Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Restaurant in West Palm Beach

Food & Waitress:

The food at this location is delicious. The Waitperson did a fantastic job! I wish there were more waitstaff like ours. Caroline, though very busy, checked on us several times and made excellent recommendations. It was apparent she made other tables feel the same as compliments flowed. I had the Chicken Fried Steak and two large fresh biscuits with delicious southern gravy. I was amazed, but it seems your food is back! I would eat here and at other Cracker Barrel locations again.

Facilities:

I noticed the floors covered in dirt, food particles, partial napkins, and more. The flooring condition near me was not just a remote location. I took a moment to stroll the entire restaurant looking at the antiques, and the dirty floor was not localized. My shoes made a velcro sound, sticking to the tile in several dining sections.

The bathrooms were disgusting! First, I observed an employee (Dressed in a Cracker Barrel Uniform) exiting one of the bathroom stalls went and observed later he returned to his shift without washing their hands.

The floor under the urinals was covered in pee. When I say covered, it was in the middle of the bathroom; I won't go into any theories as to why this was the case.

The stall to the back went unflushed and overflowing with excrement and paper towels. There was no toilet paper left in the dispenser. I stepped back, going to the booth where the employee exited, again the same unsightly stall, completely unacceptable. I washed my hands and dried them with paper toweling and used it to pull open the door. I decided to wait until later and exited.

I saw a sign outside the restroom asking customers to report bathroom problems. I told someone who appeared to be a manager, perhaps of only the country store. She explained it was jam-packed but would have someone look into my report.

I returned to the table, and my partner immediately reported the same issues in the "Womans Room." We paid the check.

I thought to stop back in the bathroom on the way out, only to discover nothing had changed; very disappointed.

On BoonDocking:

We occasionally boondock (Parking without power or city water and sewar services) in our "Class C" motorhome, Cracker Barrel is one of a few chain stores and restaurants that allow overnight parking after checking with a manager.

One of the unwritten rules of Boondocking is to support those who host your overnight stay. It's also common courtesy when boondocking to be considerate in not taking up multiple parking spots, putting out slides, getting out chairs, and watching television. I believe the majority of those who spend the night are respectful to others and the facility.

When overnighting at Cracker Barrel, I feel it's an obligation on anyones part to eat dinner with Cracker Barrel, which is likely why folks are allowed to stop overnight. Serveral times I’ve encountered a retail location that allows overnights, where employees were living in parking lots in cars, mobile RVs, and makeshift trailers, most vehicles in a state of disrepair. This Cracker Barrel is one such location.

While finding employees in the food service industry is challenging, allowing employees to turn your location into what looks like a homeless encampment is terrible for business.

It's my opinion, If retail services allow employees to live in their parking lots, provide them with a livable space, perhaps buy a few well-kept units. It also seems to me it's unsanitary as these employees have no place to bathe or use bathroom facilities after closing hours. Nobody wants to be served by people who do not have access to running water and shower facilities. Next to this location are two three-star hotels right nextdoor, why not deal with these companies to secure a block of rooms for those needing temporary housing?

I will invite someone from this location or Cracker Barrel Corproate to elaborate on this review. I do have more photos but can’t share them here.

Thank You so much Caroline for taking such good...

TL:DR: Service really slow, ran out of food ordered, over charged for what I did get, No manager or resolution.

The Too Long: This was the worst experience I have had in a long time. I walked in and got seated right away. Shortly after I got my drink and food order in as I was ready to go and knew what I wanted. I specifically asked if they had chicken and dumplings and was assured they did, they were out of broccoli though. I was hoping for a quickish meal so I settled for green beans and a salad. That's when things got bad. A child a couple tables over was blaring his tablet of random noises. Not cracker barrel's fault but they chose to allow it. After about 10 minutes or more I noticed groups asking about their food and the long wait times. I became aware its been over 15 minutes since I ordered and no drink yet. Finally the drink arrives with my salad another 5 minutes later but with no dressing or corn bread. I wait patiently as my server pops in and out with other stuff for other people each time making eye contact with me. 10 minutes later I get the very watery ranch dressing and the cornbread but no butter. I'll deal, just glad I can eat something. As I finish my salad my server comes back and tells me they ran out of Chicken and Dumplings before they got to my order... I probably have been at this table for almost an hour at this point, remember the wanting a quickish meal? I just asked to be charged for the drink and side salad and I'll go. Another long almost 10 minute wait to get the check and i was charged for a full dinner entre salad (much larger salad) and my drink. It was almost more than the cost of the full meal I originally ordered. My server disappeared again so i just went up front. I don't usually ask for a manager but I was ready to try new things. To no ones surprise there was no one up front and a line of people waiting to check out. Another 5 minute wait some one showed up and started cashing out everyone. I was informed that the manager was unavailable because he was in the kitchen preparing food and was only offered a unapologetic "sorry". The employee reached over as I was reading the card machine and gave herself a 9 on the survey. Over an hour and twenty minutes to over pay for something I didn't want. I'm truly sorry I made the mistake...

Stopped here on our road trip up the coast. Do yourself the favor and drive the 20 mins to the next Cracker Barrel this place is a hot mess. We saw our waitress 2 times once when she took our food/drinks after we waited 10 minutes to even be acknowledged and a second time to drop our food off and the check at the same time… how welcoming! I ordered the chicken tenders and they were so thick I might as well have just bit directly into a live chicken itself. Disgusting. All of the food was lukewarm because our waitress found it more important to chat with her coworkers than to have it delivered to our table.

We finish our meals and again We wait on our lovely waitress so we could plead our case for a box to bring this disappointment of a meal home.. maybe the dog will eat it! You would’ve thought we were invisible it took us grabbing a different waitress to get a box so we could just leave this circus of an establishment. My partner and I go to the front to pay at the register, there is one gentleman working the register and a line of approximately 7 or 8 people waiting to pay. My partner waits in line while I peruse the shop. Well this action was very suspicious to Cracker Barrel employees, enough to when i was leaving I was asked to open my left overs bag (hint! It was empty!) And show the receipt for my meal. I understand I probably looked a little bit rough after being in the car for 6 hours but my god how humiliating and dehumanizing. Cracker Barrel as a company is usually pretty okay, but this is 110% the absolute worst location and worst restaurant and store experience I have ever experienced. Terrible food, terrible management, terrible employees, corporate has been contacted

⚠️⚠️⚠️DO NOT GO HERE! GO LITERALLY ANYWHERE...