Cracker Barrel has fallen

#5
#5
hog88 said:
Their doom started when they eliminated the breakfast pork chop.
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Even earlier for me. They stopped being authentic when they removed buttermilk from the beverage selection (yes, you could once order a tall cold glass of buttermilk to go with your pinto beans and cornbread)
I’ll wager that no one in the corporate offices has EVER drank buttermilk
 
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#8
#8
OrangeTsar said:
New remodel and new logo ditches iconic and comforting brand identity for soulless modern corporate banality
View attachment 765684View attachment 765685
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Our company provides the new banquette seating and front of house cash wraps. They claim market studies were indicating they were too dark and needed a updating.

My opinion is the fall off in the quality of CB food even in just the last few years. We don't do CB often, but the last 3 times we have it might as well have been IHOP food. The cult classic hashbrown casserole is anemic in flavor and texture compared to the past. And doesn't even seem fresh anymore. Like they went to pre-prepped and packaged corporate dishes that just get thawed/reheated on the kitchen line. Like Red Lobster or Olive Garden.

Oddly, the Mt. Juliet location was one of maybe a half dozen pilot locations for the update and got really strong customer response and they ran with it.

Make good food fresh, and they will come. Decor is secondary at best.
 
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#9
#9
OrangeTsar said:
Just like everything else in corporate culture. It hit me the other day just how boring car colors are today. If you pay attention, maybe 1 car in 100 actually has a real color other than white, grey, or black.
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Even those new blues/greens/grays are running accross all makes and still all look the same.
 
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#11
#11
OrangeTsar said:
Even earlier for me. They stopped being authentic when they removed buttermilk from the beverage selection (yes, you could once order a tall cold glass of buttermilk to go with your pinto beans and cornbread)
I’ll wager that no one in the corporate offices has EVER drank buttermilk
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My dad would break cornbread up into a glass of buttermilk and pepper it.

I tasted buttermilk once by accident. Confirmed how nasty I already knew it'd be. And I was a milk fanatic. Prefer whole milk though. Reduced fat milks remove some very beneficial enzymes from hte milk, and those enzymes in whole milk actually aid in weight management. Not everything low fat equals healthy.
 
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#12
#12
Wonder how long till they ruin the pancakes. Seems they are the last decent thing on the menu still.

After our last 3 trips in 3 spearate locations hours apart over prob 12 months, we came to the conclusion the food quality decline at CB is a corporate issue and not a location management issue. We've not returned.
 
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#13
#13
GVF said:
My dad would break cornbread up into a glass of buttermilk and pepper it.

I tasted buttermilk once by accident. Confirmed how nasty I already knew it'd be. And I was a milk fanatic. Prefer whole milk though. Reduced fat milks remove some very beneficial enzymes from hte milk, and those enzymes in whole milk actually aid in weight management. Not everything low fat equals healthy.
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I hated buttermilk as a kid but once my mom convinced me of how good it was for an upset stomach (it really is) i eventually came to love it. Only later did I discover just how many probiotics and active cultures it contained.
Now I drink it for its flavour as much as anything else.
 
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#15
#15
GVF said:
Wonder how long till they ruin the pancakes. Seems they are the last decent thing on the menu still.

After our last 3 trips in 3 spearate locations hours apart over prob 12 months, we came to the conclusion the food quality decline at CB is a corporate issue and not a location management issue. We've not returned.
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Yes, there has been a marked downturn in food quality at every location I have eaten at the past few years. I had already cut back on visits; but this may be the final straw for me.
 
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#18
#18
Tin Man said:
There's Waffle House.
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My neice and her husband are both with WH corporate in ATL. Although they are in Ashville now since he got tapped to straighten the regional stores out up that way.

WH corporate is a great gig for young college grads. And well paid. They do require 12 months in a store location and only start around 50K. You learn and do everything, even yelling out the orders and cooking. But, once you pay your rookie dues, the job, benefits and pay when you get to corporate are impressive.

And I can't say I've ever regretted a late night patty melt plate at the WH. Not sure I've ever had a bad meal at one. Unlike HH.
 
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#22
#22
OrangeTsar said:
Yes, there has been a marked downturn in food quality at every location I have eaten at the past few years. I had already cut back on visits; but this may be the final straw for me.
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The re-hab is not that big a deal. Although the uber redneck decor was the calling card. But, the current food quality is damning for them. Haven't quite put my finger on it, but when you eff up the hashbrown casserole that was once the food of fighting men everywhere and make it flavorless and weird feeling in hte mouth...you got issues. They did have really good chicken livers, but now I'm hesitant to order them anymore. Haven't in a while. But the T-Mart on the corner of the TTU campus has the best chicken livers in 5 counties.
 
#23
#23
hog88 said:
Their doom started when they eliminated the breakfast pork chop.
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I’d say it was when they started selling alcohol and I’m not saying that as a moral issue. It showed they were willing to abandon their business model to reach for some profit on a product that seems completely out of place in their restaurants.
 
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#24
#24
Tin Man said:
Twice during my recent road trip, I elected to breakfast at Waffle House. Double order of hash browns, scattered, smothered, and covered, side of sausage, and the ever refilled cup of joe.
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And fresh prepared before your very eyes. With or without teeth. Never thought much of WH gravy biscuits, the gravy or the biscuits. But that prob only thing I don't care for at WH. I always get the toast to sop up the eggs anyways.
 
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