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Terrible Food Rip Off Rude Manager
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- BEWARE of the Las Vegas Cracker Barrel! Today, I purchased a family meal from the Las Vegas store #CB0741,, paid over $40 for to go and gave them a 25% tip. I picked up my meal and noticed I was the only customer there. When I got home (over 15 miles away) I opened the chicken and dumplings family style and it was almost empty! It was only 1/4 full - not enough to feed 2 people let alone four.. and the biscuits were all burnt and dried out.. They were at least a day old. I took pictures and immediately contacted the Manager, Taylor. He was very rude and refused to help me or even comp a portion of the meal. He said I would have to drive all the way back over there...

I explained I was 15 miles away. He clearly did not care. I normally love Cracker Barrel and have recommended ya'll to others many times. However, this store has a problem.. The food is terrible (many times) and they have a ton of negative reviews. Who charges their ONLY customer over $40 for a family meal, rips them off and gives them burnt biscuits? Unbelievable!! I tried to contact customer service multiple times and you never answered the phone or responded to my emails. You have lost a loyal customer over this! Not that you care. Please see pictures I took when I got home and opened the containers.

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Worst Job I Have Ever Had
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

PIGEON FORGE, TENNESSEE -- I worked at Cracker Barrel for 5 years. Recently, I moved and transferred to a new location. I was a Par 4 server (the highest you can get). Everything everyone has said here is true in regards to how they treat their employees. At first, I thought the managers were great. But, I should have remembered...they are ALL nice to you when you first start. After a month or so, the reality unfolds. Servers are run like dogs and talked to even worse. What we are expected to do...most people would never do. They are so concerned about numbers and labor, that they will cut the floor so drastically, that a server ends up with a TEN table station. How can you expect to get good or even "decent" service when your server has TEN other tables to take care of? On top of all that, we are expected to run...not just our tables' food...but everyone else's food too. We are responsible for answering the phone to take "to go" orders and putting those orders together, as well. At the same time, we are trying to keep the service alley stocked. Oh and in these mid afternoon hours...they send the salad/dessert person home. So, the servers have to make salads, soups and desserts too! All while the managers sit in the office. Every once in a while, one manager will come out of the office and tell us that we need to "step it up" and "run more food". How can you have 4 servers take care of the whole restaurant and keep up with all of this? It's IMPOSSIBLE! That's why service sucks most of the time. They don't care that we are there to make tips and provide good service. That is not their concern. If you really believe CB is about caring and family....you are SORELY wrong. That is what they want you to think. But, behind the scenes....it is OPPOSITE.

I have never been written up before. I was fired because I had to go out of town on a last minute emergency situation. I called HOURS before my scheduled shift and was told not to bother coming back and "good luck". HOWEVER...the manager left me on the schedule. Quite confusing. But, I had a suspicion...and I was correct. He wanted to make it seem like I did a "no call, no show". And I was right. I called Home Office and left a message and someone called me back a week later. I explained what happened and was told they would "look into it and get back to me". Never heard from them again. Let me be clear...I was not looking to get my job back. I just wanted them to know what was going on in this store.

Being fired was the best thing that ever happened to me. I felt like I was dying inside working there. I have a great new job that I love. Cracker Barrel is where servers go to die. Period. That's why their turn over is one of the highest in the industry. Sure, you have a few that have been there for countless years...but, most of those people have been there so long, and they are older people...and they don't want to go off and try to find a new job and start over new. Understandable. Most of them are so beaten down and it's sad.

I didn't realize how much working at CB was affecting me mentally until I left. I'm sleeping better, I'm happy again....and I'm not looking back.

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Inside Cracker Barrel Restaurant
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN -- I wish to state that I want to remain anonymous. I have worked at the brighton cracker barrel for almost a few years now mainly in the back of the house position. It is a very busy store but it has its good and bad. They say that they give anybody a fair chance for advancement in the company but that is not true! They choose whom they like based on their favorites. And I feel that I have been over looked for advancement primarily based on my age. Which is against the law!!

If I was 18 again or in my early 20's I would rapidly get cross trained in every department. If you work in the dish room area that is regarded as the lowest priority spot in the whole restaurant. Even though they are the backbone of the entire store. The severs are very rude and demanding. I have especially noticed that on very busy holidays the dish room area is under stocked to where every other part of the store they have people right where they supposed to be.

But when the big boss come through they will schedule or call in people to fill the spots that aren't usually covered in an average shift just to put on a show for the big boss!! They schedule at least 2 closers per shift and expect you to be out on time. Because they want to get their bonuses on how much labor they don't spend. They have at least a 3rd person scheduled until about 8pm. But that still doesn't help if you are stuck with a person who is under trained or doesn't want the dish room shift.

They don't give people a fair chance for advancement by hiring straight from the outside. They need to look at gee who hasn't done this yet? I think they would be good in backup or grill line? We have had a new store general manager now for a few months now. And right off the bat he has to make all these changes not even considering or listening to ideas from anyone else.

It is actually stated in the cracker barrel rules that you have to "embrace changes" not even realizing that these changes will affect the way we work and get out on time. And above all that, once a schedule has been posted every thursday they can go in and adjust your hours without giving you any notice. One time, I knew that I had friday night off and had already made plans to where I was completely unavailable. This manager declared that I was on the schedule the friday night shift. They adjusted it thinking we should be aware of it on the printed out schedule? I knew for a fact that I was being setup!

If you need a good hourly job do not apply at cracker barrel! I am mainly holding on to this crap of a job for the hours and I have not and will not mention my identity just because of the fact that I knew what the facts of cracker barrel are. They are not an equal opportunity employer. Please copy and post this review anywhere you like. I am telling you straight from inside the doors of cracker barrel. Do not apply! Let them see their own fate!!

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Terrible Quality and Quantity Food at high price
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

EVANS, GA, GEORGIA -- Items ordered and illness afterward
1. Kids tender - 3 pieces of 1.5" long chk. brst for $5.69 with no taste and half cooked.
2. 6 Oz. tasteless Sirloin, NOT grilled over fire, but in pan style. Burnt/black outside and Rare inside, instead of MRare. $12.99. It came with two side dish. I would rather eat much better stake at T-Bonz, Logan's, OutBack, Long Horn and many more that gives bigger portions, cooked right and very tasty and juicy stakes than crappy Cracker Barrel (“CB”) for similar price. My wife's favorite is Outback, while mine is Long Horn and Texas Road House.
3. Chk.Rice Bowl – server came back to say, did not have, changed to Veg. soup – was coup size. enough to fit 2 very small bowl that CB's sample butter is served-in (as wife and I shared equal portion), $4.99. We would rather go back to Panera and many other local places and get varieties…
4. Kids burger - very small, very dry & thickness like a cardboard, in 5 small pieces because it was scraped off the pan grill and broke off into pieces (killed to death), tasteless, no condiments, no tomato, no lettuce - nothing on/with it - $5.19. Even as bad as McDonald kids burger is, it is much better than the crap at this place (CB). At least MCD has some crap on its burger and is not cooked to be a cardboard.
A side dish was ONE scrambled egg for 1.60. I buy fresh ORGANIC dozen of eggs for $.99 every day locally.
Now, let's see. If I would have gone to Golden Coral, I would have paid the same exact amount and got to eat whatever we wanted and if we did not like sample of something, we could have gotten something else- unlimited stakes, chicken, soup, and much much more. Let's say, forget Golden Coral which is fresh, quality and quantity.
Cracker Barrel shares parking lot with a Burger king that serves many tasty, juicy burgers (to include 2 Whopper for $5 -6.00). BK's Kids burger of the same size as what cost me $5.19 at Cracker Barrel, comes with stuff that makes the burger tastes good and is not dry like cardboard. It even comes with drink and fries. Better yet, BK's Kids burger is double Order (meaning 2 tasty Jr. burger/same size - on piece meat broiled (not pan dried like cracker Barrel), with 2 fires and 2 drink for only $3.99. Let's say forget Burger Kingh, because CB cannot compete with it by NO STANDARD (no taste, no quality, no price).
Soup and Salad places in town for the price of $5.99 to 7.99 offer unlimited different/varieties of QUALITY soups, salads, bread and deserts that Cracker B. can never compete or compare to.
Let's see if there is any restaurant in town that Cracker Barrel can really be compared to:
Oh yes. Price that Cracker Barrel can be compared with Bee's Knees. However, there are major differences between CB and any of the ones names above.
They are:
1. Quality in which Cracker Barrel (CB) extremely lacks.
2. Quantity again CB badly lacks.
3. Price, in comparison to what was served at CB - extremely high.
4. The other restaurants' food did not make my family sick. But Cracker Barrell's did - even though we only eat a portion of the food brought to us. My wife and I both had diarrhea until afternoon the next day and could not eat breakfast because of our stomach/cramping.
Most importantly, our two toddlers 2 years and 3 years old both got fever of 104 degree Fahrenheit and 102f respectively and we had to spend a good portion of the day before Christmas (Christmas Eve) in Emergency Room.
By the way, we brought the rest of the food home and kept in fridge to have a reminder sample of how bad the food in Cracker Barrel was.
I finally used collective reasoning and narrow the common denominator to realize that we all had a piece of CB's Roll and a portion of its tasteless dry cornbread -which caused us to get sick. Because, my kids would not taste the soup, my wife had a small byte of stake before she pushed her portion aside, no one touch the tasteless chicken strips and my son eat a portion of the cardboard -with a lot of water, because he loves burgers.
The server asked IF we wanted to speak with the manager. After hearing my wife being so displeased and angry that we could not eat most of the food, she started speaking aloud which caused the other customers to turn our direction; hence, I told server "No, not at this time" and I tried to hurry and leave the restaurant area.
The next day, between being sick and managing the kids' sickness and fever, I called the restaurant several times to speak with the manager, after going through the options (any option - order food, ... speak with customer service), all options rang about 10 times then, went back to the greeting message again and again. We will never look back at another Cracker Barrel and will share our terrible experience with friends and families.

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1-star for the night shift 3-stars for the day shift
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

FLORIDA -- I worked for Cracker Barrel as a dishwasher for a little over 2 months and I had a mostly negative experience overall. The only good thing about the experience was the interview process, they were up front and honest and they actually called me back in less then 24 hours telling me that I got the job. They offered me a job in dish (I applied for several positions) so being the broke 19 year old that I was I accepted their offer. So the first night I came in for the 4-11 shift on a Friday night and it just so happened to be the busiest Friday night in this location in history so I got a true "trial by fire" on my "training day". I did not get out until nearly 1:30 because they made us clean the entire kitchen while the late night cooks and manager gave us 0 help whatsoever even though we were 2 and a half hours past schedule. I lasted about 3 days on the night shift before I asked to be put on the day shift which to my surprise the managers agree to let me do this. My co-workers were nice enough but I went from working with teenagers in my pervious employment to working with reformed gang members and people with more tattoos then teeth. I never really had a problem with them, it was just the managers, the prep-cooks and the bakers that were just the worst. The managers (other than the one who interviewed me) at my store had no sense of humor at all and they were very demanding and critical of us. While the prep cooks and the bakers consisted of 40-50 year old drug adicts with the maturity of 15 year olds (this one baker tried to pick a fight with me for putting her pans in the wrong spot). But the best part of my job was the mid-afternoon shift where they only have 1 cook on duty and their were next to no dishes to clean. I ended up quitting because my hands were so badly burned (here's another thing to, no matter how many gloves you wear your handed will still get burned/shredded) that I could not continue with this job. So in conclusion I would say that if you enjoy this kind of environment and needed a job as badly as I did then apply but if you have any other options whatsoever I would highly recommend that you explore those other options.

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Product exchange
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA -- WOW: Cracker Barrel! Always been a fan and can't imagine how much money I've spent over the years or MIGHT have spent in the future. MIGHT have spent in the future is because i'm one of those people who votes with my pocketbook and when I get screwed out of money by a business, well, I spend that money elsewhere going forward. So I was given a gift that was purchased at “ The Old Country Store”. It was a shirt and clearly marked 39.99. I was not given the sales receipt, only the shirt. Unfortunately it did not fit so I called CB to ask if I could exchange it and was told, as expected, that I could. I then used my time and gas to drive down to exchange it only to find that they no longer have that shirt in stock. I was however offered a gift card in lieu of the shirt so I agreed to go that route. As I was about to receive the gift card I was told that I would be receiving a card worth $4.40. Excuse me? $4.40 for a 39.99 shirt? That's only .40 more than the sales tax! That's policy for a return without a receipt. I understand company policy but that is straight up robbery and quite an insult. I told them where they could put the card….in the garbage, and I'll give the shirt to the Good Will. But is that really how you treat the people that keep you in business? I would have spent way more than 39.99 by the end of the year. But, I'm done there. Just thought I would post this as a “buyer be ware” as they currently have all their football gear stacked up, Christmas junk is coming in the back door and they are looking to sale all that stuff to unsuspecting customers. So watch where you spend your money. Looks like the retail business is a Win win for Cracker Barrel and rip off for you, the customer, should you need to exchange something. Did not realize their greed. I can't wait to tell the gift giver what they did. I know him and can promise he will stop spending there too. Great job CB. You ran off two customers today.

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I love my job, but hate my atmosphere
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

AUSTINTOWN, OHIO -- Ive been a server at Crackerbarrel for several years, am a Par 4 server, also hostessed, and cooked before. Management doesn't care about anything but Goal Hours and numbers there. Our General Manager once told us that servers are a dime a dozen, so imagine how motivated I was to work hard for him after that??
My friend was scheduled a 9-8 shift, and when she was in the breakroom having a bite to eat she got yelled at for taking a minute to eat. This girl is a trainer and par 4 n works very hard there. Meanwhile managers eat whenever they want, and sit out in the dining room expecting us to wait on them while we take care of our other guests. And surprise surprise, you think they leave a tip? No!
Management must be taught that yelling is suppose to motivate us, because I've read complaints all over the US that this happens at all CB. They need trained in positively motivating their workers, and making it a less stressful place to work, because yelling does nothing and yet were suppose to greet our guests with a smile, right! Lol
its not uncommon to take a vacation then they "forget" to schedule you the following week. Its like your punished for time off you deserve.
It use to be a fun place to work. We use to dress up for halloween and get to wear football tees on Sundays. We use to have Christmas parties but now they have a summer picnic during our work shift, how nice we don't even get to sit down n enjoy it..
we recently got a female manager and I thought, great! Someone with some compassion! But shes no different then the rest and fits right in with the yelling. She threw a tray on the counter n it fell off and she didn't pick it up.
I can barely stand it there anymore and if it werent for my kids id quit in a heartbeat.
I think Crackerbarrel has really good food, but I really wish everyone that ate there new how poorly they treated their employees. I love my job, I love being with people, but our management needs an overhaul.

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WORST place I EVER worked!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

NORTH CAROLINA -- My purpose for writing this review is to warn anyone thinking of working at Cracker Barrel to look for employment elsewhere!
Without a doubt, this is the most horrible company as far as the treatment of it's employees! I worked there for 2 years ( looking back, I can't believe I even stayed that long ) and was a dependable and very hard working server. My evaluations reflected that as well, but I was treated like dirt!
Favoritism is a huge problem there. If you're " 20 something " and look good, you can do anything and break any rule and get away with it! The managers like the young girls who hardly do any real work, but bark and scream at the older ladies like they are scum!
They expect you to tend your tables, run everyone's food, answer to - go phones, bus tables, and even help hostesses seat people all at the same time! They drill into your head the " PLEASING PEOPLE " slogan, but that is impossible when they are pulling you in 10 different directions!!! Then, if you have more than 8 people at a table, you have to work with it another server ( company policy ). The table sits there for well over an hour and you end up with $ 5 a piece, but yet you're still doing all this other work for $ 2.13 / hour! I even had to help in the dishroom some nights when it was slow and those guys make more than minimum wage!!
Bottom line : this place should be turned in to the labor board!
NO BREAKS are given no matter how long you've been there, and server pay is all you get for working your butt off taking up everyone else's slack!
I regret that I wasted 2 years of my life there that I can never get back. I am a hard working person and they took full advantage of it! The managers only care about their bonuses and drive their employees like work mules!! I thought maybe it was just this particular location, but now after reading more reviews, it's apparent that Cracker Barrel is just a crap company all the way around! If you're thinking about a job there, just consider yourself warned! ( I was warned on my first day of training by another employee of how much I would hate it...I should have listened! ).

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Hair in My Food
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

FLAGSTAFF, OKLAHOMA -- My husband and I ordered two chicken salads. When mine arrived, there was a hair in it. The waitress was called to our table and she took my salad back. Another salad arrived 15 minutes later. Any other establishment would have said, "no charge to your table for this error on our part and bad experience". We did not even receive an apology. This is highly unusual!

I put a review online about the Flagstaff store No. 297 - visited on 10/23/2015 and they sent a letter to us saying, "how are you doing?" I expected to see a coupon for 2 free salads. Cracker Barrel will not be a restaurant we will go to unless we are with a group who want to go there. And believe me, we will tell them about your lack of customer care and kitchen negligence.

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Worst Place of Employment
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MILFORD, CONNECTICUT -- When you first get hired everything is great until a couple of weeks. They give you about 14 hours at most on a good week but this doesn't mean you'll work all 14 hours you might get sent home early. I was once asked by a manager if I wanted to go home 30 minutes into my shift, if you take off time they won't schedule you the following week as if they're trying to get retaliation. Breaks are rarely given, even after you worked a seven hour shift you may go to the back to sit for 5 minutes or you may have to go to the restroom, 2 seconds later there's a manager screaming in your ear through a walkie talkie asking your location.

The worst manager we have is an older lady who is very rude and doesn't even address you by your name, she's the biggest headache there. Don't leave your job thinking CB is better because so far this has been my worst job so by any means stay away from them!!!!!

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Cracker Barrel Rating:
Star Star Empty star Empty star Empty star
2.0 out of 5, based on 44 ratings and
72 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Cracker Barrel
305 Hartmann Drive
Lebanon, TN 37087
800-333-9566 (ph)
www.crackerbarrel.com
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