This weeks edition of "I eat too much red meat" takes us to an old family favorite. My grandfather happened to be in town for the weekend and my dad was out and about on the town with him, so they decided to meet me somewhere that suits both the young and old. Cracker Barrel Restaurant and Old Country Store. Most of you are probably away of Cracker Barrel, it is good homestyle cooking with a country barn atmosphere. They serve both breakfast and lunch all day long, and we've had both. I can honestly say that I have never been disappointed in anything I have eaten here. But what about the burger? Keep reading and you'll find out, can't give up all my secrets in the beginning. We got to the restaurant around noon on a Monday, right around the normal lunch rush. Surpringly enough, they seated us within a few minutes. I guess they realized that we were not going to be buying any of their vintage candy or random trinkets, so might as well seat us. Either that or they figured that Daddyo and I might have been hurting their trinket sales by joking around about the random items they had sitting around by the bucketload. Either way, we got our seat quickly.
They sat us in the way back corner, probably another byproduct of our previous country store shenanigans, but it was nice because it was quieter. At least until the three of us sat down. We went ahead and ordered our drinks and meals at the same time. Daddyo got the vegetarian platter with a whole bunch of actual vegetables. Not mac and cheese like I normally get as my Cracker Barrel "vegetable". Pop-Pop ordered the chicken salad, which was a lot more difficult that you might imagine. He had a hard time explaining to the server that he wanted a chicken salad, not chicken salad. You know, a salad with chicken on it, not something that you call a salad but bears no semblance of healthiness outside of the added protein. I, for the first time ever, bypassed the chicken fried chicken, chicken fried steak, or anything fried at all and went with the Bacon Cheeseburger. They even asked me how I wanted it cooked, which was unexpected. I ordered medium of course, with a side of fries. After we ordered, we waited a very long time for our food. Eventually it felt like we were the only people sitting in the back of the restaurant. Pop-Pop had the strange idea that I was in a hurry to get back to work, so he was getting a little concerned. Daddyo and I got a good laugh over that, but we got an even better laugh when a random stranger came up and asked Pop-Pop if he was a relative of Uncle Sam. We thought at first if he was asking him if he was a veteran, until we looked up a picture of Uncle Sam and realized that he actually did bear a striking resemblance to him. Not long after, our food finally arrived.
The burger was what you would expect to see. Pretty basic bun, cheese, bacon, fries, and a side of slaw. No condiments on the burger, but there was ketchup on the table so I threw a little on it along with some slaw on top. So how did it taste? As spectacular as standard Cracker Barrel fare? Unfortunately, it did not. Probably safe to say this might possibly be the worst thing on the menu. I actually wished I had ordered a salad or a vegetable plate. Yes, I did just say that. And I'm talking real vegetables too. This burger was completely overcooked, like the question of how I wanted it cooked was merely just to make conversation. And as if they didn't overcook the meat enough, the bun was burnt on the inside. Even the bacon had no flavor. I don't even know how that is possible, I've eaten my fair share of Cracker Barrel bacon and it is always tasty. This was like the reject bacon. Almost as if the chef was like "man, no one is going to want to eat this bacon, I'll just hide it in this dude's burger." He probably realized I wouldn't taste it over the charred bread anyway. Luckily, I had two of my best conversation partners with me, and we all shared a good laugh over it. In between Pop-Pop's continued concern over the length of my lunch hour, that is.
So how does this big country plate of disappointment rank on the Angus Barn Burger scale? I'm guessing you can see where this is going. Overcooked meat, tasteless bacon, burnt bun, not a whole lot going for it. Even the fries were not as good as they normally are. Really other than the slaw, which technically counts as my vegetable, this meal was way below normal Cracker Barrel standards. So with all this being said, I have to give this the dreaded one Angus Barn Burger rating. While I highly recommend almost everything on the menu here, steer clear of this burger. Might I suggest something fried?
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
955 Airport Blvd
Morrisville, NC 27560
(919)463-9222
https://www.crackerbarrel.com/
