steak. My experience with this particular menu item was nothing short of a disaster. It was a burnt, crunchy imposter of a Southern classic, an offering so far from the expected comfort that it was genuinely unfit to eat. The memory of its texture still sends a shiver down my spine.

Through all of this culinary turbulence, there has been one unwavering constant: the wait staff. The service at the Mineral Wells Cracker Barrel is, and has always been, top-notch. The servers are attentive, friendly, and possess that genuine warmth that can make a good meal great and a disappointing one at least bearable. They are the steady hand on a ship that sometimes sails through rough and unpredictable waters.

And so, I am left in a state of appreciative frustration. How can a kitchen produce such moments of brilliance and such depths of culinary despair, often within the same week? My hope is that this establishment can find the consistency that would make it a true gem. Until then, I’ll continue to walk through its doors, drawn by the memory of those perfect pancakes and the ever-present smile of the wait staff, all while bracing myself for the unpredictable journey that awaits my taste buds. It is a baffling, and at times frustrating, relationship, but one that, for the promise of those good days, I am not quite ready...

My family and I ate dinner at Cracker Barrel last weekend along with my son's cross country teammates and their families. As we were discussing where to eat after the meet, someone suggested Cracker Barrel...and I cringed. I have always had great food at Cracker Barrel...but I have almost never had great service. In the past, I have experienced huge wait times to be seated; long waits to place my order and/or receive my food; missing side dishes; servers who go MIA when everyone needs drink refills; being seated right beside other diners when there were plenty of other available tables; etc. Giving them the benefit of the doubt... again...I agreed to go there. We were seated relatively quickly considering we had a large party. It took a while for all of the orders to be taken and for us to all receive our food...which is to be expected with about 20 people in our group. Our food was delicious! The portions were large, and I didn't hear any complaints from anyone. Then we finished our food...and we waited for our checks...and waited...and waited some more. The team got restless and went outside. Several people went to the restroom or out into the country store to shop...only to return and discover the checks still hadn't been delivered. We saw servers come out at various times and look around, seeming to study our tables, counting figuring, contemplating, calculating...We began to talk among ourselves, speculating what the problem might be. Everyone was getting tired of sitting and waiting and wondering. We hadn't seen our particular server in quite a while. Finally, a gentleman in our party flagged down another server and asked her to find our server because we all needed our checks so we could leave. After several minutes, she brought out a stack of checks and handed them to another gentleman in our party to sort and distribute...which took a little while to do. By this time, the slowest eaters in our group had been finished with their food for well over half an hour. We couldn't get out the door fast enough. Once again, the historically bad service at Cracker Barrel reared its ugly head...but the food was great, as usual--lol! It had been several years since I had last visited Cracker Barrel..and it will definitely be quite a while before I go back. I understand that in the time we're living in, restaurants are short-handed and patience is necessary. If this was the first time we had experienced an issue like this, I would chock it up to just another effect of the pandemic. But based on past experience, this is just par...

After traveling all day from New York. We arrived at the mineral springs Cracker Barrel very hungry. My husband ordered was interested in the new herb grilled chicken that had a description baked crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle with bitter herb sauce. That’s what he was craving. He asked our waitress if it was indeed crispy as described, she came back apologizing that it was not. My husband decided not to order this because it wasn’t as described. Instead he ordered the rainbow trout with a baked potato and carrots. I ordered the chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and turnip greens. We both ordered the corn muffins with butter and honey and he ordered a lemonade while I ordered the sweet tea. Our drinks come and nothing else, we waited for the muffins and salad a long time. Finally the salad came and still no muffins. Our dinner comes and they forgot my husband’s baked potato and still no muffins. The waitress said she would be back with the rest and refills in drinks. She never came back. My husband finished his dinner and asked 3 different waitresses for a refill on drinks and the corn muffins and his baked potato. Finally calling the manager over to explain half his dinner was missing and the corn muffins finally arrived after supper. They didn’t charge for his dinner and he never got his refill. I know places get busy, but we were clearly sat and forgotten. My food...