Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Pearland

I usually don’t make these kind of reviews but this one I feel is necessary to help others be aware of the treatment (racism) and most importantly the quality of food. This may help others avoid having food poisoning. We stopped in on a Thursday morning about 10:30am. Upon reaching the host stand, the young lady asked how many were in our party and said she would be with us momentarily. Our party of 4 waited about 10 min before she returned and proceeded to seat 3 other families that arrived after us. She would take their names and immediately seat them. After 20 min of waiting and watching many families of another nationality come in and be seated I mentioned to her that we had still not been seated and had been waiting. I whole heartedly believe this is due to the color our skin. I have never felt this way before today. Realization that racism is real. She ignored me and seated the family behind us ( of different color) in line before coming back and rudely telling us it was our turn to be seated. Upon seating, she mumbled something to the waitstaff and went back to the host stand. Another 10 minutes go by and we still not have been asked about drinks or food. Our waitress had not even stopped at our table once. It took me reaching out to a manager to get service. Even after speaking with the manager about the extended delay and the terrible attitude of staff, we were still not helped. I finally stopped a waitress that was waiting other tables and asked if she would please take our order. She reluctantly took our drink orders. Shortly after, our waitress came over to introduce herself. I let her know we had already placed our drink orders with another waitress and this seemed to upset her. She let us know that she was supposed to wait our table and that we should not have reached out to other waitstaff. Upon ordering breakfast, I was told that the biscuits we ordered would be hard. I didn’t think much of it, until the food came out. Even after being served our plates, we still had to request the biscuits we ordered with our meals. By the time they came out, our food was already cold. The waitress had to have chose day old biscuits for our table, as they were very hard just like she told us they would be. It’s a very unfortunate situation considering the amount of money and time we spent in this establishment. $70 for cold food and hard biscuits. My daughter ordered chicken tenders which were cold on the inside upon taking a bite. I offered to return her plate but she refused saying that she was grossed out concerned that they may tamper with her food. The whole experience at this establishment was less that appetizing. The staff was extremely rude and the chicken was undercooked, the breakfast plates were left out to get cold before being served, and the biscuits were not the Cracker Barrel biscuits that we are so used to. The following day, 2 of the people in our party, including my daughter has what appears to be food poisoning. Both people experienced extensive upset stomach which I believe may be from the chicken that was served under cooked. Our family will not return to this location and I would suggest that to others. If you enjoy being treated terrible by staff and management due to the color of your skin and you enjoy cold, undercooked, and over priced food, then this would be the place for you. Please, if you choose to eat here check your kids food before allowing them to eat. You don’t want to end up with a sick child...

I don't know why I keep coming here! (lol). I believe it's because the very first time I ever visited a Cracker Barrel it was really good PLUS this is the only place I know that has pancakes with crispy edges. Anyway, every other subsequent visit has just sucked!. This last visit, I (thought) that by joining the wait-list online that I was just waiting for a text or something to notify me when a table was ready for us in 10-15 minutes as indicated when I put my name on the list. When my family and I showed up to the restaurant we just sat outside waiting for some notification. After about 30 minutes I went inside to see why we hadn't been called. The young lady asked for my name and then said 'OK, you're checked in now'...Huh?.. what do you mean, I checked in online. To which she replied, yes you did put your name on the list but you're not actually "checked-in" until you come inside. I was hot as fish grease 😡!.. So now we end up waiting ANOTHER half hour before I finally hear my name. Get inside, approach the second check in area to be seated where we waited another 10 minutes for someone to take us to a table. The table was dirty and it was a full house (per usual) so we had to wait yet ANOTHER 10 minutes for someone to clear the table. Table is finally clear (not clean) just free of mess. After waiting more than 10 but less than 15 minutes later, our server (who was very sweet and just doing her best to accommodate) came over to begin service. She took our drink and food order. Drinks came out after 15 to 20 minutes. 30 minutes after that, my granddaughters confetti pancakes and bacon and my sons chicken salad came out. Pancakes were cold and stiff and the salad was fine but still, what took so long?...I ordered the 'NEW' crispy chicken tenders with 2 pancakes a la cart that finally came out 40 minutes AFTER my family's order. The worst part about these visits is that it's NEVER been worth the wait. The chicken strips were not crispy at all and were barely lukewarm and my pancakes were also stiff. 😖...I mean...It just sucked. The whole experience sucked. The manager took the pancakes off the bill but I didn't eat any of it. I do not (cannot) recommend this establishment. Maybe it's just this particular location because I haven't been to any other but I also wouldn't bother trying another...

New review 6/17/25 @ 12:30:

I keep giving this location a chance. I went online, placed the order, and showed up about 30 minutes later. The order was ready, but I checked it because at this location, you have to check your order or you’ll get home and be extremely disappointed.

Both desserts were missing, along with all of the condiments and everything else I ordered. The meatloaf looked dried up and old you couldn’t even tell it was meatloaf. It had no red sauce or anything on it. The potatoes were lumpy, the portion was small, and they looked old, as if someone scraped the bottom of the pot and tossed the scraps into the container.

When I brought this to the manager’s attention, he couldn’t have cared less. He never apologized, didn’t offer a complimentary drink nothing. He simply processed my refund and walked away.

Cracker Barrel upper management needs to train their managers and kitchen staff on how to properly prepare and pack to-go orders. This hasn’t just happened once it’s happened multiple times. Honestly, it’s been more than four times.

I continue to come to this location because my mother is ill, and this is the closest thing to a home-cooked meal. The front staff and cashiers are great. However, the management staff is terrible, and the kitchen staff who prepare the to-go orders are just as bad.

They clearly need training.

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I have given this location multiple chances. They either forget to include condiments like syrup for my pancakes or ignore my instructions. I placed an online order before noon today and called to ensure they would package each order separately. After waiting 30 minutes, they called to say they had run out of muffins and chocolate cake. Then, I was told they had bread coming out of the oven. After waiting 50 minutes in my car, the server brought the food out upside down, and it was all over the place. All the food was thrown in the bag. They need to do better. I spent my entire lunch break waiting in my car to receive food that was thrown together. I was taking food to someone who is ill, which is why I asked for the orders to be separated. Although I spoke with these people multiple times, my order still came out a mess. Thanks...