Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Virginia

My wife and i have been driving 15 1/2 miles every Sunday morning to come to this location for Breakfast and/or Brunch for quite a while but today will bring that to an end. This location is always busy so the 45min wait was normal and ok just because of the excellent service and quality of food we have always received but today was the total opposite. Starting with the waitress that couldn't seem to get our order not just to us in a reasonable time but correct. We sat there first for 10 minutes just waiting for her to come back with a requested full breakfast menu, orange juice and water. She had us and another couple seated at a table beside us. After finally getting to order. We sat there watching people all around us be seated, order taken and food served to them while my wife and I plus the couple next to us with the same waitress sit there atleast a half hour or more waiting on our orders. I even asked another waitress to check for us as we hadn't seen server in a while. The orders finally came and they were not even what we ordered but being so hungry i kept mine while my wife returned hers. My couple next to us and i spoke at the same time "this is cold"! The fried shrimp and hush puppy's were so cold and hard i could have chipped the plate with them. The eggs so cold i could pick them up all at once with my fork! When the server came back i ask for the check. She told me if something was wrong she would get a manager to come over. 15 mins later still no check and no manager. Finally the server returned with the check and told me the manager gave me half off my meal. As a business owner myself i can say with certainty that did nothing for our 15 mile drive and 2hours of our life plus needing to still stop some where to eat on the way home because I left all my order on the table. Mistakes are part of life but this was just unacceptable. I will miss the nice time but not...

We entered CB around 2:30pm ordered & received food promptly. We were Hungary and remembered what we like the most for a quick meal. Roast beef plate. We loved this meal mostly bc in the past the roast beef was served on sour dough bread, which we both loved the open face sandwich. Disappointed they did not have I opend face any longer, we still ordered roast beef, it was delicious served with mashed potatoes & gravy. We had ordered 1 slice of cake cola cake to go, but decided we wanted to eat while in the resturant. It was easy but we were a little set back bc the cake was very dry crumbly. In the past when we ordered it the kitchen would slightly microwave it to be more like fresh baked and was not as crumbly, more moist. Other than the two items I listed, the meal was delicious. One other thing I would like to address would be we visit the CB in South Hill , va. & their resturant is much BRIGHTER AND MORE APPEALING THAN THE ONE IN Midlothian. We remembered the CB in South Hill has been painted on the interior with a cream color from the chair rail up thru to the ceiling. It makes for a more well lighted experience. As Retirees our eye sight has now taken on the need for more lighting, which is so helpful in reading the menus and to enjoy the decor of the resturant. Yesterday was a heavy rainy day, so very gloomy & chilly, and the first thing we noticed we had to use our cell phone flashlites to read the menu, even though we knew what we wanted to order, but enjoy seeing what is on the menu on certain days. As I feel CB clientele is mostly 50 & & older, that brightening up the dining area would be a total asset to the dining experience or either increase the light bulb wattage inside the dining area. But even with my concerns, WE LOVE CRACKER BARREL BETTER THAN FAST FOOD RESTURANTS. ...

Used to be a go-to restaurant for close to home-cooked style meals, however, service has seemed to slip over the past two weeks (June 2019):

1. Ordered a take-out meal using online service - food wasn't prepared when the service said it would, after 30-minute usual wait as stated online, waited another 30 minutes and took several chats with staff who seemed to be confused as if I was the first ever to order online. After the long wait, I received two roast beef entrees that looked like two wet chicken nuggets, in size and shape. Nothing like what you would get if you were served in the restaurant. Manager said he would comp next two meals - no voucher, anything to confirm.

2. On a recent visit with the family, after waiting almost 20 minutes to be seated (typical for this location), observed that it wasn't packed, but the restaurant was likely not staffed appropriately as there were more tables with dishes on them than customers. The hostess attempted to seat my family of four at a table that had only two chairs and asked my wife if she would move chairs from another table - strike 1. When we asked to be relocated to another table, the hostess stated that the other tables "had names on them" - whah? reserved seating at Cracker Barrel - who knew! - strike 2. Then the table we acquired about with the "VIP guests" were sat after us, had a waitress stop by, and had drinks before we ever saw any staff come by our table - strike 3. We got up and left and enjoyed a meal at another restaurant - I guarantee I won't be back anytime soon.

Summary - If you are looking for lackluster food, lackluster service and a long wait - this is your place! I'll gladly drive to another location IF I have the taste for the meals I...