Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

I'm from the south and love southern cooking. Having said that, what kind of recipe is Cracker Barrel using for their mashed potatoes? I know the recipe they are using and it's potato juice that the potatoes are cooked in or just water. They are hard as a rock and have black pieces of something (I guess it's bad black potato skins) mixed into the blob of hard potatoes. I'm pretty sure they don't use any butter or margarine and no salt. This is a slap in the face to the cooks of the south and to the southern population that loves southern food. Mashed potato recipe: cook potatoes until they are completely tender, then dip the potatoes out with a big spoon that lets the potato juice drain away and then put the potatoes in a bowl, add butter (a lot is better than less) and let it melt before adding milk and salt to taste (this means you can taste the salt in the potatoes). Then use a kitchen utensil called a potato masher kitchen tool and mash everything in the bowl together or use a kitchen mixer. This is not a difficult recipe.

Superb in every way.Waitress was on point and that's why she received that $1,000 tip.

Food is good but the waitress is so rude. I don’t want to name drop. I have dietary restrictions and asked to substitute a side (menu said y’all offer substitutions) and she flat out glared and said “no” so I had to scramble to find something I actually could eat, and I wanted that Cracker Barrel experience if that makes sense? I had to get carrots and broccoli for the price of something way higher. I can get that anywhere. I don’t know what we did to offend her but she was rude to the entire table. She made us all so uncomfortable because everyone else was ready to order, I told her I had to find something else because I couldn’t get the initial meal since I apparently can’t switch a side out, and she said she wouldn’t until we all ordered. So she literally stood there and glared at us. I wish I was over exaggerating because this sounds so dramatic but I kid you not this is how she was acting. I hope her day gets better I guess.

Avoid this Cracker Barrel. I go to Cracker Barrel restaurants all the time, and in general they are very reliable. This particular restaurant is not. I arrived tonight at 8:30 and was told by the host it would be a 20-30 minute wait. After 30 minutes, I asked how much linger and he said 10 at least. He also said that most servers left at 9, so it would be slow. I asked how long it would take if I ordered to go on the app. He said 15-20 minutes. I placed the order almost immediately and the app said it would take 36 minutes. I have been sitting on the parking lot for 36 minutes and the food still isn't here. If they were honest from the beginning, I could have easily gotten food in a timely manner somewhere else.

I have always liked Cracker Barrel with their southern style food but . . . This is the second Cracker Barrel I have been to in the last month (one in Chattanooga and one in Murfreesboro that has told me their latte machines were “broken”. Made me think of McDonald’s and their ice cream machines (when was the last time you found one of those that worked? . Now you no longer get grits as part of the fixins’. Grits are cheap! I love them. With my meal, you got biscuits and gravy and a choice of hash browns or apples. I personally would prefer the grits rather than hash browns. Of course you can purchase grits separately. I did ask the server if this new “rule” pertained to all breakfast or just the one I chose. It seems it now pertains to all breakfasts and, lucky me, this was Day 1 of these new menu changes I was told there are other changes. Oh well, we’ve got to figure out a way to get around the “grit rule” without an extra charge. If not, I’ll be making my own at home. I did notice there was practically no one there and it was “prime” breakfast time 8:30 AM.