Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Driving to Nashville, TN from Huntsville, AL was an interesting deal. I met up with a friend of mine here at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Brentwood, TN, who happens to be one of the persons responsible for my crazy traveling and the marathons.
Or the inspiration behind my craziness. lol Well, you know. And so, it came to past on a nice random Tuesday on the last day of May 2016. The drive itself was fairly neat and I arrived here at the Cracker Barrel here in Brentwood, TN. First time here and I didn’t know what to expect. The Cracker Barrel is separated with a gift store and a fully functional restaurant, which is unique and cool at the same time. I also grabbed a complementary map of all the existing Cracker Barrel restaurants in the USA. Wow, they’re pretty much all over the place, except Hawaii and Alaska. My friend and I went to the restaurant side, which was not really crowded, so we got a table almost immediately. On a random Tuesday for early lunch was good and definitely famished from the drive over from Huntsville, AL for sure. The restaurant itself is quite rustic to keep up with the idea of being southern and country, considering that I was in Tennessee anyhow. Even though they have many locations across the USA, it’s always nice to have southern cuisine anywhere and everywhere you’d like to travel. It’s like being in a small diner, but large enough to serve up many on any particular day.
The overall experience here was rather great, considering that I got to meet my marathon mentor. Although Cracker Barrel is decently good for what they have to offer and offer well, I would like to take this opportunity to say that it always nice to be here and the service is above average. It was cool to find out that one of the servers had gone to the same college as my friend’s son. That was a cool coincidence for sure. I had ordered the meatloaf that day, which came with French fries and cheesy grits. Grits is a little weird for me, but it went well with the melted cheese that was sprinkled on top of it. The French fries and partial meatloaf was boxed up and saved for later on the road, as my friend needed to get somewhere in a hurry. We also shared an order of fried green tomatoes. They accept major credit cards, which is always a good thing. They also have restrooms in the restaurant and I didn’t think that they had super good air conditioning, but it was fairly comfortable to enjoy a light lunch in Brentwood, TN. The prices here was fairly decent, as southern cuisine can be inexpensive — depending on what specials they have and what you enjoy eating. For what it’s worth, the restaurant was very well managed and we got our order within 15 minutes of ordering, which was great.
This Cracker Barrel is located on 1735 Mallory Lane in Brentwood, TN. It was easy to get to, although this time around, I missed the correct exit and had to double back. Should have been exit 69 versus 71 on I-​65, oh well. With that in mind, the meatloaf was pretty delicious and the French fries were nice and it just hit the spot. I had just water with my meal, although I should have ordered sweet tea with my meal. Oh well. On the flip side, their gift shop contains a lot of stuff that you can buy with Cracker Barrel logos enameled on them. Everything from clothing to cups, mugs, and other assorted souvenirs. Glad that my friend chose this place and enriched my stomach with the flavors of southern comfort food at its best. While Cracker Barrel is a chain restaurant, it’s a cozy little spot to hang out with friends and enjoy each other’s company. I enjoyed myself, especially being a tourist among these parts.
4.0 stars solid! Recommended if you’re in the area and love some southern cuisine.
Support local!
B+

First of all I want to say I’m a huge fan of Cracker Barrel. I have been to hundreds of Cracker Barrels across the country but I have never been to a Cracker Barrel as poorly managed as this Cracker Barrel.
We arrived for a late breakfast and we were seated right away. We ordered, nothing special, just regular menu items. We watched as other people came in, sat down, ordered, were served and then left. We were still sitting there. The waitress Caitlyn never stopped to update us about our order. We attempted a few times to get her attention and were told she would check on the order. Still nothing. Eventually we asked for the manager. A manager named Charlie Smith came out.
I explained the extreme delay. Charlie stood there smiling and chuckling. I asked him what was funny and would he find it funny if it were him, he said «no probably not».
I found Charlie’s behavior as a manager to be completely unacceptable. I found the extreme delay in receiving our order completely unacceptable. I feel that this Cracker Barrel reflects poorly on the Cracker Barrel brand.

This past Sunday evening my family went to cracker barrel on Mallory lane for dinner. This table of about 10 placed their order AFTER ours. The wait was long then we finally saw food coming to the table that placed their order AFTER us. They kept bringing out tray after tray of food to that large party with 3 servers waiting on them hand and foot. Mean while my 5 year old son was waiting on his Mac and cheese! My son politely asked the server when he finally came over if he could get a water server comes back out and sits a kids water at the other table! Furious with still waiting on food and the simple water request I asked for the manager. I talked to the manager and asked WHY our food wasn’t even out when the other table placed their order after us. All he could do was say sorry that they had new people in the kitchen and said he would at least get my son’s Mac and cheese out to him
.NOT! He never brought his Mac and cheese and it finally came when our food did. I asked our server why the other table was waited on hand and foot by 3 servers and we couldn’t even get served by one server, he just made the excuse of being tired. This was a 2hour ordeal and we didn’t even have to wait to be seated. 2 FREAKING hours!

Wow, who thinks to read reviews of Cracker Barrel?! I’ve always thought of the chain as being pretty consistent, but something is going on here. I think CB is doing the same thing as a lot of restaurants these days, and that is cutting and skimping on quality. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited. Did they change the bacon? Biscuits and gravy? Just not very good and definitely not what I remember. I feel like CB has been going down hill for awhile, and we’ve been making excuses for them. In fact, my last few visits in the last few years have been disappointing. Every single time I’ve ordered eggs over medium they come barely cooked, and this visit was no exception. CB needs to get back to basics in my opinion. They are missing the mark. Pretty soon they’ll be missing customers.

Worst service of any restaurant that I have been to in a long while. There were plenty of tables open but it took us 10 minutes to be seated. After being seated we sat another 10 minutes and never was waited on. We walked out and drove to McDonalds. Cracker Barrel is usually better than this. I guess this particular restaurant didn’t want my business.

I worked at Cracker Barrel from age 16 to 21. I am an advocate. I brag on the food quality to my friends and to people who have never been. However, my local Cracker Barrel on Mallory lane in Franklin/​Brentwood (I live less than 2 miles away) is a constant disappointment. Generally the issue is with food temperatures more so than the service. This morning’s visit was the worst that we have had here, having started going to this location when it opened…
I took the family to breakfast, arriving at 10:15 am and was told there would be about a 15 minute wait which was close to accurate. We were greeted at the table by Wes who was great!!! (To the management, beyond Peter, who needs consultation from upper management, you have a star in Wes). We placed our orders without incident and waited… It had been a bit past a normal wait time when the table beside us (who were seated after us) arrived received their food. (It should be noted that we ordered 2 bowls of oatmeal, biscuits and gravy with a side of bacon, and a smokehouse breakfast with sausage). At that point, Wes pointed out that he had placed our order before theirs and apologized, saying that he appreciated our patience. When the wait continued well beyond that, Wes brought us biscuits and apologized again. We finished the biscuits and still no food. Then, when the food did finally arrive, the oatmeal and eggs were cold and the bacon that was ordered crispy was barely of a cooked color. At this point, spotting a manager (Peter) bussing another nearby table, I approached him and asked if he could join me at my table, so that we could speak with him about what was happening. Peter finished bussing the table and then went back to the kitchen, where I watched him pass a few times not acknowledging us and tending to new tasks. We watched as Wes went looking for him trying to find him. By the time Peter the manager made it to the table (about 7 – 9 minutes after we had asked to see him), we had resolved to leave and not continue our breakfast with Cracker Barrel and to just leave. Passing both he and Wes in the aisle as we walked out, I handed Wes a $ 20 and pulled the manager aside and asked why he never came and explained that he had earned a walkout and told him how great Wes was. He said «I had other things that I had to do» and I told him that I had worked for the company for 5 years in multiple states and that I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t come when he had a customer who was upset and on the verge of leaving. I kept my voice low and gentle, as there was a crowd, but was shaking because I was so upset. Amazingly enough, he never said anything else. I told him that we would be reaching out to corporate in Lebanon. If you’re reading this Lebanon, I would just ask that you perhaps council Peter on great customer service and what that looks like. When we got into the car, we noted the time was 11:34, so that sets our ordeal at about an hour depending on the actual wait time to be seated.
I know what a great place Cracker Barrel is. When working there, I was sometimes the recipient of customer complaints during my shifts at 7 different locations. I know good and bad service and care and this location and this manager need some assistance. Quality is too often an issue at this location (highway 96 and the Harding i65 locations are great), but this time it was too much of an issue and there was too little care from someone who should care not to write.

This place was just okay. We had a waiting time of 20 minutes to be seated when there were so many empty tables available. In addition, the wait time after we ordered the food was about 45 minutes. Our server said it was because people had called out and the kitchen did not have enough people.
Food wise, I tried the sampler which came with meatloaf, chicken and dumplings and something else. I was not a fan. Maybe it’s an acquired taste but i probably should’ve stuck to a place that just sells fried chicken.

First off… I love Cracker Barrel. When I dine in it’s 100% perfect. When I get to-​go orders they are 100% messed up some how. My question is how do you get a to-​go that is right? I got one tonight at 9 pm I bet they would not have given that to their regional manager. Very disappointed. And it’s only the cool springs location that this happens at.

Brentwood Cracker Barrel knows their biz! Food was great the order was perfect. The tea never ran out and the server was always available. The only drawback is that I couldn’t get cornbread for breakfast. Otherwise this place is great.

So who reads these things? Sometimes it’s the business owner. Cracker Barrel is a chain store. It’s usually a fun, consistent experience. Even a fun place needs whack in the forehead now and again. This business uses a centralized kitchen to ensure consistency across all stores. What happens when the central kitchen takes a wrong turn? It can be bad even if the local kitchen prepares things properly. It’s worse if the local kitchen doesn’t follow directions.
Fried chicken is a southern comfort food staple. It stands on its own. Cracker Barrel’s new fried chicken entrée can’t. Fried chicken with barbecue sauce is a fail. It fails here not just because it’s paired that way on purpose, but because the chicken is so poorly prepared it actually needs barbecue sauce to hide behind. The bird’s heavy batter best serves as semi-​tasteless armor coating for overcooked meat (as if it wasn’t tough enough already.) The predominant flavor was of the fryer oil that browned it.
The sweet potato fries offered yet another experience worth avoiding. My server refused to accept the first order from the kitchen because it was burnt. Kudos to the server! What was finally accepted for service (late in the meal) wasn’t burnt. Neither was it completely cooked. Undercooked sweet taters just don’t make the grade either.
This is a far cry from the chain store experience I’ve known for years. Then again, I’ve tended to stick with breakfast menu in the past. It’s a safe bet I’ll go back to that strategy on any return visits.

Very accommodating when I bring my toddler in. For the most part, customer service is good and food is consistent.

Good olé country everything! The wooden structure sets the tone to an authentic country dining experience. The entrance porch is lined with a selection of handcrafted rocking chairs, an extra large checker board w/​gigantic chips to play w/​while you wait and its set on top of a wooden barrel. Awesomeness. When I entered it was like stepping into an Americana museum. Lots of farm and antique artifacts hanging from the ceiling. It was very nostalgic. Below those items is the gift shop full of country cool items. There is a gas/​log fireplace lit up to keep us warm from the 28 degrees outside. Every table has a Pegs game to play while you wait. All the Cracker Barrels I’ve been too have the same set up. I ordered Biscuits, corn bread with Sweet Tea. I had to have that its the staple in these parts. I had the meat loaf which was full of flavor and juicy. Chicken dumplings screamed «this is straight up Southern Comfort food» if you live far away. Eat Chicken dumplings on a cold day. It will bring the South to your Mouth! The country ham had me thinking of different ways to have this. This ham would be good in a sandwich, a salad, a party tray. It was delicious! I’ve never had Hash brown casserole and it was so tasty I had to make note and remind myself to get the Southern style recipe for that. My tummy was so happy. I had side of cheese grits. It clung to my ribs like a warm hug. I ended the meal w/​a coca cola pie and ice cream. Our server «The Wolverine» was Nashville’s best. He was like the meal! Full of personality. He made my trip even more memorable. Hey Wolverine! 5 stars for Brian the Cracker Barrel Wolverine

Love Cracker Barrel but this one is always a hit and miss. Brian is a GREAT server and that’s one of the reasons we come back. It’s also the closest one to us, unfortunately. But tonight the poor hostess was required to take to go orders, seat people, and bus tables. When I spoke to the manager, Derek, about my concern that she was overworked, he barely let me get a word in, «ok, ok. thank you ma’am» while looking over my shoulder and continuing to try to keep walking. Not cool. Found 2 fleas on the table that they suggested were ants (because apparently they’ve had a problem with ants, not fleas…). Final straw was my daughter seeing another patron banging a biscuit on the table to demonstrate it’s hardiness. We left and drove to the Armory Drive location. MUCH improved there…

It’s a family favorite. The food is southern, style and is very good. For me, the best thing is the breakfast with pancakes. In my opinion, they do an amazing job with the texture, and they accomodate guests by heating the syrup. If you’re wanting a hot meal for dinner, I would recommend their meatloaf.

I had lunch yesterday at Cracker Barrel and was pleasantly surprised. I ordered the chef salad and it was fresh with real turkey and ham (instead of the processed deli meats that some restaurants used). There were lots of cucumbers and tomatoes and 2 delicious deviled eggs. I don’t usually like the croutons in most restaurants, but their croutons were really good. The service was also great and he kept my ice tea filled.
The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is cleanliness. My table was against a wall and the hanging décor was dusty and covered with grime.

Stopped by for breakfast on Friday November 15, 2013. Been there many times but this was the worst by far. Took about 35 minutes to get our simple order for myself and the wife. As happens frequently at this location, when the food finally arrived things were missing (sourdough toast, sausage, jelly and butter). My order included the worst pancakes I have ever had… they were both cold and tough !!! Well I might have had some equally bad at the International House of Pancakes on 21^st avenue near Vandy years ago. My wife’s breakfast had cold scrambled eggs and grits.
I also want to complain that some regular items that have been on the menu for years have recently been removed… specifically the order of sausage and biscuits that came with a side of fries. I believe this happened when they added «wholesome» entrees to their menu recently.
On the positive side, our server did keep us supplied with hot coffee as we waited for what turned out to be cold food !!!

The service is good here as usual. The breakfast hit the spot.

My fiancé and I normally come here for a quick bite to eat after a long day at work. The staff has always been friendly, and the food is always delicious. One of my favorites is their rainbow trout. I normally don’t eat a lot of fish, but this was so tasty! The chicken and dumplings are also one of my favorites as well. :)

Cracker Barrel has been steadily slipping in quality of food offered at the restaurant, most notably over the past 12 months. Each visit, we say, «wow, this is getting bad… this may be our last visit» and tonight I believe may have actually done it for us.
Menus change. I get that. So the fact that I can no longer get beef stew, steak n’ biscuits, or, most disappointingly, molasses (!), is not reason enough to write off CB. However, the lackluster service, the lack of care by both management and crew, and the total disregard for food quality is what is unforgivable. The servers have no drive, no spunk, and no ambition. The food is underseasoned, overcooked, and may or may not be what and how you ordered. The cashiers don’t even ask «how was everything? as they take your money (because, I believe deep down, they know) and no management is in sight.
Tonight’s food took a while to come out and wasn’t even hot when it did. One of our orders wasn’t prepared properly and, although they did correct it upon our request, it happened without an apology or any apparent concern.
As a good Southern girl, I want Cracker Barrel to survive. I want it for me and also for the other 41 states who have locations. I want them to know that country cooking is more than butter and bacon and salt… it’s love. And love is exactly what is missing from the current menu.

So I’ve never experienced Cracker Barrel before since I’m from Cali. I have to say it was a pleasant experience! Definitely some good olé southern hospitality from the hostess to the waitress. Loved to homey feel of the gift shop and loved the food. I had the berry multi grain pancakes and I must say they delivered! I love that the syrup wasn’t normal maple syrup but blueberry or boysenberry. The bacon was cooked perfectly and they got my eggs right! I like them scrambled in the pan and usually still get scrambled eggs. Loved y first experience and will definitely try something else next time!

Gonna be a little honest and say I didn’t enjoy my CB experience. We were put in the section where all the waitresses had zero stars, which I think that means experience. Anyways, one of the people in our party has a dairy & egg allergy, which she told the waitress right away. The waitress was looking right at her as she was explaining this and then the waitress goes, «Hi, my name is such and such, welcome!» and totally ignored the allergy comment! She eventually got a special menu, but it was missing a page. So we get our food finally, and my eggs were cold. and I asked for two scrambled eggs, but it looked like she gave me maybe half an egg. I did sent it back so I could get warmer food, and they brought me more eggs (which I didn’t mention). Anyways, this was the only negative CB experience i“ve had, so I’m not quitting!

What’s not to love about Cracker Barrel? People rightfully rave about breakfast, but there are three meals during the day and they don’t care when you order breakfast. The dinners are incredibly good, I’ve never had an issue. The fried fish is very very good, as are the chicken tenders. Try the dumplings as a side if you do the chicken. As for breakfast, it is very good. The only issue keeping it from a five star rating is consistency. My wife loves over medium eggs and almost every time we go… we have to send her eggs back b/​c they are too runny. If they get a couple of cooks who can do a proper over medium, this place would be perfect. Mind the crowds during weekend breakfast…

DID I EAT THAT???
Okay, the eggs, forget about it!!! Nothing to write home about! The french toast, well YES PLEASE!!! The syrup, oh yeah baby, bring it on!!! Turkey patties… HECK YES!!!
The pictures on the wall, make this place a fun place. The small girl on the wall with no hands kept us laughing the entire time. Still joke about it. I don’t eat here much, but when I do, I try to stick to things they can’t screw up as I have been let down before by many Cracker Barrels.
Only thing lowering them to 3 stars was our waiter… he was slower then molasses!!!
So if you aren’t on a diet… Cracker Barrel it up!

Stereotypical, artery-​clogging, cracker barrel of fun! Extra gravy please!

I did not eat here so I have no idea how the food tastes.
I wandered around the store, looking for something cute to bring home. They had some old fashioned candy that looked interesting but I don’t need anymore reasons to gain weight!
There were some toys and some clothing but nothing was really a stand out in my opinion.

Stopped in for Breakfast. Had a very attentive waiter who was always ready to bring that next cup of coffee. Service was swift, and the food was just as good as I’ve come to expect from Cracker Barrel.