Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

This review has nothing to do with food quality or wait staff, it is about management. I’ve been to almost every Cracker Barrel in NJ, this one in particular multiple times and I have also been working in the resturant industry for about 6 years now. Our meal was absolutely great. Our server, Miles, was amazing, he seemed newer to the staff team, he was very polite, punctual and made sure we always had refills, I recommend requesting for him as a server. Not until we were checking out did the experience go bad. We had to simply split the bill 4 different ways and somehow it took 22 minutes to cash us out. The woman cashing us out was extremely rude, flustered about the situation and clearly wasn’t sure as to how to work the machine. I wanted to just split it up on the calculator on my phone & give her the total amount for each check/​card, but she said «no it doesn’t work that way.» I know the POS system that they use, it does work that way. The worst part is, the manager came over to the second register because the line was now about 7 – 8 parties long waiting and trying to just simply cash out. Everyone on line was now gone and the manager walks away, while we are STILL WAITING to just split the bill. He saw this woman having trouble, and continued to do NOTHING. He saw how frustrated we all were and did NOTHING. But shine his fake smile over at me, like that would help the situation. When I asked the woman to get her manager, after he walked away, she said «no no no, I don’t need him, the computer just won’t let me do it,» 10 minutes later, she figured out how to solve the problem on her own. This all could have been solved if the manager helped us and told her to cash the rest of the line out. Or if he did anything in general. Very VERY poor management.

If you want outstanding food. This is the place was so amazing. Got country fried steak with mash potatoes corn and Mac n cheese, hubby and my son got meatloaf and mash potatoes and corn with veggies. Everything band I mean everything was fantastic and super delicious. Definitely coming back here with my family. The service was up beat and very professional. Money wise the price was perfect.

Everything on the menu is good but the pancakes are Sooooo good! Service is great. Something for everyone on the menu!

If even mashed potatoes have cheese and loads of fat, there is nothing more to ad. Food is uninspiring, unhealthy and not tasty. Even an old fashioned food can be done with quality ingredients and health of a customer in mind.

Great food and easy to get to. Can get crowded at times but well worth the wait. Found that it is not such a big difference anymore in price in eating fast food or eating at a sit down restaurant, where I can sit down and have food that tastes home cooked.

Cracker Barrel makes sense if you understand what this establishment is. It seems quite a bit of people get disappointed with the food when they come in with I misunderstanding of the cuisine. This is NOT Soul Food. It is SOUTHERN cafeteria style restaurant food. Even Lancaster Amish style I would compare it too. Although Soul Food and Southern cuisine share dishes they are still too different beasts. So once you take the soul comparison away you can really enjoy what they have to offer. Great Southern comfort food.
From Breakfast, to Dinner, to Dessert, to post meal shopping in the Ol’ Country Store you will have a very down home southern experience beginning to end. From Root Beer served in a frosty mug to Corn Breads and Biscuits brought to the table (add apple butter) this place holds a special spot in my heart. So cost effective for families and large groups. Less than 100 $ bucks for dinner for 6 and 3 desserts. Plenty left to purchase nostalgic candies, movies, and other tasty sundries you won’t find in this time and region.
The Order:
Friday Fish Fry — Choice of battered cod or corn mealed catfish. I went with the catfish. My sides were macaroni and cheese and lima beans with bacon & ham. Hush Puppies and tarter comes with. The catfish was perfectly crispy, moist, flaky, and extremely good quality and fresh. It was prepped properly with fatty parts removed. The fish was as good as my Moms and better than any of the many soul food restaurants and households I’ve eaten at. The macaroni and cheese was really delicious as well. It was not the custard type I love. But more along the lines of a rue based cheese sauce. Definitely not a boxed mac by any means. Limas were exact and on point and the tiny tender bits of seared pork fat was a nice addition. This dinner was just 10 $ bucks.
Deserts were crustless coconut cream pie and blackberry cobbler. Both wonderfully enjoyable with there slow churned ice cream.
In short, Cracker Barrel is a great family restaurant. A great place in general with a very warm feel. Also, understanding that there is a difference between Southern Cuisine and Soul Food will save you from plenty of disappointment.

Wait was about 20 – 30 minutes which was not a problem at all seeing as there is lots to look at while in the store. Food was spot on. Very consistent to other locations. I’ve visited many many cracker barrels as its my favorite restaurant. Service was the worst I’ve seen yet. Almost every table was always looking for their waiter/​waitress. At one point one lady said screw it I’m leaving $ 100 on the table and I hope it covers everything because she had asked several servers for her waitress 5 times to get the bill. Food took a while to come out. Servers need to be more attentive to the guests.

I definitely can’t say that I’ve ever had a particularly bad experience going to a Cracker Barrel and this one was no exception. On my way with my family, heading upstate to go visit my little sister at her school, we decided to stop off here so that we could grab a bite to eat. The people working here were very friendly and welcoming and as has generally been the case in my visits to these places, the food was great and came pretty quickly. I have no doubt that I will certainly be back.

Made a pit stop here on our way to the Pocono’s from Long Island. I’m a huge fan of Cracker Barrel and it’s rare for me to have it because Long Island doesn’t have a location. Got the country fried steak and it’s one of my favorite meals. MAKE A LONG ISLAND LOCATION!

I’m a fan of Cracker Barrel no matter where the location is, since this one is the closest to me I’m gonna say the staff is pleasant and the food is always amazing. My favorite place for breakbeat… Knocks IHOP way out the box…

My favorite place for breakfast! The service is always friendly and the food is great… although I can only speak for breakfast. The eggs are always perfectly cooked and my kids and husband love the pancakes.
Today our waitress was Mellen and she was a doll. So friendly and attentive. Looking forward to my next visit already!

I love the food, I love the music, the gift shop is awesome. If they paid enough I would just work here! Great staff, old school atmosphere in the Cracker Barrel tradition. Love it.

If there were negative stars — this joint would have gotten them. Went to a few locations in TN last year and decided to give the Mt. Arlington one a go… what a disappointment. We were seated fairly quickly, the wait was no more than 5 minutes. And then the nightmare began …
No one even approached us for 20 minutes in a fairly empty dining area. Other tables were seated and served, the table next to us got their meal and paid their check and no one even took our drink orders. A few servers gave us curious looks, maybe we were expected to serve ourselves.
Needless to say, left after the whole waiting fiasco and suggest they keep better track of their seating and server assignments.
Sorry, won’t be back.

A must have breakfast place. Fast service, good portions, great food. You won’t go wrong here!

I don’t know why I went here… oh, wait, yes I do… sometimes you just need a Cracker Barrel breakfast! I was off and needed a big meal before I spent the day doing leaf removal in the yard. The place was slow, not crowded at all, server was pleasant and nice. Food came out at a pretty quick place and was spot on for what it was. I had the eggs and bacon with biscuits. My mom also wanted to go, so she tagged along and got the French toast. She had a blast as this was her first visit to one ever. Nice little time at breakfast before the holidays start!

Without a fail always, always, always dirty silverware. I wonder how their dishwasher works? I come here every weekend, food is good but cleanliness? I doubt it after this very dirty silverware issue every time.

In a word — DELICIOUS!
I dined here on Friday November 20, 2015, in a party of two. It was about 2:30.
The waiter was so very pleasant and attentive! We both ordered a cup of the turkey noodle soup, which has fresh made noodles that melted in your mouth.
For our main course we both ordered the Apple n’ Homemade Chicken Salad. It’s such a creative combination of fresh and filling ingredients. Homemade chicken salad topped with crushed almonds and dried cranberries on a bed of mixed greens, with wedges of cheese, sliced apple and half of a grilled blueberry muffin.
This was a home run!

I’m not much of a breakfast person. However, if I’m going to eat breakfast you better believe its going to be at Cracker Barrel. This is the closest one to home (about a 30 minute drive) and I thank Baby Jesus for that every day. Cracker Barrel is not just a «breakfast spot,» its an experience. From the charming rocking chairs and games in the outdoor covered porch, to the shopper’s delight of a country store, to the AMAZING pancakes. It’s totally worth a trip. I love this place, my husband loves their Eggs in a Basket, my kids love the games and toys in the shop. Just a perfect place to enjoy breakfast on a lazy morning.

The Pancakes Alone make this place 5 Star worthy. They are edible crack. Turkey Sausage was little over done which is the only reason no 5 stars. But I will be back with the kids again and again. Just sucks this is the closest one to me about 40 minutes away.

I just love the Cracker Barrel Pancakes! Went on a mission to get here… and had the Country Fried Steak which was good. My BF had the prime rib sandwich I believe and he liked. But of course ordered a separate order of pancakes to go :). This place gets really packed on weekends so expect a wait. Staff was friendly.
PS. They also have the pancake batter to make at home ++

A Cracker Barrel in northern Jersey, who knew? I was here on a Friday during lunchtime and was seated right away. Weekend mornings are super crowded with more than 1 hr wait time, so beware.
To get to the front of the restaurant you must walk down a winding path through their general store. Theme parks and museums can get away with it, but a restaurant? Tacky. (Even though I fell for it and bought candy on the way out.)
I came in craving a chicken fried chicken. The platter comes with a choice of 3 sides, corn bread and biscuit. The list of sides is quite extensive. The big piece of thin chicken breast was nice and crunchy on the outside and the meat was fairly moist. It was topped with a creamy gravy. For me, it was like a well made chicken finger with gravy. I wasn’t too impressed and realized what I really wanted was some real fried chicken on the bone. Now I know.
What I really thought was delicious were the sides. I opted for the fried okra, green beans, and baked sweet potato. All tasty even the vegetables. The biscuits and corn bread were great too.
If I’m in the area and craving something fattening, I would come back for their breakfast.

This place transports you to the country, and on a Saturday or Sunday morning it’s a perfect place to get breakfast or brunch.
I went for the country fried stake and hash brown casserole (so rich and perfect, you may never settle for just hash browns). And of course grits, I thought they needed more butter, but I always think they need more butter.

I love Cracker Barrel and have for years. I find you to always be a wonderful meal with friendly staff and it’s just a nice atmosphere over. This Cracker Barrel’s location was no different.
The service was great — greeted by a friendly face as soon as I entered to put my name on the list. Smart that the hostess was right by the door so I didn’t have to squeeze through the store to find her. Table service was nice. Kept coming by with the coffee pot which was great cause dad and I both drank a ton.
Mom’s apple cinnamon oatmeal was great looking and tasted nice when I snuck a bite. I loved my yogurt with fruit and granola. So yummy. I really loved how there were some almonds mixed in — gave it all a nice texture. Such a nice filling breakfast since it came with eggs, a muffin, and turkey sausage! Dad’s meal was great too and he ate every bite. Where he put it all, I don’t know. Cracker Barrel portions are huge.
I wish we had Cracker Barrel on Long Island because I love it so much. I look forward to hitting one up when I can. And next time I’m in jersey I’ll hopefully get to stop on again.

I love the concept of a store that leads into the dining area. There’s knick knacks, a plethora of old school candies, books, candles, and everything else you can think of.
This place screams old school country fed with extra sides. Portions are not that great depending on what you order. Some things are under seasoned such as the collard greens, hash brown casserole, & roast. I’m not fond of the biscuits or cornbread either.
I ordered the Shrimp dinner which came with three sides. I ordered okra, hash brown casserole with mac & cheese. Our waitress was very sweet & comical.

Overall 3 stars
Food 3 stars
Service 4 stars
Atmosphere 4 stars
Value 4 stars
Will I go back: only if I have to.
Cracker barrel is cracker barrel. People seem to love it. not sure why. It’s ok, but not that good.
Food
The food is decent, and the choices are varied. I have friends who insist on going on sundays for their homestyle chicken special (which I admit is pretty good). Other dishes are hit and miss. e.g.: «chicken tenderloin» is really chicken nuggets.
Service
Service is very good. Attentive, with suggestions. no trouble getting refills on drinks or getting attention for questions.
Atmosphere
The country store is always pretty cool. Checkerboards and rocking chairs for waiting.
Value
Pretty good prices for what you get.
Will I go back?
Only when I’m with friends and am over ruled.

Came here on a Sunday afternoon with friends. We came from nyc so it was an hour drive (wish it was closer). When we got there we had a little wait, around 20 minutes and got seated.
This place looks very vintage which is a plus and the food came out pretty fast! Our server was awesome! She was very polite, professional and down to earth.
I ordered the sunrise sampler which had 2 eggs, 1 piece of bacon, ham, sausage patty, hash brown, gravy, grits, and apples in jam. I wasn’t too happy with the dish since it was pretty small, but the biscuits and corn bread saved my meal haha.
My friends got the chicken fried steak and they enjoyed their dish
This place was okay, I guess I need to order something else next time I visit.
Enjoy

I’ve never been to Cracker Barrel but we stopped by on a Friday night as a pit stop. When traveling in different states, it’s hard to find authentic food since mostly all you see are random Chinese buffets, chain restaurants, and drive-in’s, which may not be a bad thing.
I think CB does try to distinguish itself with its Southern décor (reminded me a little bit of the Confederate era… haha…) and its storefront that resembles a high-​end general store. They sell all types of things including glass bottled coke for 1.39 or 2 for 2.22 which is a pretty good price (as in, it’s likely the price or less of 2 canned coke’s in NYC) and decorations, notebooks, picture frames, even clothes.
We were seated immediately and had our order put in quickly. Now, coming from the city of «oh my god, your lunch was under $ 10?», clearly I really took much appreciation for the price because I can’t remember the last time I saw dinner for under $ 10 — even with a Groupon. For about $ 8, I was able to get fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and buttered corn. You can’t ever go wrong with mac and cheese or corn, whether it’s in Harlem or it’s at CB. The fried chicken was more breaded, but it tasted good because we’d been driving for about 2 hours, so just about any kind of food would have sufficed but CB really hit the spot.
Their selection of sides is also amazing, especially if you opt for vegetarian options since they have so many things from fresh apples to string beans. Also, note that refills are free — what?!
The waitress was also super nice and kept checking in with us. You pay in the front, which may be a bit inefficient since everyone else has to pay too, but it’s definitely an eat and go pit stop experience.

This review gets a 3.5
Came here with my friend on our way back to NY after a busy day skiing/​boarding. Always love stopping here on a way back to NY.
Brett seated us and was definitely on his A game super sweet… But he wasnt our server. Tina served us she was really good.
I ordered hash casserole, biscuits, mac and cheese and fried apples! It really hit the spot. My friend ordered pork chop, mash potatoes and beans
After we recieved our food Tina came over asked how everything was told her so far everything is good. Right after she left my friend was cutting into her pork chop with the butterknife on the table and it was not succesful… Silly rabbit butter knifes are for butter!!!
We looked for Tina but couldnt find her so although our waitress wasnt around to other tables we asked
Melanie (another waitress) if she could bring us a knife bc the butter knife isnt cutting the pork chop… on her way back she said sure. Never returned instead was socializing near the kitchen came back and forth to other tables of hers. Fine i get that you need to tend to your tables but when someone asks for something that simple. Why couldnt you do the nice gesture. She past us a good 4 times as if we werent there acted as if we never asked her for it!
Aj happened to be nearby we asked him to get us possibly a steak knife and if he could reheat the pork chop since it has been sometime it has gotten cold.
AJ was to the rescue and helped he brought back the pork chop to get warmed but when he returned he came with another butterknife. So he went and returned with a steak knife in about 1 minute. Way to help out
Our waitress came back to check on if we needed desserts we told her the pork chop situation so she was going to check on it. (This was before we got the porkchop back from getting warm) she did apologize
Overall we love crackerbarrel the food is always consistent and all the cute stuff in the store is always fun to rummage through. One day i will buy myself those rocking chairs! !
Overall serve pork chops with knives that will cut. May sound silly but it wouldve given this more stars

My friend and I became obsessed with Cracker Barrel after finally eating it for the first time in Florida. We are from NYC. There are no Cracker Barrels in our area. So glad this location is the closest.
Upon arriving my friend and I were instantly greeted with smiles. The customer service for Cracker Barrels are through the roof. With every location I go to, it’s always the same. Getting seated fast wasn’t a problem. This location is very clean well kept. The fireplace was going. The vintage tools and pictures that are on the wall are so interesting to look at.
Our waiter was very friendly. Took our orders and our food came out in under 20 minutes. I always get breakfast. I rarely order the lunch or dinner. This time I got the Old Timers breakfast. At Cracker Barrel, you will get so much food. You will never leave here unsatisfied.
Cracker Barrel’s never disappoint. I recommend it.