Let’s review Cracker Barrel!
Cracker Barrel is an American chain with a Southern country theme that was founded 51 years ago in 1969 in Lebanon, TN. There are over 650 locations in the United States with one in Park City and one that opened up in the past year in West Wichita.
For the purpose of this review, we visited the Wichita location near Kellogg and Ridge Road where it’s a chain haven with many other popular chains nearby like Cheddar’s, IHOP, Carlos O’Kelly’s, Golden Corral, Rib Crib, Abuelo’s and a host of others.
To begin our dinner, we were given complimentary biscuits and cornbread. Both were kind of on the meh side. The cornbread was dense and more on the plain side than sweet; just not much of a taste to it. The biscuits were ok but could have been fluffier. Regardless, they were complimentary and didn’t make or break our dinner.
For dinner, we went with the pot pie which was huge and nearly had the circumference of the entire plate. Flavor-wise it was kind of average. It was slightly bland. The dish seemed to miss some of the flakiness and creaminess many pot pies have.
My brother and father went with the fish fry special along with the chicken fried steak. While I didn’t get too much feedback, they both seemed to enjoy their meals. The whole point of us going to Cracker Barrel was because my father wanted to for that particular meal.
Lastly, I went with their meatloaf. I’m such a sucker for meatloaf and fall for it nearly anytime I see it on the menu. Most of the time, it’s a failure as was this visit. The meatloaf was incredibly dry as seen in the picture below. The outer edge had a burnt texture; just a poorly done job.
Lastly, $5.69 for this kids meal of three tiny chicken tenders and a little cup of prepackaged apple sauce felt a little steep for me. For $2.50 more, I could have ordered the adult size platter and received what looked to be five chicken tenders that were larger and two sides. Yikes.
It was a big hit or miss dinner for us. But like many chains, that’s how it is. Obviously, Cracker Barrel is a hit for many due to its constant crowded evenings. For me though, the food is a miss.
I’ll give them some credit, they do a great job with their customer service. All of their servers were very polite, helpful and on top of things. They have certainly excelled there on every visit to Cracker Barrel.
Happy Dining
Eddy
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You were incorrect in where Cracker Barrel started. It’s Lebanon, Tennessee. Its still their headquarters today.
i was there recently i got the meatloaf nice flavor but was mushy in texture and mashed potatoes were only warm. Cornbread i got were very dry. My one sister got chicken liver which i had 2 were awesome. Other sister got the chicken potpie but was not impressed was not creamy a bit watery. Maybe just a bad day but will try again.
It is Lebanon Tennessee my Home Town where the first Cracker Barrel was not Texas
I just like the southern fried chicken. And the apple dumpling is a A-. Service was good, but they want you to tip the person bringing the to go order out when you call a order in, please.