Saturday, August 20, 2016

Cracker Barrel - Alcoa, Tennessee


Cracker Barrel (Old Country Store)

771 Louisville Rd, Alcoa, TN 37701
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My first experience with Cracker Barrel was probably more than 20 years ago; long before I started blogging my food adventures. Back then, Cracker Barrel’s were a mostly Southeast presence and someone from Alaska would be hard-pressed to find a convenient Cracker Barrel. The wife and I flew down to Florida to visit her parents and one of the places they took us was a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Over the years and many more trips to Florida to visit the in-laws garnered many more Cracker Barrel experiences.
When the wife retired we started the motor home phase of our retirement. We found that Cracker Barrel had expanded and had stores across much of the United States and they made a convenient place to stop for a bite one on the road. A bit later, we stayed in Florida to spend quality time with the wife’s father in his later years. That of course made a breakfast or even a lunch or dinner a common occurrence. That’s not to mention that frequent newspaper promotions for daily specials made for an even lower priced meal.

Since then we have relocated to Eastern Tennessee. We are located not too far from where the very first Cracker Barrel company store opened in 1969 in Lebanon Tennessee. In the past Cracker Barrel has had some rough times with customer relations. Apparently they have managed to smooth out the rough edges and I notice that the customer base seems to be a cross-section of the population. They seem to be doing it right because it has grown to be 630 stores located in 42 states and a bit less than 50 years. All of them are company owned and operated.
That brings us to today’s blog, Alcoa Tennessee's Cracker Barrel. Since we moved here we have met Abbie and Mariano who are also Alaskan ex-pats. We have become good friends and grub mates as we see what is good to eat in Eastern Tennessee. We agreed to meet at the local Maryville Cracker Barrel for breakfast. There is an old expression, “if you have seen one you have seen them all.” That is a close truism for Cracker Barrel stores. They are not exact copies of what but very, very close in layout, merchandise offered, the menu and usually the quality of the food. When we were traveling Cracker Barrel offered known quality, ample portions, and reasonable price.

It was a bright sunny and unseasonably warm day in Maryville. We managed to find a parking spot in the shade of a tree. The coolness inside the store was a welcome change from the heat outside. The hostess led us to a corner table where Abbie and Mariano were waiting for us. It was all very familiar, the fireplace and the old-time country decore They had arrived after us but we managed to pass each other in the store without noticing.
Our server, Misty Dawn, was there within moments to take our beverage order. A charming young lady, she would be at tables frequently to see what we needed and yet never looming. She was a plus to the dining experience. The menu was familiar. I was trying to juggle the included side dishes with each selection and Misty knew the menu well enough for me to order the right selection without having to order it piecemeal.

Abbie ordered the Momma’s Pancake Breakfast® ($8.19 Three freshly made Buttermilk Pancakes with your choice of any fruit topping or a warmed bottle of 100% Pure Natural Syrup plus two eggs cooked to order and your choice of Smoked Sausage Patties, Thick-Sliced Bacon, Turkey Sausage or Turkey Bacon.) On a plate by themselves there were three large golden brown pancakes with a large dollop of whipped butter. On a companion plate was the bacon, fried crisp, and eggs done to order. It was a typical Cracker Barrel presentation, the food looked good and appetizing. On request Abbie got more maple syrup. Momma’s pancake breakfast is a big meal and a bit more than Abbie normally eats. She did enjoy her mail but there was a good portion that went to Mariano and some in a doggy bag.
Mariano ordered the French Toast ($7.19 Four slices of our own Sourdough Bread (regular or whole wheat) dipped in egg then grilled to perfection. Served with any fruit topping or 100% Pure Natural Syrup.) The serving was on an oval platter and there were six thick slices of sourdough bread, egg dipped, and they were fried to a nice appetizing golden brown with a dollop of whipped butter on top. More syrup came as requested. Mario said it was very good, very tasty but he did have one observation. At $7.19 for four slices of bread the coffee really should come with it. The French toast at good appearance, good taste, but may have been a bit overpriced after adding the coffee.

Janis ordered the Wild Maine Blueberry Pancakes ($7.39 Three Buttermilk Pancakes loaded with wild Maine blueberries. Served with Wild Maine Blueberry Syrup.) Served on an oval platter were three golden brown pancakes topped with an amazing abundance of blueberries. All of that was topped with a generous helping of whipped cream. There was more than enough blueberry preserves that no additional syrup with needed. Janis enjoyed her meal, and set it was very good, very tasty. It is a serving much larger than she normally eats but she managed to finish most of her meal. The blueberry pancakes were presented well, were good tasting, and adequate portion with an abundance of blueberries.
I ordered a more conventional breakfast, at least for me, I chose the Sunrise Sampler® ($8.19 Two eggs cooked to order with Grits, Sawmill Gravy, homemade Buttermilk Biscuits, real butter and the best Preserves, Jam n’ Apple Butter (on request) we could find. Plus Fried Apples and Hashbrown Casserole and a Sampling of Smoked Sausage, Country Ham and Thick-Sliced Bacon.) This is a good combination as it includes eggs and breakfast meat along with hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy and fried apples. I asked for my eggs over medium and ask for the sausage as my choice of breakfast meat. The eggs were cooked order just like I asked for. The sausage is fried nicely with good color, was tender and had a good taste. The gravy was nice and hot, nice and thick and had that good peppery country gravy flavor. The fried apples were very good and always make a great end to breakfast meal. They’re kind of like eating an apple pie without the crust.

That leaves the biscuits and the hashbrown casserole. The biscuits it had been a loft. They were dense, heavy and one would guess that they had not used enough baking powder. They were also cold and makes me wonder if perhaps they weren’t left over from the day before. Without the gravy they would have been way to dry to eat. One of my favorite parts of the Cracker Barrel breakfast is the hashbrown casserole. This serving did not live up to what I have come to expect from Cracker Barrel. It was quite dry and the edges crispy and serving was way too small-sort of like the kitchen scooped the last remaining drag out of a long-standing pan to fill my order. I did enjoy the eggs  and apples as well as the gravy. The poorly prepared biscuits and potato casserole severely detracted from my enjoyment of the meal.



One of the things that kept us going back to Cracker Barrel over the years was a consistency of quality in the food. For the most part the four of us received meals that were up to Cracker Barrel’s normal standard. In my case, however, slight deviations from normal quality made a meal less than totally satisfying. As far as I can recall this is the first time I have been dissatisfied with Cracker Barrel. I am sure we will have breakfast a Cracker Barrel again in future and I hope that this glitch was a one-time event. And the grits.... well I never eat that stuff anyway.

Previous Cracker Barrel Blogs:
May 12 2012 http://thatfoodguy.blogspot.com/2012/05/cracker-barrel-revisited.html

Aug 19, 2011 http://thatfoodguy.blogspot.com/2011/08/cracker-barrel-st-petersburg-florida.html

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