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Alex Bitter
- Cracker Barrel's CEO recently said that the chain is"not as relevant" as it used to be.
- The restaurant chain is well-known for its vintage decorations and store full of kitsch.
- I went to a Cracker Barrel outside of Washington, DC, to see what's going on.
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Cracker Barrel restaurants are at a crossroads — literally and figuratively.
You'll often find the chain right off freeway exits. For decades, that's made them appealing to people making long drives searching for a hot, sit-down meal and a break from the road.
But that strategy hasn't worked well over the last few years.
"We're just not as relevant as we once were," CEO Julie Masino told investors on a call last month.
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Masino added that the chain is "refreshing and refining" several aspects of its operations, from marketing to the atmosphere in its restaurants.
So far, that's included offering dinner specials in the late afternoon to appeal to diners who want to eat earlier.
Cracker Barrel is also testing a new layout for its locations that is "lighter, brighter, fresher and cleaner," Masino said. The layout includes bookcases instead of the chain's traditional momento-covered dividers. The company has also added booths to its seating options.
But for now, most of its stores still have the old-timey decor and wooden seats that many people associate with the brand.
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To better understand what eating at Cracker Barrel is like these days, I visited one of the brand's restaurants in northern Virginia, outside Washington, DC. Here's what I found.
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I visited this Cracker Barrel restaurant in Sterling, Virginia.
This particular Cracker Barrel location is just north of Washington Dulles International Airport. It's also near the intersection of multiple major highways and freeways.
One of the first things I saw were these rocking chairs on the patio outside.
The chairs were for sale — buying one of them will set you back $240. Of course, you can also try them out if you have to wait to get a table at the restaurant.
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I didn't have to wait to get seated.
I visited this restaurant on a Monday at 9:30 a.m. I didn't have to wait for a table since the restaurant was only about half full.
The vintage decor immediately caught my attention.
My table was right next to one of these dividers, so I had plenty of time to admire its decorations.
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Some decorations seemed to nod to the DC region where the restaurant is located.
This antique ad for "White House"-brand melons was an obvious nod to Washington, DC, about a 40-minute drive from this restaurant.
Overall, though, I was confused about whom this sort of decor is supposed to appeal to.
I love antiques, but as a millennial, none of the decorations are nostalgic for me. Many seemed to be from the 1930s or 1940s, meaning that they wouldn't mean anything to the vast majority of patrons, including baby boomers.
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I was also confused by this light fixture hanging above my table.
This light was designed to look like a lantern but had a modern light bulb attached to the bottom.
The menu included lots of breakfast options.
My waiter told me that Grandma's Sampler Breakfast is his location's most popular breakfast order. But I wanted to try Cracker Barrel's fried chicken, so I opted for Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast instead. I also added an order of the Biscuit Beignets and a drip coffee.
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I was surprised by the range of drinks that you can order at Cracker Barrel.
If it had been a weekend, maybe I would have ordered a mimosa or a glass of wine.
My breakfast showed up about 15 minutes after I ordered.
Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast includes a piece of fried chicken covered in gravy, two eggs, hash browns, as well as two biscuits with gravy.
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The fried chicken wasn't anything special.
Maybe it was because I went out for soul food the weekend before, but this fried chicken seemed average. The breading wasn't very crispy, probably thanks to the gravy that was smothered on top.
The biscuits and gravy were also average.
I'm used to biscuits served with the gravy on top, but at Cracker Barrel, they come separated — which confused me — with the gravy in its own little container and not much room to pour it out.
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I had to dip the biscuits in a cup of gravy.
The biscuits reminded me of the ones you buy in a cardboard tube and twist to open. The gravy, meanwhile, didn't taste very fresh.
After a bite of biscuit on its own, I started dipping it in the gravy, which felt wrong.
The biscuit beignets were my favorite part of this visit to Cracker Barrel.
My server didn't put in the order for the beignets until my breakfast came, but that worked out fine since they came out fresh from the fryer right as I finished my main meal.
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They were fresh and tasty, especially considering they use the same dough as Cracker Barrel's biscuits.
Lots of foods taste better fried; the same was true for the biscuit beignets. These are made out of the same dough as Cracker Barrel's buttermilk biscuits, the restaurant says on its website. It just cuts them into smaller pieces, fries them, and coats them with cinnamon sugar.
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Overall, this Cracker Barrel breakfast was fine, but not memorable.
The food tasted okay, but the textures weren't always right. The hash browns, for instance, were soggy.
I felt that breakfast would've been at least as good, and potentially better, if I had gone to Denny's or IHOP.
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With breakfast finished, I headed to the Cracker Barrel store.
Old-fashioned snacks were a major offering at Cracker Barrel's "Old Country Store." Like the vintage ads and knick-knacks in the restaurant, they harkened back to the early 20th century.
You can also buy some of the same foods that are served in the restaurant.
If you were a big fan of what you ate at Cracker Barrel's restaurant, you could buy some to make at home.
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And if you need a skillet to cook your at-home meal, the store has you covered.
Some of the cast iron skillets were made by Lodge specifically for Cracker Barrel.
Cracker Barrel's store sells a lot more than food and cooking supplies, though.
The more I looked around the store, the more confused I was about what the unifying theme was.
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There was beach-themed home decor, even though this Cracker Barrel is far from the ocean.
This selection of items would've been right at home in a TJ Maxx, though the prices were much higher than you'd likely encounter at that store.
It was also an odd mix of items for a Cracker Barrel located hours away from the nearest beach.
There was also a surprising selection of vinyl records for sale.
Lots of music memorabilia was on offer, such as this vinyl of Journey's greatest hits.
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The old-time, vaguely rural decorations also continued in the store.
You couldn't buy them, but the various old ads and farm tools contributed to a cluttered feel in the store.
Overall, I definitely saw what Cracker Barrel's CEO was talking about.
With mediocre food, lots of very old decorations, and an eclectic store, I was confused about what Cracker Barrel is trying to be. There was lots to look at, eat, and buy, but none seemed worth returning for.
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I won't be coming back until Cracker Barrel rolls out some big changes.
I'm not sure that replacing the partitions with bookshelves will be enough. But it's clear that the Cracker Barrel restaurant and store I visited needs an update.
There were so many examples of attractions that trade on nostalgia. In order for that to work, the attraction needs to offer something that people recognize — consider a ride at Disneyland modeled after your favorite childhood movie, for example.
It felt like Cracker Barrel was trying to remind patrons of a bygone era. But I'm just not sure that it's resonating with enough people anymore.
Do you work at Cracker Barrel or another restaurant chain and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com
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