The Particular Eater

Restaurant Reviews

Eating out can be a trial when you have allergies. Sometimes I just don't want to deal with all of it and will just take medicine and hope for the best, but when the staff of a restaurant are willing to be helpful and take care of me, that is a restaurant I will come back to again.

Cracker Barrel,

Old Country Store

June 25, '08

    Ever since the Cracker Barrel had opened 2 years ago I had heard good things about the food, the only person I knew that had not liked it said only that they didn't like having to walk through their store to get to the restaurant, so I decided to give it a chance.  The instant we walked in I saw why the one person had hated the store, it overwhelmed the senses the moment you walked in with nostalgia products everywhere.  All in all it did remind me of a combination gift shop/country store.  Signs lead us from there to the opening into the restaurant in the back corner where we were quickly seated with little wait.

    Opening the menu I discovered that rather then "homestyle  country cooking" as they advertised it the food was completely and utterly downhome southern. The majority of the menu was cooked in some way with buttermilk and they made a big deal out of their use of real butter everywhere... not a good sign for me.  Now I love good southern cooking but I have to be careful; my husband doesn't have that problem and I assumed he was in for a treat.  Looking over the menu for something I could have I noticed their "Hickory Smoked PORK Barbeque".  Since it was obviously supposed to be southern cooking and I love a good southern barbeque I felt that it would be a good test of the quality of their food.  After checking with the waitress for a list of sides that had no dairy in them and checking about the pork I ordered the barbeque with sides of Turnip Greens and Green Beans that I was told were cooked in bacon, they sounded delicious.  My husband ordered their Country Fried Steak with Saw Mill Gravy and sides of Chicken Dumplings, Coleslaw, Mashed Potatoes, and Buttermilk Biscuits.

    When the food came it looked quite rustic.  Everything was plated simply and placed carelessly, it seemed to be the beginning of a theme for the night.  I started with my Turnip Greens which rather then being cooked with bacon had been stewed with hamhocks and was served in a bowl.  My mother would have probably loved them but having expected bacon fried I was less then happy.  I then turned to the Green Beans.  Technically they may have been cooked in bacon grease since they appear to have been precooked and kept warm in liquid then strained and tossed in a greasy and slightly warm pan before serving.  Perhaps I had gotten lucky with the hamhock cooked greens.  In addition after one bite I began to have an allergic reaction and ceased to eat them immediately, not to much of a sacrifice.  After finishing with these vegetables the waitress came over to see how I like the food.  Not only did she not know that the Turnip Greens were cooked with hamhocks and not bacon once she realized I wasn't happy with it she confided in me that she thought they were disgusting... something I would have liked to know while ordering. Finally, and absolutely starving, I turned to the PORK Barbeque.  I had not realized it would be served pulled pork style and like all other pulled pork I have had in a restaurant it was slightly dry, some things are just best cooked at home.  While it was somewhat tender it completely failed to wow me and by the time I finished I was still starved and getting sicker by the minute. Evidently more than the Green Beans contained dairy.

     My husbands dinner looked considerably better with the Saw Mill Gravy poured over both the steak and the mashed potatoes.  If you love Country Fried Steak that gravy can be a beautiful sight.  Unfortunately The gravy was more pepper then savory, the coating on the steak was hard rather then crisp, and the meat itself slightly dry.  I was surprised when he said it was dry since the steak had obviously been soaked in buttermilk before battering.  Neither was he happy with the Chicken Dumplings or biscuits and complained that the dumplings tasted more like noodles and the biscuits like they had come from a Bisquick box.  Of his meal the only thing he liked was the Coleslaw which was "completely authentic Slaw".

     Dessert was not an option as every single one of them contained ice cream without exception nor did it matter since by this time we were both ready to leave.  My meal had come with a pair of corn bread muffins which I assumed would have buttermilk in them based on the rest of the menu.  I couldn't eat them but since my mother loves cornbread I asked for a box to take them home in and was assured by the waitress she would get one, so we waited... and waited... and waited.  While waiting I was feeling worse and worse so finally we gave up and my husband paid the ticket while I went outside in the sun to hold my ear which had started to throb in pain.  Since I was still hungry even though the experience had now brought me to tears, we took the money we would have paid as a tip and bought some cheap but fresh made HOT food to fill me up.  The entire evening was then rounded out by a slight case of food poisoning probably caused by the room temperature food from the restaurant.

    The next morning after recovering for the most part from the previous evening I called the Manager to let him know about my problems the night before with my allergies.  He confirmed that the Green Beans are cooked in "batch" and likely have dairy in them.  I emphasized to him that it could have been much worse if my allergies were more severe and he said that he would look into it immediately.  I hope by calling I have prevented someone becoming seriously ill in the future, that they will train their staff to know how to correctly handle allergies and be more careful, but I don't intend to return and find out for myself.

Cracker Barrel, Old Country Store
1736 Convention Center Dr,
ST George, UT
(435) 688-1200

Open 6am Daily

Offering quality breakfast, lunch and dinner menus featuring home-style comfort foods and a retail store that offers a wide selection of quality gifts, music and packaged food.