Cracker Barrel

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 12 historical complaints about Cracker Barrel, published between 2002 and 2011. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• Porcelain pieces found in coleslaw at Winchester locationPublished Apr 2, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Cigarette smoke from smoking section ruined family dinnerPublished Jul 22, 2010 · Historical consumer allegation
• Slow service and missing items at Wilkes-Barre locationPublished Sep 3, 2008 · Historical consumer allegation
• Hard chicken livers sent back twice with no compensation offeredPublished Jul 5, 2008 · Historical consumer allegation
• No raise during last two years of five years of workPublished Apr 2, 2007 · Historical consumer allegation
• Hours cut, poor reference and unemployment benefits contestedPublished Dec 21, 2005 · Historical consumer allegation
• Stolen checks cashed at two restaurants without ID checkPublished Feb 1, 2005 · Historical consumer allegation
• Checks stolen from my purse accepted at two locationsPublished Feb 1, 2005 · Historical consumer allegation
• Vegetable soup contained beef stock and I was still chargedPublished Oct 7, 2004 · Historical consumer allegation
• Unpaid hours never reimbursed and mandatory meeting during prenatal checkupPublished Sep 20, 2004 · Historical consumer allegation
• Got sick after meal and heard pig fat is used in biscuitsPublished Oct 22, 2003 · Historical consumer allegation
• Injured at work by rug, insurer denied treatment, no job offeredPublished Mar 3, 2002 · Historical consumer allegation

Complaint Themes

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website: https://www.crackerbarrel.com/
• Corporate headquarters (SEC filing): +1 615-444-5533 1 complaint mentions this number
• BBB-listed number (guest contact): +1 800-333-9566 1 complaint mentions this number

Locations

Problems with a visit, an order or a job: where to complain, and where else to report

Cracker Barrel's own website (crackerbarrel.com) returned an HTTP 403 block to automated access on 2026-10-16, so its contact and policy pages were not read for this page. What the company says in its annual report (Form 10-K, fiscal 2026) is that it has 'public notices in our menus, on our website and posted in our stores informing guests and employees about how to contact us by internet with questions, complaints or concerns regarding services or products', and that its store employees are trained 'on how to gather information and investigate and resolve guest concerns'. Check the current contact form on the company's site rather than relying on a number copied from elsewhere.

Practical steps.

• Note the store city and address, the date and time, and any order or receipt number; BBB's complaint instructions for this company ask for exactly these three items (store location, date/time of purchase or visit, order number) in step 2 of its complaint form.
• Keep the receipt, photos of any food problem and the names of staff you spoke to.
• Corporate telephone number printed on the company's SEC filings: (615) 444-5533 (headquarters switchboard, Lebanon, Tennessee). BBB separately lists (800) 333-9566 for the company; that number is BBB-listed and was not confirmed on the company's own website.
• For a food-safety concern, the company's 10-K lists among its food-safety practices 'monitoring of all health department inspections of all Cracker Barrel locations' and 'monitoring and responding to' foodborne illness outbreaks; your county or state health department is the regulator for restaurant sanitation and illness reports.

Employment complaints. Several archived complaints on this site (2002 to 2007) come from former employees. A wage, harassment, discrimination or retaliation complaint about a restaurant job is handled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state agencies, not by BBB; the court and agency matters below show how some such claims have been resolved.

Discrimination at a restaurant. The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights and Attorney General's office, and the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004, have each dealt with public-accommodation complaints against the company (see the next section).

Government agreements and consent decrees

Maryland Commission on Civil Rights and Office of the Attorney General (December 8, 2025). The two agencies announced a settlement over a visit by students with autism and their teachers to the Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, Maryland, after what they described as 'serious concerns of differential treatment rooted in disability' and a joint investigation. Under the terms listed in the press release, Cracker Barrel will 'revise and strengthen its public accommodation policy nationwide', pay $75,000 in total to the affected students ($7,500 per child), donate $17,500 to two programs at Dr. James Craik Elementary School, reimburse $446.56 for the school's meal and transportation costs, and contribute $9,000 to the Civil Rights Enforcement Fund. The release also mentions improved training and a formal written apology. The release as opened on 2026-10-16 does not say whether the company admitted or denied the allegations.

U.S. Department of Justice (announced May 3, 2004). The Department announced a complaint and a jointly filed consent order in the Northern District of Georgia, which at the time 'remains subject to court approval and which covers Cracker Barrel restaurants nationwide'. The Department alleged discrimination against African-American customers in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and said evidence was found at about 50 restaurants in seven states. The five-year agreement required nondiscrimination policies, training, a complaint-tracking system, an outside auditor and outside testing. The consent order itself (Document 4 on the Northern District of Georgia docket, No. 4:04-cv-00109-HLM, stamped filed 05/03/04) states: 'Entry of this Order does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by Cracker Barrel, nor do the parties intend for it to be interpreted as such.' The order's later history was not reviewed here.

EEOC. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced three consent resolutions: a $2 million decree for three Illinois restaurants (March 10, 2006), a $255,000 settlement for a Tennessee restaurant (April 10, 2009) and a $15,000 settlement of a disability-hiring suit (February 5, 2021). Details are in the litigation section. A consent resolution is not a finding by a court on the merits.

Who operates Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (SEC CIK 0001067294) is a Tennessee corporation headquartered at 305 Hartmann Drive, Lebanon, Tennessee, and its common stock trades on Nasdaq under CBRL. The company says it was 'originally founded in 1969'. It was formerly named CBRL Group, Inc. (SEC filings under that name run through December 10, 2008).

Scale, as the company reports in its 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2026. As of September 11, 2026 it operated 655 Cracker Barrel stores in 43 states, none of them franchised. Restaurants generated about 81 percent of revenue, with the rest from the retail gift shop; about 93 percent of restaurants also serve beer and wine. It employed about 74,500 people as of July 31, 2026, and its average check per guest in fiscal 2026 was $15.58. The company runs a loyalty program, Cracker Barrel Rewards, which launched in the first quarter of fiscal 2024; the 10-K says it 'allows members to earn points ("pegs") for each qualifying purchase in store or online' and that pegs 'are then converted to rewards upon reaching certain thresholds'. The program's terms (expiry, account closure) were not read, because crackerbarrel.com blocked automated access on 2026-10-16. On gift cards the 10-K says: 'Gift cards do not carry an expiration date; therefore, customers can redeem their gift cards indefinitely.' The company's own gift-card terms page was not opened.

Recent events the company discloses. The 10-K says the company 'faced challenges related to negative publicity from brand initiatives' including 'the launch of a new logo and modern test store remodels', and 'responded by returning to our former logo and discontinuing the modern test store remodels during the first quarter of 2026'. It states that David Deno began serving as Chief Executive Officer on August 10, 2026, replacing Julie Masino. It also states that in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 it sold 35 locations of its former Maple Street Biscuit Company fast-casual concept and closed the remaining company-owned locations.

Cracker Barrel cheese sold in grocery stores is a separate product line from the restaurant chain; archived complaints about packaged cheese are not linked to this profile.

Complaints and review sites

Figures as displayed on 2026-10-16; each is a separate source and none is combined with another.

• BBB (headquarters listing, Lebanon, TN): rating A+; BBB states the company is BBB Accredited (accredited date in BBB's page data: 2011-10-26); 277 total complaints in the last 3 years and 51 filed in the last 12 months; customer reviews 1.22 out of 5 from 51 reviews. BBB shows about 180 listings under this name, one per location; only the headquarters listing is used here. That listing names Julie Masino under business management, while the 10-K says David Deno became Chief Executive Officer on August 10, 2026. BBB's rating reflects its own method and is not our assessment.
• Trustpilot (crackerbarrel.com): 2.2 from 612 reviews, 83 of them in the last 12 months; the profile is unclaimed, and Trustpilot notes that the company has not invited its customers, so reviews may not be representative. Trustpilot does not fact-check reviews.

Archive on this site. 12 approved complaints from 2002 to 2011 are linked to this profile, all as the main subject. They are first-person accounts, not verified findings. By subject (counted by hand from the texts): four from current or former employees about pay, workplace safety, harassment or references; three about food (an ingredient dispute, a soup that contained beef stock after a server said it was vegetarian, a piece of porcelain in a meal); three about dining-room service or staff conduct; two from a person whose stolen checks were cashed at two restaurants; one about a smoking section. None of these has been independently confirmed by us, and the company's side is not recorded in them.

Court matters and settlements

The cases below are the consent resolutions announced by agencies that were reviewed for this page on 2026-10-16; other federal dockets naming Cracker Barrel, including suits filed by individuals, were not reviewed and are not summarized. The company's 10-K (Item 3) says it is 'party to various legal and regulatory proceedings and claims incidental to their business in the ordinary course' and that management does not expect a material adverse effect on results or financial position.

• EEOC v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. and CBOCS West, Inc. (N.D. Ill. No. 04-C-5273): decree entered March 10, 2006; a $2 million fund for 51 current or former employees at restaurants in Bloomington, Mattoon and Matteson, Illinois over sexual and racial harassment and retaliation (suit filed August 11, 2004); training, a posted notice, reporting of sex or race discrimination complaints to the EEOC, and a bar on retaliation.
• EEOC v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, Inc. (E.D. Tenn. No. 3:07-cv-00376): three-year consent decree announced April 10, 2009; $255,000 over alleged sexual harassment and retaliation at the Cedar Bluff, Tennessee store, with annual training and complaint reporting.
• United States v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (N.D. Ga. No. 4:04-cv-00109-HLM): Title II consent order filed May 3, 2004 (see the government agreements section for its terms and its no-admission clause).
• EEOC v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (D. Md. No. 1:18-cv-02674-PX): announced February 5, 2021; $15,000 to a job applicant plus an injunction, ADA training and a posted notice, in a suit over an alleged refusal to hire a deaf applicant for a dishwasher position at the Linthicum Heights, Maryland store.

Cases where the company was the claimant. The 10-K reports that in fiscal 2026 the company received $47,422 thousand, net of legal fees, under a settlement resolving interchange fee litigation, and $12,596 thousand in settlements of litigation involving its poultry and pork suppliers. These are company recoveries, not consumer claims.

Is Cracker Barrel Legitimate?

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is a public company that files annual reports with the SEC, lists a headquarters address and telephone number in them, and reports operating 655 Cracker Barrel stores (restaurant with gift shop) in 43 states as of September 11, 2026. BBB lists the headquarters as accredited with an A+ rating, and also shows 277 complaints in three years; Trustpilot shows 2.2 from 612 reviews on an unclaimed profile. Sites that use the Cracker Barrel name for packaged cheese or other products are different businesses from the restaurant chain.

A restaurant complaint concerns a specific visit. Local health departments, state civil-rights agencies and the EEOC have authority over different kinds of complaint; the company's own contact channel should be tried first and the outcome kept in writing.

Court & Public Records

Frequently Asked Questions