Cracker Barrel's Epic Downfall Keeps Getting Worse

Cracker Barrel recently announced the shutdown of 4 more outlets, adding to a long list of closures. The restaurant chain is desperately trying to address dropping revenues and store shutdowns. Are there worse times ahead for this legacy American chain?

#crackerbarrel #countrymusic #restaurants #countryliving

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[brucekastel]

They don't need a marketing department. What they need to do is go back to good service, good food, and good housekeeping. If that happens, we will be back to what once was our go-to family restaurant and people will beat a path to their doors.

[seaborn]

The decline in customers is easy to explain: lower quality food, poor employee quality and management of the restaurant at a whole, poor customer service, the restrooms are not clean anymore. They can’t even get the sweet tea right anymore. Bottom line: managers don’t seem to care and the quality of employees is poor. It doesn’t make you want to go back anymore.

[BREEZEMAYES]

Filthy Bathrooms. Crowded tables. Overworked staff. Smaller portions. Subtle changes in recipes with cheaper items equals diminished taste. Playing to stockholder profits rather than service creates decreased profits and the vicious circling the drain begins.

[troyott]

This is bizarre as I have NEVER been to a cracker barrel anywhere that was not PACKED with people

[sean_connors]

It’s not just Cracker Barrel. Shareholder profits, quarterly earnings, DEI, ESG. These are the corporate drivers today. In any one of these let alone all four simultaneously, there is no room for quality. Yet they just double down as if it’ll magically fix itself.

[bwktlcn]

They forgot their core business — reasonably priced good food. Nobody says, “hey, I want a beer, let’s go to Cracker Barrel!” You go there for a freshly cook breakfast, country veggies, consistent food. It used to be if you were driving on a trip, you knew Cracker Barrel was food, snacks, music, books on tape, seasonal souvenirs. The last several times, the food quality is terrible, tiny proportions, you go in, only half the tables have people, but they tell you while they can seat you, it will be an hour or more before they can get your food. Nobody has that kind of time. They’re going to disappear.

[bzamski]

Clean up your act go back to the old country home cooking that we loved

[davidgood]

I spent 8 years of my life, slaving in that place. When I first started, it was a family friendly, place. As they changed from, making everything from scratch to everything being frozen or canned. All they cared about was the money, i remember when they said at a meeting, all of you are interchangeable and all of you are replaceable. Then i turned in my GM, for theft, was fired shortly after. I would never eat there, i know how the sausage is made!

[alabamaal]

It's the same phenomenon that happened to the Howard Johnson chain of restaurants. Traditional management and was replaced by newly minted MBA grads who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing.

[jarvisskooge]

Instead of gimmicks… how about good food, service & cleanliness?

[annchristianson]

I’ve eaten there for decades. I ate there a few times when on a road trip recently. The food was substandard and cold, errors on my order and service was very slow. I waited for 35 minutes to get eggs. Also, their portions sizes have been remarkably reduced. When they asked me at the register if everything was OK and I said, “No”. Their response? “That will be $18.55 please” and nothing else. They don’t care anymore.

[omegacyclone]

Bathrooms are bad and the food doesn’t taste home cooked anymore. Then, they took the turkey sausage from the breakfast menu. I once loved this place. It was once consistently good, regardless of which location you ate at.

[whatsreal]

Where the bean counters rule, business failure is inevitable

[sandmangti]

Changes.
1. Bring back biscuits first. When you sit down, in 1 minute one biscuit for each person plus butter and jelly should be delivered. This is what you did in 80-90’s. Do not skimp.
2. Drop beer sales.
3. Service. Simplify menu, work on good food.
4. Smaller gift shop. Young people do not buy. Open coffee shop In gift shop. To go coffee or pick in lot during AM.
5. Always have fires in cold weather. Do not skimp.
By coffee shop, small tables to sit.

[ginathacker]

This was a brilliant concept. Six months ago, I went to one for the first time for “breakfast”. The menu was very limited, the portion was small, food was barely warm, price was high. Cruised the “Made in China” gift shop—no thanks. FIRE the bean counters!!

[kevinwest]

Me and my wife used to love Cracker barrel. But their portions got smaller and smaller and colder and colder. We finally quit going about a year ago.

[daviddouglas]

15 years ago they were a great place to eat. Now the food is as bad as the service.

[soteriamediaproductions]

Maybe they need to quit “trying new things” to please a changing crowd. They did well with their traditional menu and the “changing crowd” got a taste of their traditional dishes and liked them.
Every time I visit there, they’ve dropped something on their menu in exchange for something you can get anywhere else.

[mikev]

As a Canadian heading to the USA with our children on vacations, Cracker Barrel was a special treat on a long drive. Good food, reasonable pricing, the store and early on the rented audio books on tape and cd. The four of us looked forward to the break from the road. Unfortunately the last few times my wife and I stopped the food was poor, small portions, inattentive service, poor cleanliness. Not much good to say about the chain. We will not be going back. I chalk it up to the same corporate greed and shortsighted behaviour of so many big organizations. Just look around at the troubles of so many institutions. The CEOs spend so much time worrying about the share prices and their bonuses they forget about their most important income, the people on the ground buying their products…..

[Primus]

I spent half of my adult career in the corporate chain food restaurant business and, with few exceptions, as soon as they fall into the “Quarterly Earnings” trap dictated by Wall Street, their future is a downward spiral. Additionally, unless the food and service is exceptional, “theme” restaurants become victims of the latest trends… customers are fickle. Finally, there is a very real shortage of people who want to perform these restaurant jobs, so finding and retaining competent help… including management… has taken a negative toll on quality, service, and cleanliness.