Cracker Barrel praise from Kelly
 

Yesterday morning on Regis and Kelly, Kelly showered huge praise on Crack Barrel restaurants, an eatery she had discovered on the weekend.

I'm in the PR business (nothing to do with Cracker Barrel) and I've never heard such a positive unsolicited plug for any business.

At the heart of it was how much her kids enjoyed the gift shop, and how good the pancakes were.

Sometimes serious travellers get pretty sophisticated; I too have spent lots of money in restaurants.

But back in the days a few years ago when I drove my father and uncle back and forth from Toronto to Florida, we always tried to fit in a Cracker Barrel meal. A big serving of beef stew can sometimes (well, usually) be a lot better than sauteed goats eyeballs on a bed of bitter lettuce (called something diffferent in Italian, of course)and topped with squid ink. $37.95.

Uncle Winston always wanted one Bob Evans for breakfast on the trip, and I always wanted one Shoney's.

What are your non-sophisticated favorites?

BAK

Waffle House. Greasy food, greasy floor, greasy table, greasy menu, greasy servers... Love it.

Or... Huddle House serves the same food, and the atmosphere isn't as "greasy"...

Chili's - can't get enough of those southwest eggrolls.

Wafflehouse was good in my college days after a night of partying.

Although it gets dissed a lot, I've always been a Cracker Barrel fan, only because I can't get any type of classic "comfort food" where I currently live. Another favorite for comfort food when I'm in the US is Black Eyed Pea.

Pappasitos is good for Tex-Mex.

Statia....My TA moonlighted for a Black Eyed Pea in the Dallas area for 10 years.He gave some recipes and one of them was Black Eyed Pea Dip.Never made it on the menu but definitely one of the best dips I have ever had anywhere.Also have the squash casserole recipe, but alas, not one for the rolls!!

Dennys is tough to beat for breakfast.

Personally I am a truck stop fan for breakfast but that does not really fit the "chain" mold.

Wafflehouse? EeeeeeeYuuuuuk
JMHO

I love Cracker Barrel. If I am "pigging out" I get the chicken fried chicken w/country gravy and mashed taters - YUM! However it is also a good choice for healthy food - their veggie plate is great (pinto beans, turnip greens, carrots, green beans)!!

There is a small dumpy restaurant in my little town which hasn't re-decorated since Truman was President. Remember those dark old wooden booths, and sitting down at a table before the waitress clears off the table from the previous customer? Gross right? When you walk in it looks like a cheap whore house.

That dump is always full and has outlasted dozens of other resaurants including national chains. Farmers and Bankers sit side be side. Its all about the food. Greasy and lots of it!

IHOP and Denny's for breakfast only! IHOP I have near home, Denny's is on vacations since they are not in NY

BeachBoi, their squash casserole has always been one of my favorites!

If you should be in a state with a Bojangles, RUN there! World's best biscuits....... wonderful breakfast can be had there! :-) Also a BIG Cracker Barrel fan from way back!

Where in NY do you live? I'm in the albany area and we have Denny's everywhere - I can automatically think of 5 or 6 in our area.

The Cracker Barrel, what a hoot! Does anybody actually "eat" in one of those places? Oooops, I do recall one, posting here. Tsk, tsk!

SmilingStill - I suppose you go there just to shop?

Sigh, I remember when we arrived in Florida, the first night here. There was a Cracker Barrel near the hotel. I was so disappointed..But I do remember IHOP for pancakes when I was a teen and allowed to drive daddys car..off I would go with my girlfriends and we would have big stacks of pancakes and giggle and look at the <i>Boys! </i>
:)

I would LOVE to know what all of you hoity toity Cracker barrel detractors (smiling still, scarlett) dislike about the place. The breakfast there is hard to beat. What could they possibly do to make it palatable to your delicate sense of taste. And to Ms. Still, yes lots and lots of people actually eat there and love it. Who, exactly, are you trying to impress?

I think Cracker Barrel detractors simply do not like Southern &quot;comfort food.&quot; Don't really know what it is, didn't grow up with it, not in their own home, and never develop a taste for it. Of course, you can hit any restaurant on a bad day (new cook, whatever), and have a bad experience, so you should not judge a restaurant on one visit. Some people are also snobbish toward anything &quot;Southern or country.&quot; Their loss.

I myself <b>am</b> Southern (Louisiana, Cajun/Creole), and also don't like Cracker Barrel (and I've eaten there many times in my travels in the South, although I don't live there any more). They just don't make food to my liking. And I definitely have a palate for comfort food, especially Southern cuisine. Admittedly, I now only indulge it at better restaurants, but I make no apologies for having developed an appetite for the good stuff when I can afford it. I'm worth it.

Aren't people allowed to have individual tastes any more? It's a little arrogant to accuse people of snobbery simply because they don't like a restaurant you like, don't you think? I love In 'n' Out burgers-- many people don't. <i>Chacun son go&ucirc;t</i>, I say.

I loved shopping in the Cracker Barrel gift shop. Candles and little kitchen thingees.
But I had visions of the &quot;fish camps&quot; that we went to when I was a kid in NC and fresh hushpuppies and fried fish and what I got was soggy greasy tasteless lumps of cornmeal and sodden tasteless fish.
But my daughter had good chicken and dumplings.
So I was disappointed .. but I found good hushpuppies at a place in St Augustine, so I got over it :D

One reason the Cracker Barrel is &quot;maligned&quot; is because in the late 80's they received some very bad press because they fired all SUSPECTED homosexual employees. Then, just recently, they came under fire because of discriminating against their black employees. Not a great place to work if you're a minority of any sorts.....