Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

"I have eaten at Cracker Barrel for years and never had such an awful experience. The waitress had to be new because we had to ask for our drinks, biscuits and jam(which I found out is only offered at breakfast which I’ve NEVER heard). The steak we ordered was medium rare with blood on the plate, when we ordered it well done. They took it back and brought it back still not well done with blood on the plate. The manager on duty was very rude and talked down to us. Definitely will not come back here and don’t recommend this location."

"The quality of the food and service at this location has tanked completely over the last 6 months or so. I don't know if there was a change of management or what, but it's been rapidly declining and today was the last straw. We have been loyal customers of this location for years, sometimes even ordering 2-3 times in a week for various meals when life has gotten busy for us. We will no longer be patronizing this location and will be sure to let family and friends know to also spend their hard-earned money elsewhere. The last several orders we've had items missing or incorrect with no apologies, rarely corrections for it, and nasty attitudes for no reason. Today, when my husband had to go back inside after discovering that the gravy was missing for my order of biscuits and gravy in our pickup order, the woman was very rude, did not apologize for the missing item, and practically threw the bag with the gravy in it at him when she came back out with it. He was not rude or short with her or anything like that; he works in customer service himself and understands how rude people can be over a simple oversight so he makes it a point to be as patient and considerate as possible in these types of interactions. There was not a single reason he gave her for her to give him an attitude AT ALL. I even made sure to tip 10% when placing the order (which, is a courtesy, not a requirement for pickup orders), so there is not a single excuse for this negative treatment. We paid extra to ensure decent service. Look, we know Valentine's Day is a busy day—generally breakfast times are not as bad as the evenings—so we tried to chalk it up to how busy it was this morning. However, that still does not excuse her behavior in a customer-facing role. We've been inexplicably getting worse and worse attitudes from staff here each visit. We've inexplicably getting worse and worse food quality, along with paid-for items missing each order. If the help wanted sign on the front-door is indicative of anything, it's that this is a management downwards problems. We've tried to be patient and understanding for long enough, but we're done trying. Look at other reviews for this location with similar problems and take the note."

"On 1/20/24 I visited the restaurant at 1511 Riverboat Center, Joliet, IL. I want to preface this with Cracker Barrel is one of my absolute favorite restaurants and, when given the choice, this is where I want to go to eat. On this evening at approximately 6:30, we were greeted by an amazing host and seated. After close to 20 minutes, we finally had a server come to our table to get our order. We chose to order our food and drinks at the same time since it had been so long. Our orders consisted of Chicken and Dumplings (mine), 2 Chicken Fried Steaks and the Country Fried Shrimp. Chicken and Dumplings is my favorite item on the menu and it is what I look forward to and just about the only thing I ever order. Another 15-20 minutes goes by and the server comes over and states there is a problem. They have run out of Dumplings. I was terribly disappointed and couldn't understand why on a Saturday night when they were not even very busy could you run out of one of the most popular dishes on the menu. Also didn't understand why it took so long to let us know. I searched the menu and landed on Chicken fried Chicken and asked that I have country gravy on that and the mashed potatoes I had ordered. At that point, we were also informed that there was no country gravy. My husband and daughter's boyfriend had ordered Country Fried Steak...they weren't offered the option to change their order, they were just told they would get brown gravy. When 3 of the 4 entrees were received, we finally got the biscuits we ordered. If we were going to be forced to wait that long, why wouldn't they have at least brought out the biscuits?? Also, the biscuits were tiny. Not like in the past. I received my order with a side of country gravy and was completely confused. On top of everything, all of the sides were minuscule in portion size and nothing like what we were used to receiving with our meals. One person paid extra for the premium side of the broccoli cheese casserole. He received one large floret...that's it. My daughter's order of shrimp was bland and she said the shrimp weren't even crispy. Ultimately, my meal was comped but I honestly feel the entire check should have been taken care of. To be in a restaurant that is not busy in the least and to wait that long for a meal is ridiculous. To say I was disappointed is an understatement to say the least. I will NEVER return to this location. Something needs to be done about the quality of the food, service and wait times."

"We’ve tried to keep giving this establishment another chance and today took the cake! We will never go back! Put an order in to go, picked greens as a side and this is what they gave us. When my husband asked for more he was told that they measured this and no they would not increase the portion. I’ll surely spend my money elsewhere. Never hear with subpar quality."