Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in Virginia

So, I go into the Cracker Barrel at exit VA126 and am immediately hit by a blast of cold air. In this vein I asked one of the employees near the entrance door about the very cold air blowing into the store. The young lady stated, "yeah it is freezing in here". The young lady did tell me the back offices (I am guessing adjoining the kitchen) was warm and humid. Thus, (I am concluding) the reason for very cold store section and eating area. Apparently, the a/c ducting needs work at this location.

I proceeded to the restaurant hostess stand. There I found 3 young ladies huddled around one another, no doubt to ward off the cold. I asked about turning up the thermostat. I was told they could not turn it up. Clearly the employees are not empowered.

I then asked for the manager, at first my request was ignored. When I asked a bit more assertively (but still very nicely) I was told they would locate the manager. For the record - this is an old trick - only produce the manager after 3 requests. Obviously, the manager (in a near empty store and restaurant) was much too important to actually interface with a customer. As an aside, this indicates poor staff planning to have 3 folks around the hostess desk and others circulating around in store devoid of any customers.

I can best describe the manager as a nearing middle-aged lady with a c. 2 - 3" circular hair bubble atop of her head. Her immediate attitude was one of annoyance - similar to a small thinking TSA manager, or a wanna be Leona Hemsly (for those old enough to understand the cultural reference.

When I asked about the chilly air and turning the thermostat up, she replied "no one else has complained about the temperature". I then asked the 3 young employees huddled around the hostess stand. They said nothing, clearly intimidated by the hair looped manager.

The manager displayed a very poor and condescending attitude towards both this customer and the employees. No doubt this would work as a drill instructor or the aforenoted self-important TSA employee. I am thinking maybe, just maybe, not so much in a for profit hospitality establishment.

My conclusion was that clearly the manager's comfort more important than customers.

My guess is that regional management must tolerate this manager for whatever reason. The only reason I go to CB is that my wife likes the food and the store. For the record, we eat out once a day in far nicer establishments, or at our club (when in town), we go to CB by choice. Not so sure we want to deal with a business that allows this type of behavior in their staff.

BTW - the server was great as was the first young lady I...

My family and I have been going to this Cracker Barrel for at least 10 years. Today was extremely different. I walked in there with my family to enjoy a meal after my little one’s soccer practice. It took them at least 20 minutes to find a server to serve us. We ordered our food and two alcoholic beverages, one for my wife and one for me. The server did not ID us. 5 minutes later, a lady who appeared to be a supervisor or manager walked over to our table and demanded to see our ID’s. We both look young, so I’m used to getting carded. The issue was how the lady approached our table and demanded to see our id’s as if we were committing a crime. Her facial expression was very unpleasant and made us feel uneasy. Nevertheless I provided her with my ID, of all days my wife forgot her wallet at home, so she cancelled her drink. The lady sarcastically voiced “I’m not serving you.” We decided to stay since our kids were hungry, but my wife was unhappy the entire time. After the meal which didn’t sit well in our stomachs after the distasteful service from the manager lady we all walked over to the store prior to paying the bill. My kids picked some candy and a teddy bear. The lady at the register asked me if I wanted a bag for the candy I said “no thanks” but my daughter who was next to me said “I want it in a bag daddy.” The lady at the register then replied “Yes daddy, she doesn't want us to think that she stole it” I thought about telling her something but held my tongue. Little did she know that I’m a Police Officer and raise my kids the right way. But I guess her bias came out when she saw we were Latino. I didn’t catch either of their names, nor did I ask, I just wanted to leave that place. The lady I identified as the manager previously was a white heavy set female with sort of a Russian accent. The lady at the register was a slender white female. Cracker Barrel at the Southpoint Shoppe in Fredericksburg, VA could benefit from training their employees in how to provide good customer service and how to hold their implicit biases since they’re working in a customer service business right off of i-95 where you will get an influx of people from multiple backgrounds and ethnicity. Today was the last time I gave that cracker...

I went to this location this morning, the 22nd, like I do almost every Sunday with my family for breakfast. I did call ahead seating like I do every Sunday. We arrived at the store around 9AM. They weren't that busy. I had 3 couples in front of me checking in and a couple of groups behind me. The servers were standing around near the front, by the fireplace, waiting for more people to come and fill the tables. I finally got to the hostess stand and told the girl my name and that I had done call ahead seating. She found my name and started getting the menus and silverware packages together when a manager named Danielle came up and asked me if I had my whole group of 5 there? I said yes that I came in to get the table and they parked the car and was on there way in. She told me that she could not seat me until everyone was there. I explained to her that everyone was there, they were just parking the car and would be right in. She rudely told me that she couldn't seat me until everyone was physically standing at the hostess stand and I would have to get out on line and come back when everyone was actually there. As soon as I got out of line and went towards the door, they all came walking in and we had to get back in line. I don't really understand what the issue is. I understand that you don't want to seat people when the rest of their party isn't there. It takes up time with the table waiting and the server is not able to move people through the tables that they have. This was not the case at all. We were all there and was ready to be seated and order. I don't normally have issues at this location and I talk to the GM Don there all the time. I don't know who this Danielle manger is, because I've never seen her there before, but she definitely doesn't need to be a manager. She is rude and doesn't listen to the customer. I will not be going back to this location as long as she is still working there. There are too many places to eat that appreciate their customer's and I don't need to be treated like this when I'm a loyal customer and do the same procedure every week when I come in. For some reason today, it's an issue and I think the issue is Danielle. I won't be back to this...