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.....

Yummy In n Out Burgers! I do love a good Quarter Pounder with Cheese w/ fries, too.

How about Sizzler? Not high-class but sometimes, I get a yen for Malibu Chicken.

Bob Evans. Even though I live in suburban DC., you can't find good biscuits and gravy. Sometimes I have to head out to the exurbs or along the interstate and find a Bob Evans for B&amp;G.

My vote in the midwest goes to culvers. Love their butterburgers.
Susan

I refer/defer to Scarlett on the Barrel. Her points about the food would be difficult to refute. Now, pigs in a blanket over at the HOP, that's tempting, but alas, their wine list needs some sprucing up!

Suiann: Culvers

I had to laugh because I passsed one just an hour ago thinking I might stop in. Fortunately my good sense got ahold of me. Butterburger...yikes. Indeed they are tasty and I guess this fits the thread.

Thanks for the thought!

I don't have a response to the OP about my unsophisticated favs, but you know, this is sooo funny, because I happened to be home yesterday and caught this part of the show where Kelly went on and on about Cracker Barrel. Then, it became obvious in their discussion that Regis didn't have a clue what Cracker Barrel is--and it occurred to me....this is what everyone is talking about now with the election being over, and regardless of who you voted for, it's just icing on the cake that someone with the stature of Regis wouldn't have a clue what Cracker Barrel is--then I thought and these are the people from Hollywood who are supposed to be able to identify with us &quot;regular&quot; folks and go out on the trails to tell us who to vote for (i.e., Springstein, Streisand, etc.). Now post-election, everyone is talking about how these Hollywood types can't identify with middle America and may have contributed to the election results. Basically I just saw the whole thing as amusing!

&quot;Non-sophisticated favorites&quot;? Two local chains, Hof's Hut and Polly's, would match that description. But in a pinch, if you're getting your car serviced in Cerritos Auto Square, nothing beats a breakfast skillet at Hof's. We also have more wide-spread chains, Norm's and Spires-- also good for breakfast. Oh, and Ruby's and Johnny Rockets as well.

By the way, BAK, I'm still chuckling over your initial post with its reference to &quot;Crack Barrel&quot;. I thought to myself, &quot;Where on earth was Kelly Ripa looking for drugs?!&quot;

Nothing like a late night sack a Krystal hamburgers and a couple a chili-cheese dogs washed down with a large coke (w/CRUSHED ice!). King of the gut bombs.

Dennys: mmmmmm, Moon Over My Hammy :) and even after working at McDonalds during my high school days, can't get enough of their fries.

I had never eaten at Cracker Barrel until I was in college and dh pushed it while we were dating (and financially strapped college students). I resisted due the discrmination issues I'd heard of (on Oprah I believe) but finally gave it. Cracker Barrel was a godsend when our house was on the mkt last year and I had to run out at a minutes notice w/the kids. I do weightwatchers religiously and their veggie plate was one of the few yummy casual spot options available, and the kids love their food. However I would vote for Bob Evans for breakfast - great biscuts and gravy.

Did anyone see the recent piece one of those news shows (dateline or something) did on restaurant health violations? Denny's did really well but IHOP and Waffle House got slammed - some pretty nasty stuff. They are just starting to build a few IHOP in my area and I've liked them when I've been on vacation, but ever since seeing that show I'm a bit hesitant to return.

You can not like a place without being a &quot;snob&quot; and tsk, tsk others for eating there. I suppose it is all in good fun.

Ke1th, thanks for pointing that out! Their history of discrimination is one reason I won't eat in a Cracker Barrel again; the other is that I don't like their food, which is a plastic, tasteless version of real Southern cooking, the kind you can rarely find any more because these gross chains have squeezed out the mom-and-pops. And quit calling chain-haters snobs, y'all--I won't condescend to your love for Denny's if you quit mocking my goat cheese. Can't we all just egt along??

IHOP! Vive La French Toast!

As much of an iron stomache as I usually have and I am a big southern comfort/soul food fan, Cracker Barrel literally makes me sick.

I've tried on four or five occaisions to eat there and it has never been a good experience for me.

My in-laws love Cracker Barrel and always forget it makes me sick so that is why I end up there about once a year.

I would love to know why that is at Cracker Barrel and it hasn't happened to me before.

SmilingStill, why would you defer to Scarlett on Southern food? With all due respect to her, I understand she just moved from NY to Florida recently, was not born in the South (though I recall she had a Southern connection.) I would defer to a Southerner who grew up on the food.

We must all remember that what's good is just a matter of opinion. Nothing to get wrung out about!

Also discovered Cracker Barrel on a trip to N.Y.-grandkids liked it so much we made a point of finding one again on our way back! It wasn't gourmet fare, but I was just glad I didn't have to go to McDonalds!

Anybody familiar with Bob's Big Boy restaurants? Do they even exist anymore? I don't know if the food is good, but I loved going there as a kid.

I've never been to a Cracker Barrel or a Waffle House - I've actually never seen a Cracker Barrel.

I love IHOP and In and Out Burger though.

What do you order at Cracker Barrel, GT? Probably not accustomed to eating whatever something is cooked with. Grease perhaps.

Cracker Barrel runs hot and cold with me. Sometimes I like, sometimes I don't. DH simply cannot understand why it takes so looooooooooong to &quot;dip up&quot; a plate of beans and then it's cold!

LOL leelani, since we must show our Southern pedigrees here for your satisfaction, I lived in North Carolina from the ages of 5 until I was 19. I think I would call that growing up on the food in the South.

Did I pass the Southern girl test??

JCorrea, I saw Bobs Big Boys in Long Island NY but when I was growing up in Charlotte NC, they were called Shoneys.
I looooved those burgers!

Dh got sick after eating at a Cracker Barrel once but we still go - we think the tea was old. I'll tell you one thing, they don't discriminate against heavy folk there. Every Cracker Barrel manager I've seen looks like he eats the deep fried stuff morning, noon, and night. I swear they do have good veggies - turnip greens w/vinegar - YUM!!