We have Frisch's Big Boy here in southern Ohio/KY and I've told DH I think it is the same as Shoney's but he says NO!! Am I wrong? I think it's the same basic chain just owned by different local families in different parts of the US. They have great pumpkin pie and fish sandwiches!!

The last Bob's I ever ate at was in Tucson or San Diego...I cannot tolerate
1000 Island dressing on burgers as a result, but wouldn't you know I married a man who did!
Never been to a Cracker Barrell
either...
How about Lyon's? Great burgers and
omlettes when the craving hits.
R5

icee, of course I order greasy at Cracker Barrel! Lard is one of the four four groups in the south. The other three being white flour, processed sugar, and salt.

Seriously, I've ordered everything from waffles to the daily meat-and-three to salads to meatloaf to breakfast.

Correa and others:

In the Midwest we have Marc's Big Boys. They are (or were) owned by the Marcus Corp. out of Milwaukee that owns restaurants, hotels and theater complexes. I believe that all Big Boys are related at some level. I think they are a good place much on the level of Country Kitchen, which I believe is also a Midwest thing that has good meals on the order of Cracker Barrel but less $$.

I was born in upstate NY; however I lived from 8-22 in the bible belt and waitressed at Shoney's and an amazing restaurant with REAL down home southern food called the Roanoker. Let's just say, I will NEVER eat at a Shoney's again (boy could I tell stories) but I ALWAYS go to the Roanoker when I go back home to see my parents. YUM YUM! They have the true southern food, grits, the best biscuits known to man, sausage gravy, country ham, I could go on forever. Also, I am not a fan of Cracker Barrel as I don't see it as true southern food but I most definitely don't fault people who like it. As I said earlier, I love Chili's and I know that their food is not true Tex Mex. And yes, I know wafflehouse is gross, I always knew that, but you can't beat the grease on an empty stomach full of cheap Milwakee's "Beast" beer - ah, those college days!

Unfortunately we don't have any "real southern food" in Ohio (if we do, please clue me in) so Cracker Barrel it is.

The fellow who recently worked on finishing our basement warned us not to go to Cracker Barrel - he said it is really expensive. Kind of puts things in perspective.

Anyone in the South hear of places called Famous Amos?
We had soup and biscuits and gravy there once, right after arriving in Fl. Greasy spoon kind of place but the soup was great.
I never thought I would say this, having a huge sweet tooth and all, but I no longer enjoy Sweetea here..I think I am overdosing on sugar :D

Embarrased to admit 10 years here, did not know until now that Cracker Barrel served food - thought it was some kind of country goods store :(

Denny's was also considered to be discriminatory to minorities - so have'nt been there in years. It was the first place I ate at in the US - when we landed late night :)Current greasy food place is IHOP especially for late night sundae cravings.

I really like the Bob Evans places in PA, but there are none in Texas.

Scarlett, a true Southerner is someone born in the South. If your parents cooked country, comfort food when you were growing up, then you can judge that type of food. If you are a country, comfort food expert, then I apologize.

MIZ SCARLETT!!!

You must immediately stop all claims to the south being that you only lived here from 5-19. The nerve.

:-D

LOL~GT, and here I was thinkin that I was just another Southern girl~ Wait until my Daddy hears about this!! :O

Poor Daddy, he did have to be in the Navy and he had to go to California then to Hawaii and he had to take Mama along with him...sigh, if he only knew what he has deprived me of by not having me in NC ...sigh~

JCorea,

We ate at Bob's Big Boy two days in a row in Burbank near NBC Studios on our California road trip 2003. LOVED IT! Service was great, food was good and I loved the atmosphere. For some reason it reminds me of the diner in Pulp Fiction. There are still several Big Boy's left around the country but none near us. Still bummed that I didn't try In N Out though on that trip. I just heard a guy at Fatburger the other day raving about In N Out.

As for Cracker Barrel, we ate there once last year for the first and last time. Not from the south but I do like comfort food (ordered the dumplings) and it just wasn't good quality in our opinions. My husband was disgusted with his meal and literally asked me to never go there again. Did like the comfy rocking chairs outside and spent a few minutes looking through the gift shop but I wouldn't go back for those reasons alone.

I could care less if Regis (nor would I expect him to know) does not know what a Cracker Barrel is. Everyone should have a mind of their own when it comes to voting and not vote for someone simply because they were endorsed by Joe Schmoe Celebrity.

Miz Scarlett, are you feeling scarred for life by this? Should someone call Dr. Phil? Should we have a round table and change the rules?

LOL!

Wow! :p What a lively discussion this has become..... in real Fodor's style!!!

I have traveled up and down the East coast a lot, eaten often at many Cracker Barrels, and as I said above, it's a favorite of mine. Having said that, I have been in them at times, when if that was my only experience, I wouldn't have been impressed. One I stopped at had watery macaroni and cheese, and virtually no meat and seasoning in the veggies! Another one had so much smoky meat in the veggies, you could barely find the veggies. And when the new one near us opened here in Morrisville, the service was so bad for the first month, I wouldn't have recommended it ... they could not get your food to you hot. But overall, I really like the place for what it is, and don't think you can beat their country fried chicken and steak, and their vegetable plates (and their fish fry on Fridays is wonderful, Scarlett, at least in the ones I frequent. And I AM quite sure you're a Southerner! ;;) ) I try to remember you can walk into a bad location of a normally good chain sometimes, and then tend to be soured on the places.

Now I really don't care for Bob Evans. We have one near us, and when I had their biscuits and gravy, I RAN back to Cracker Barrel. Oh, well, to each their own........ it makes the world go round!

And I used to eat at a Shoney's Big Boy restaurant in Maryland, during high school. The burgers were huge and the best..... Don't care for Shoney's now however.

Alright, I'll admit to a quirky thing that when I'm on the road my car will steer uncontrollably towards a Cracker Barrel. And most of them are not particularly good. But if you have to have chicken n' dumplings, then you have to have chicken n' dumplings. No matter if the dumplings are just over-cooked thick noodles.

Their sauteed apple for breakfast are yummy. And you can rent a books-on-tape and drop it off at the next Cracker Barrel while on the road.

I hail from the South -- specifically Seal Beach in southern California. Does that count for anything?

And......to top it off Miz Scarlett...don't I recall you are from NORTH Carolina???

well scarlett, I guess I'm in your group of "fake" southerners, even though I worked for many years in two of the most southern restaurants around and lived there for 14 years

OK, here it goes--I LOVE Cracker Barrel and will always stop at one on a road trip. Phew! I didn't think it was cool to say it before, but now I know it's okay. Especially since Kelly said it on morning TV. Love their gift shop and old fashioned candies, the antique decor, and their pork chops.

Gee, I hope Kelly never tells you to get an abortion!

I knew there were some liberals hiding in the wings. Maybe even NORTHERN liberals. Yeeeek.

I am not generally a food snob - have been known to frequent far too many drive-thrus. But I am obviously missing something about Cracker Barrel, although it has been several years since I have eaten in one. I think it was the greasy pale "gravy" poured over a number of items that did me in. I admit to having been raised and spent most of my life in the North, so maybe it is a regional thing.
Other cahins - Chilis, Applebees, 99 (New England chain) are fine - just can't even stomach the thought of ever going into a Cracker Barrel again much less actually eating there.

The Cracker Barrel in Durham, NC has s-l-o-w service. I've been once or twice but I prefer I-Hop. I Wish I-hop was on my side of town, but my waist line is grateful it isn't.

Interesting to know about the books on tape. Do they also have books on CD (no tape player in the car)?

Go Travel, I think the Round Table is a good idea. We can leave Dr Phil out of it :D
But I would love to know where leelani got her ideas and what makes her the expert on what makes a person "Southern"?
Tandoori Girl, my car used to do that too but it was a pizza place in NY :)
Who makes their own chicken and dumplings ? Do you roll out the dumplings or just drop big blobs in?
I am from the big blob school of dumpling making ~

I am nothing if not unsophisticated, and I don't like Cracker Barrel, either. I love comfort food--stuff like hot open-face roast beef sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and the like. At CB, the pancakes aren't very good, and I've tried various dinners there (my mother loves it, but then she also loves buffets for some reason), and it's just never been better than average at best.

I love King's (mainly a PA chain) for breakfast, and Denny's always works in a pinch. Great milkshakes.

what do you good folks think about Marie Callenders?

Blue York and Massabluesetts liberals cannot eat at Dennys or Cracker Barrell.

ncgrrl, I don't know if they have CDs but I'll bet they do. Why not?

Scarlett, my mom used to make them with Bisquik (she is from New Mexico), they were light and fluffy and I never thought they could be better. Then I had my ex's grandmothers. She made them with flour and water and would roll them out and cut ribbons. They were more like Cracker Barrels. She would cook the chicken and literally smother it with soooo much butter. Lawd, it was good. Liberal salt and pepper too. I'd love to find a good southern cooking restaurant here. You have lots in Jax I do believe. My husband still drools when he thinks about Beach Road Fried Chicken there.

As my father-in-law likes to say, it's happy hour somewhere in America. Off I go.

I love Cracker Barrel! There is something homey and comforting about eating there, especially when its cold and the fire is roaring. While I don't care for all their food (including their gravy), I love the corn muffins, fried chicken, chicken and dumplins, etc.

We do like Cracker Barrel for their veggie plates. We really dislike IHOP.

My mother made her dumplings by dumping pillsbury roll dough out of the can into boiling chicken and broth.

"[A] true Southerner is someone born in the South. If your parents cooked country, comfort food when you were growing up, then you can judge that type of food. If you are a country, comfort food expert, then I apologize."

leelane, that is about as ridiculous a statement as I've read today. If you have taste buds, you can judge food as good or bad. I know good Japanese food when I eat it without being from Tokyo. And I didn't have to be born in Brooklyn and eat sausage and peppers as my first solid meal to know good Italian food from bad. Rick Bayless is one of this country's authorities on Mexican cuisine, and his eateries are outstanding, but he's as güero (gringo) as you can get (and his spoken Spanish grates with his awful accent)!

If birthplace is the ONLY way to get expertise, why aren't you out in the streets denouncing the Creole chef du jour, Emeril Lagasse, a carpetbagger from Fall River, MA daring to cook Louisiana cuisine in New Orleans?! (I denounce him for franchising himself as a brand, not his cooking, which is usually excellent.)

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. And the "but you can't judge anything about the South, you're not a TRUE Southerner!" argument doesn't hold water with me. I'm Southern, and I tell non-Southerners: Judge away, check out everything I love about the South (and all the reasons I don't live there now)!!

Denny's for breakfast is one of my favorites--their Slams are slammin'! Also like Bob Evans, dh loves their biscuits and gravy, I like their ribs. We've only eaten at Cracker Barrel once but enjoyed it. We had their breakfast pancake special, a berry and whipped cream topping thing. Totally unhealthy but yummy. Friendly's is also one of my favorites for any meal--love their "Happy Ending" sundaes! Didn't care for Marie Callender's. We found them kind of rundown looking and the food unimpressive. Tried a couple of different ones but they all seem the same.

Consumer Reports rated "First Watch" as the number one family chain. I don't think I've ever seen one of those. Po Folks & Cracker Barrel got fairly good ratings.

The lowest ratings went to:

Coco's
International House of Pancakes
Waffle House
Shari's
Shoney's
Bickford's Family Restaurants
Denny's
Friendly's

If you eat Mexican food for the first time, you can say whether or not you like it. You cannot "judge" it, compared to other Mexican food since you do not know anything about that type of cuisine. That is all I'm saying.

I do not mean anything negative when I say Scarlett is not a true Southerner. If I lived in New York, I could not say I was a true New Yorker since I was not born there but I could say I enjoyed living there a lot. Simply stating a fact. Sorry if that makes some unhappy.

I have half of a Marie Calendars' pie sitting on my counter right now - and you can bet that it wont be there at bed time ;)

My Gentleman friend is a "Hill-Billy from SW Virginia and I am a "New Yaaaker" and he loves Cracker Barrel when we travel. He loves all that sausage and gravy stuff and grits and he always asks if the chicken and dumplings are made with "slick" dumplings. I am used to a dumpling that's like a stewed bisquit. According to him, they have to be like slippery noodles. I put up with all these silly food differences because he makes bisquits from scratch, that are to DIE for!

minette, does he make sausage gravy? There's nothing better than a redneck who makes sausage gravy. Except one who makes his own biscuits. You are a lucky girl. That is one thing I'd gladly go off my atkins diet for -- biscuits and red-eye gravy. Why do they call it red-eye?

Don't they make red eye gravy from ham? and you get those little red specks in it? Could that be why?

I was born in Arizona, does that make me an expert on SouthWestern food and Mexican too :)
As if there is even a logical answer to that... LOL.

Here is the answer to that question!
____________________________________
The name "red-eye gravy" (sometimes referred to as "red-ham gravy")
derives from the fact that a circle or oval of liquid fat with a
slightly reddish cast will form on the surface of the gravy when it
is reduced. This is the "eye" of the name.
______________________________________

Tandoori Girl:
Yes, he makes sausage gravy and it must be with spicy, hot hillbilly sausage. Red-eye gravy must come from "salt-cured VA ham".
By the way, I just gave him a hug to check up on all this info( he's doing the dishes!) and he would like it known that a Redneck is a "Flat-lander" and the mountain people are HillBillys, or, as he says,(for the more sophisticated folks here on Fodors) MOUNTAIN WILLIAMS.
M.