Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

First time ever in a CB. Came with my cousin I picked up in TX on our way back to my state CA and he loves this place. He got the steak, rare. I got the hamburger steak. Both were good. Levi was our waiter and was super awesome and efficient. I see why my cousin likes it. Its a nice vibe and there are lots of retro sodas and other knick knacks available for purchase. Glad were finally getting one in Bakersfield.

I love Cracker Barrel and service was great but fryer was broken and the server informed us anything fried would take an extra 15 min to cook. I appreciated him letting us know. Got the Cracker Barrel Sampler; dumplings were mushy and cold; Meatloaf was like sand and just burnt and fell apart; Ham was delicious! They gave me 5 fried apple slices, server forgot my loaded sweet potato and that took forever and you can see the presentation pictured, and I didn’t get my grits. I would understand if they were busy but there was only about 3 other tables.

GETTING SAT: Came for a noon time lunch. Joined the waitlist online that said about 40mins. Checked in… an hour later we asked about our table and the less than professional hostess assured us they texted our number and called us over the intercom “thirty minutes ago”. This was false. A more professional and probably senior hostess interrupted and stated we’d have the next available table. SERVICE: Our waitress was professional, kind, but also incredibly overwhelmed. Talking to her was stressful because she gave a “hurry up I have more to do” vibe. Despite being overwhelmed and overloaded, service was great. She checked in regularly and was courteous. FOOD: I haven’t been this disappointed in quite sometime. I understand we’re in a pandemic and restaurants are hurting, but there are still standards and minimal expectations. seating: the area we sat had a filthy window seal covered in old food, dust, and discarded plastic wrapping. meal: the okra was stale, the fries tasted as if the grease hadn’t been changed in a timely manner, the chicken was dry, the dipping sauces were about as thick as oatmeal and offered poor tasting flavors ranch, bbq, honey mustard. Overall- I’d highly recommend you go just about anywhere else. The bad food and dirty seating areas are not worth the good service.

This was my first time to Cracker Barrel and I will not be back. The experience started with the hostess Brenda having no social skills and barely saying a word to us except that the wait will be 20 minutes after having reserved online and already waiting half an hour. She then escorted us to our table and chucked our menus on the table. Our waitress then came out and was helpful, she got our drinks which was coke... well not really coke the syrup had run out which I explained and was delivered another glass of brown coloured soda water which was supposed to be coke. The waitress then delivered biscuits to our table with no butter just milk, Am I supposed to churn it myself ?? Neither my wife or I got offered a refill of our drink even though they were both empty for the majority of the meal. 2 stars for the meal itself it was the only redeeming quality.

Ordered breakfast to go and it was completely disgusting. Pieces of bacon were uncooked and flavor was extremely bland. I ordered the loaded hash brown casserole, the entree NOT the side and it is advertised online with green onions and tomatoes. Those were missing and I was given a much smaller portion. The sweet baked potato is advertised with pecans and pecan syrup, those are missing from my potato as well and it’s too salty. They must have hired new cooks and been trained not to pay attention or care for customers, same with the staff. They never answer curbside orders anymore and will be standing at counters talking & laughing, you have to interrupt them to be assisted.

Great food, the place was packed! Noisy! We waited 15 minutes. I had grilled chicken tenders, green beans, mac and cheese, biscuits, tea. I'll get the fried chicken tenders next time.Food: 5/5

It was okay. Service was really slow, even though the place was mostly empty. Food was what you’d expect from Cracker Barrel, except they only gave my wife like 5 fries … we had to ask for more, which they provided.

Two factors that made me give this place one star: Bad Service and undercooked food. Bad service; the waitress was not very attentive. We had to repeatedly ask for napkins and silverware. The silverware was dirty not the waitresses fault. Our waitress also had a bad attitude, when we would ask for something she would walk off without letting us finish our sentence. Undercooked food speaks for itself. We managed and ate around the undercooked food to not bother the moody waitress. All I expect is standard service. I get that waiters and waitresses are under-appreciated, underpaid, and overworked but we customers pay for service and are also under-appreciated, underpaid, and overworked.

Despite the staffing shortage, my party and I were texted fairly quickly that our table was ready. Aisha, our waiter was very friendly and attentive. After ordering our food, we were informed that they hired new cooks and certain menu items had changed. As it was my first experience at a Cracker Barrel and the new cook situation, I was a little disappointed in the way the grits and catfish were cooked grits were hard soupy and undercooked and catchfish could have been seasoned more and fried a little longer for more crispiness. I decided to try other items like the biscuit beignets and the hashbrown casserole tots which were much better. I'd come back and maybe try a different location in the future, all in all not a bad diner experience.

Edit 11-8-22 I have reduced my review from 2 stars to 1 after trying to contact guest relations as suggested in the reply. The email you provided is not a valid email, so I tried calling the number. The menu was frustrating and time consuming, then it tells me you are experiencing system problems and cannot complete the call. Did that twice. So finally I decide to try and visit your guest relations website as suggested in the call so many times, and your website is down and will not load either. Just....wow, what a waste of time and poor "guest relations". 3 swings, and 3 misses is what's known as a strikeout. Is this what cracker barrel has become? It used to be my reliable road travels dine in spot. Original Review: So I wish I could give this location a good review after eating here, I like cracker barrels. The hostess and waitress were nice enough, but I ordered the chicken and dumplings meal with a couple drinks, and the dumplings came out cold sides were lukrwarm at best but didnt say anything. So begrudgingly I told the waitress. She left for about 2 minutes and came back with a plate that may have even been colder than the first. Send it back again and 10 minutes later after ive eaten my sides while they were lukewarm, it comes out hot finally. By this point I've lost my appetite between the wait and the sides, so I got about 2 bites of my main and had to pack it up in an odd container for a runny dish, and paid my bill with a couple sorrys said. ‍ Honestly feel like I wasted money, i know the food wont be as good reheated. Parking: Nice parking lot, lots of space, and they have RV and Bus spots available in the back. Unfortunately over half the RV/Bus spots were taken by small cars and trucks, despite a lot of other available spots for cars.