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For our family, it isn't a driving trip without stopping at a Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel may be a Red State type of restaurant and we espouse Blue state morals, but we have a sweet spot in our hearts for them. When our oldest was 18 months old, we visited one in Indiana where she managed to leave behind a much loved Cabbage Patch doll. We were 150 miles away before we realized this. Our daughter woke hysterically crying from her nap. We called the restaurant, they found the doll and FEDERAL EXPRESSED it to our house for absolutely no charge. By the time she woke up the next morning, her beloved baby was waiting for her. May they stay in business forever, that's the kind of customer service you want from a large national chain restaurant!
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Clarkgriswold,
Ohhhh, I LOVE First Watch! It blows all these other chains out of the water! I doubt it could be classified as Southern, but the food is fresh and creative with lots of healthy options. Even the standards don't seems to be swimming in grease like at IHOP or Denny's (haven't been to a Cracker Barrel). We go to the one here in Tulsa; I'm not sure what other territory they cover. |
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Hey Scarlett,
I was born in AZ too and I'm certainly an expert on all things SouthWest :S- R5 |
We have a First Watch in downtown Tampa. I tried it for Sunday breakfast and it was very good. A very diverse menu.
Does anyone like Village Inn? They're not as good as they used to be -- but then what is? |
rjw_lgb_ca,
Yes, people are allowed their individual taste, that's why writing: "The Cracker Barrel, what a hoot! Does anybody actually "eat" in one of those places? Oooops, I do recall one, posting here. Tsk, tsk!" got the reaction it did! |
Sorry, Wallace & Grommit, I am missing your point. ( love the screen name btw )
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I haven't cared for Village Inn since I had banana crepes there once. The bananas were underripe and had been cut up on a cutting board which had also been used for raw onions. :-P
I like Cracker Barrel, though we don't go there very often. Now that I know they carry Valomilks and Peanut Chews, I need to pay the general store a visit - but only a short visit or else I'll gain back the 30 lbs. I've lost! Going to Bob's Big Boy was always fun when I was a kid. We'd drive to Fresno from our little town in the mountains to grocery shop every two weeks, and would oftne have dinner there. I used to love their fresh strawberry pie. After I got married, dh and I used to go to the Bob's on Manchester in Playa del Rey for hot fudge cake. Ah, memories... Lee Ann |
I can't believe no one has mentioned the famous White Castle burgers!!! The two day hangover. We used to eat those at 3 in the morning (a long, long, time ago) Now, I don't think I have stayed up that late in years!!!I don't believe my stomach could actually take the abuse of a white castle burger anymore.
Actually we love the cracker barrel. We hated always stopping at Mc Donalds on road trips and decided one day to eat at a cracker barrel. The kids loved the chicken and dumplings and now that is our road trip restaurant!!! |
We love breakfast at Key's in Mpls. and St. Paul when we are there. The caramel rolls are to die for and then you have the breakfast - YUM!! Also enjoyed Al Breakfast when I was a student at the U Of MN - many, many years ago. Will have to try Cracker Barrel as there is one I go by out here in So. CA.
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I am not a Cracker Barrel fan (and happily admit to NOT being a Southerner either, I am PA Dutch born and bred), but my mom likes their meat loaf. So if she's happy there, then I'm happy too.
However, whenever I'm visiting her in Florida, we MUST include a stop at the Oakwood ribs joint in Leesburg. Not the "fancy" one up by The Villages, it has to be the low rent strip mall version in Leesburg. GREAT baby back ribs. When back in the Lehigh Valley, another MUST is the Allentown Farmer's Market (all the great food you get at the Lancaster farmer's market but none of the tourists) for some homemade Moravian cake and glazed doughnuts and also some Pennsylvania Dutch carapaccio (aka, dried beef). |
FIRST WATCH!! The very best, hands down. In Fort Myers you have to stand in line for over an hour on the weekends to eat at either one (there are 2 in town). Excellent food, breakfast and lunch. They actually print on the menu that they'll substitute or make your order your way. So friendly, too...I used to meet my friend there each weekday morning and the waitress would litereally scoop up my child in her arms and wait tables holding him if they weren't busy! (I am sure this greatly annoyed other customers, but she insisted.)
I'm as Southern as can be: born and raised in Alabama. I hate Cracker Barrel's "Southern cooking" -- their biscuits are good but their veggies are not the typical Southern style that the met-and-threes serve. I ususally only eat breakfast there, no matter the time of day. |
Wallace and Gromit, Excellent retort. I just get so PO'd at all the food snobs on this board who like to look down their noses at all us common folk. As for CB what I like is that it is one of the few places that offer real butter, real maple syrup, etc. Also I love their real country ham ( if you have ever had real country ham you know what I mean), and turnip greens. And as I said the breakfast is hard to beat.
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How to make biscuits:
2 cups flour 1 tspn salt lard Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dump flour and salt into bowl. Add enough lard to make a dry dough. Knead dough on flour covered counter as little as possible. Cut biscuits with a glass. Brush tops with melted butter and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. |
I believe you'll find First Watch in FL and OH (for some reason I think the fellow may have started them in OH but spends time in FL so branched out there). We have one about a mile from our house - I'm thinking breakfast Sunday?
The quality of CB can differ from restaurant to restaurnat (and I imagine from day to day as well). Sometimes the pinto beans have a thick gravy w/bits of ham, other times they are plain and dry. Luckily it is usually the former. When I was pg I would eat their pancakes w/fried apples and whipped cream . . . FOR LUNCH!! |
I've never been to Cracker Barrel (clearly this is not a Canadian phenomenon) but some years ago I went with a friend of mine to visit his family in Georgia and Florida. He had grown up in Jacksonville and went to university in North Carolina, and was deeply nostalgic for Krystals hamburgers. He was rhapsodic about tasting them again after many years. When we arrived at his sister's house in Atlanta she stepped out for a few minutes and returned with a large takeout order from Krystals. They were pretty good, I must admit.
We drove down to Jacksonville and at one point did a day trip to St. Augustine. Of course we had to stop at Krystals for lunch. I figured my friend needed to get this out of his system before we returned to Toronto, so I ordered their largest meal - I think there were 2 dozen of them, maybe even more, in a big box. (For the uninitiated - Krystals are little bitty things.) He wasn't able to scarf down all of them, so the leftovers ended up sitting in the car on a VERY hot day while we wandered around St. Augustine and eventually drove back to Jax. We dropped his mom back at her house in Jax and I noticed my friend taking the leftovers into the house. "Isn't that nice of him to clean up the car and throw the stuff away," I thought. But - not at all. He took the (by now probably poisonous) leftovers and warmed them in his mother's microwave and proceeded to finish them off. We left for Toronto the next day, and the Krystals practically finished HIM off. Talk about getting them out of his system - there wasn't much of his system left by the time I got him back to his house. You know what? He still remembers Krystals with great fondness. Nostalgia seems to have outweighed ptomaine. :& |
OK I will add (of which some are mentioned above) Some are regional to NC----- BoJangles !! Any Cafeteria !! Smithfield's BBQ Wafflehouse (I love it) !! Denny's is OK.... Tony Roma's ( I spent a lot of time in China and there was one in Shanghai and ate there every weekend. A needed change after raw snails, cold chicken, shark fin soup and jellyfish all week. And call me crazy---Jack In The BoX. We don't have JITB in NC (or even the south that I know of) and I love their breakfast for fast food, although you could not eat it everyday. I also thought that opening a Bojangles in Shanghai would be a great idea, since chicken places go over well there. Think they would go for a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit with a side of dirty rice ???
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OMG Meetshare! That reminds me of a funny incident at Krystals my one and only time there many years ago. We were living in Orlando and a group of us went there after a night out, and a few of our dh's had had quite a bit to drink. They were somewhat composed...when in walked a very large lady with the biggest beehive hairdo that you have EVER seen! I swear this thing had to be at least 2 1/2 feet tall! There was one of those ren-a-cops in there that night too. Anyway...our dh's thought that hair was the funniest thing and being quite inebriated they started giggling and making comments...not very quietly either. All of us wives were trying to hush our dh's, but it just was not possible. The rent-a-cop was looking very, very annoyed and we knew we were on limited time with him. Somehow we finally got the dh's out of there (never did get our food BTW) and the only sober person was the driver, and wouldn't you know it...he backed into her car as we were leaving. Ahhh...memories, lol!
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Does anyone like Baker's Square? Their coconut cream pie is a good friend of mine. Can't resist it. I also like their chicken primavera.
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I'm with Gail - I don't "get" Cracker Barrel. I was on a business trip in Dayton when I ate there for the first time. Tried the chicken and dumplings for the first time ever too. I can only assume that they served a poor version of this meal. It was inedible.
We stopped there this summer for breakfast while on a roadtrip down to DC. The kids loved the store, the service was slow and the pancakes were okay. There's one in northern Mass but we're not in a hurry to get back there. We are big breakfast fans and have looked high and low for a good local place. The best we've found is the Hollow Cafe in Amesbury Mass. Always clean, reasonably priced, fresh food, good service. |
Country Kitchen & Perkins (both for breakfast).
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LOL, this thread is simply a large hoot ... and while it's debateable whether Fodors is a travel board, one thing is now abundantly clear: it is not a food board ... that would require a rather different audience of commenters.
Suffice it to say: if anyone were to create a yucky fast food board, this thread would constitute a good start. Gosh, I'm green simply from reading! On the issue of southerness: why don't we just agree that if someone wishes to associate themself with the south, perhaps as a means of legitimacy of roots, well, why not!!! Happy to have them aboard. Now, if someone were from NYC or points north, we'd need to reconsider. But NJ and points south, sure. WELCOME ya'all. I think all here pass the southern test. Have a good day all. |
gmoney: Just because someone doesn't like Cracker Barrel doesn't make them a "food snob". Crying "I'm being oppressed by your élite attitude, you latte-sipper!!" just because people have differences of opinion with you is immature. I repeat: If you're well-traveled, you develop a taste for better things. And they don't have to be expensive or unavailable to the "jes' common folk". Case in point: In 'n' Out Burgers. Or Rubio's Mexican Grill. Or Baja Fresh. Or the outstanding breakfasts I always get at the Fish Tale in Los Altos.
I have a soft spot in my heart for Picadilly Cafeterias in southern Louisiana-- my late father would take us there for Sunday brunch. In no way would I consider these "good eating" other than by quantity of food. But I still make sure I have fried okra at a Picadilly whenever I'm in the area. Can't help it. I have that same nostalgia for Ralph and Kacoo's hush puppies. And again, not a great place to eat by any means. Is it my fault I got spoiled by the good stuff my mom made, or that I was corrupted by excellent meals at Alex Patout's long-gone LA Creole eatery? (Miss that place!!) I love Popeye's Fried Chicken too. Spare me the victimhood-- I don't buy it. Eat happily at Cracker Barrel, but stop calling me a "food snob" just because I dislike the place's food offerings. I'll throw a Rubio's Fish Taco at you!! ;) Can't we get along and agree to disagree-- amicably...? |
The best breakfast ever is in the bay area of San Francisco called Hobee's. I always ordered the BDBIT (Best darn breakfast in town). How I long for that coffee cake!! Anybody else go there?
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rjw_lgb_ca - I never have nor will label anyone a "food snob" for not liking a certain food or establishment. What I do not like are people who berate others FOR liking said establishments, which you and Smiling Still seem to delight in. If you do not like a certain food or restaurant, fine, but why must you poke fun of people who do? Just because you prefer chilled bat brains with a nice merlot sauce, or whatever over chicken fried steak does not a better person make.
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Charlestonians don't consider anyone a true Charlestonian unless their family has been there at least five generations.
Not kidding. The St. Celia's Ball is the oldest debutant ball in the US and you can't get in unless a relative came out there. |
Can you say soon to be in the fodors, my feelings got hurt, deleted scrap pile? Boo hoo. And now the ditty o'the day:
Get over it Get over it All this whinin? and cryin? and pitchin? a fit Get over it, get over it Get over it Get over it All this bitchin? and moanin? and pitchin? a fit Get over it, get over it Get over it Get over it It's gotta stop sometime, so why don't you quit Get over it, get over it |
I'm surprised no one has commented on a great American institution: the "cafeteria" style places. I am from Houston and really love going back there and eating at Luby's cafeteria. The assortment is great- fruits, salads, meat, seafood, and pasta entrees, sides, all kinds of veggies, desserts, and the ever-present huge iced teas. Best of all, you can eat as healthy or a sinful as you want on any given day. And with the variety, you can eat there a few times a week and never have the same thing twice. Great for vegetarians or meat-eaters, kids love picking out their own food in the line, and seniors can get an inexpensive balanced meal. I really miss cafeterias since moving to the D.C. area. There used to be one cafeteria in downtown D.C. but it closed, and it wasn't nearly as good as Luby's. I think Furr's was another cafeteria chain.
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Oh, I see rjw commented on a cafeteria also. I'm not the only one. I agree- fried okra is particularly good cafeteria food.
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It's a tossup as to which is the worse experience: eating at Cracker Barrel or watching Regis and Kelly.
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I disagree that being well traveled means you develop a taste for "better things." I think being well-traveled is about being able to appreciate MORE things, experiencing diversity. What makes something "better" is in the palate of the beholder. Is food from a five star restaurant "better" than good southern bbq? Sure, the chef needed more schoolin' to learn to prepare it, but is it "better?" To me, being well traveled means I can appreciate foie gras just as I can appreciate biscuts and gravy. Someone who can only appreciate foie gras and the like isn't well travled (IMHO), they have been limited to their own comfort zone.
BTW, since the OP asked what are your non-sophisticated favorites, why respond if you are too sophisticated to have non-sophisticated favorites? Tsk, tsk. :-) |
Anything is better than most BBQ. I prefer a seasonings rub on my slow-cooked ribs or chicken. That sweet gooey stuff is way too southern for me.
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Count me in as a Southerner who isn't crazy about Cracker Barrel. We were there in May and the food was OK, not great, just OK. What I couldn't stomach was the loud hillbilly-style music they were playing. I don't mean Country and Western music, we're talking major hillbilly tunes. I felt like I had just watched a Hee Haw marathon. I bet the phone # of that place was BR-549. UGH!!
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What exactly is hillbilly music? Bluegrass? I've kind of grown to like Bluegrass lately. Personally, I've never noticed music being played at Cracker Barrel (except for perhaps holiday tunes in the store). Guess it must be a managers choice kind of thing.
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I am a Cracker Barrel expert - not by choice. My in-laws just love it, and that means we end up eating lots of meals there. Honestly, much of the food is pretty good. I prefer the breakfast items. Count me among those who can enjoy a simple meat loaf dish as well as the fanciest gourmet food. With two young kids, Cracker Barrel is actually a good place to go; I just wish the in-laws weren't so stuck on it - they have very limited food tastes - because I thrive on variety. My biggest objection to Cracker Barrel is that it is usually crowded, but the shop is appreciated by the kids and makes the wait easier.
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Snowrooster, I have heard of Bluegrass music but I am unfamiliar with it and probably wouldn't recognize it. All I know is that it was too loud and that was mainly what we found so annoying. In any case, I think you are right that it's a manager's choice since I don't recall hearing this at other Cracker Barrels. The manager at that Cracker Barrel must have been very hard of hearing in order to think this volume was OK. :-)
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P_M - If you're interested, the soundtrack from O'Brother Where Art Thou is a great example of a mix of Bluegrass (and won the Grammy for Best Album - overall, not just Bluegrss - a few years ago). I don't know the music that well but I like it. It can make you take a deep breath and relax or want to get up and dance depending on the song. Soulful almost.
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I've never eaten at Cracker Barrel...I guess they are here but I couldn't tell you where. Statia (or anyone) is their squash casserole that typical southern squash casserole that every Southern Mama makes...yellow squash boiled and smashed, onions, crunched up saltines, a beaten egg, and salt and pepper, bake at 350 blah blah? My VERY southern (southern MS) m-i-l taught me that. She dropped her dumplings in by the spoonful by the way, not rolled. (They also made chittlins from butchering on...my dh still remembers the smell of them cooking. Evidently it's not exactly pleasant.) The fried okra she served, she also grew (and tomatoes, butter beans, purple hulls etc)! That's southern. And in very southern tradition, she brought us small bags of these frozen delicacies at the end of every season when she came to visit.
Bob Evans...had never heard of it before moving here. Saw one in Sarasota and almost "fell out" (how's that for a southern expression). My brother's name is Bob Evans. :) Wanted to take a picture for him! My unsophisticated favorites vary according to where I'm living. In New Orleans we <i>loved</i> Popeye's Chicken. I'm tickled to have one here now...and we have it every 4th of July. What's more American than fried chicken after all! (It's the only time of the year its allowed in the house though.) Growing up in New England it was Friendly's and I'm dismayed to see it on the bottom of the list now. We thought it was great, but then, the name of the best restaurant in the town I grew up in was the Busy Bee! LOL I wonder if the hedge that spells out "FRIENDLY'S" is still by the Mass Pike in Longmeadow? I'm surprised no one has mentioned HoJos, but am I showing my age? Those orange roofs...I could spot one miles away. Oh their clam rolls...the thought of them can still make my mouth water. Or just a big plate of fried clams. slurp. Rubios now too rj! We were introduced to their fish tacos in Phoenix. My dh wanted to put them on his lunch menu here. As for the southern thing, it's a state of mind. Someone can be born and raised in the deep south yet act like the damnedest Yankee I've ever seen! |
I'm a friendly's fan too. And yes, the hedge is still there - you can see it when you drive by on 90 to Boston.
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Friendly's! When I was a teenager in NH, I applied for a job there and the manager said their motto was "We're friendly, not familiar."
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