Would Cracker Barrel Restaurants do well right off the Capital Beltway? (Manassas: school, store)

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by pcity

There's an Old Country Buffet on Richmond Highway. I've never been there but it seems like the kind of food OP is discussing.

Look, I am never going to be someone who says that the food at Cracker Barrel is "good". It is what it is. Home style comfort food loaded with calories. But it is infinitely better than the food at Old Country Buffet. That place is downright gross.

[Ed_Wood]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

One thing I notice about Northern VA is a general lack of reasonable American style old fashioned restaurants near the Capital Beltway.

Sure, there are fast food places but what is missing is a place to get old fashioned comfort food like I grew up with in the 1960s in the Midwest. You know, a restaurant with a menu like the Cracker Barrel. Ham, chicken, roast beef, vegetables, pies, cakes. A place an old fashioned blue collar person would feel comfortable.

Have you been to a Cracker Barrel restaurant? They are all over the Midwest and Eastern US. The closest one is Manassas. They are always crowded and full of regular folks who look the same at every Cracker Barrel I go to. The Cracker Barrel Customers look to come out of central casting.

If I had money I would like to open a Cracker Barrel just off the Capital Beltway on Braddock Road, or just off the beltway on Little River Turnpike. Would it do well in Northern VA? Would you go there?

I have followed this person's posts for the last year. They literally put the most passive aggressive posts possible to stir up the local population of DC and NoVa. They're all thinly veiled attacks on the new economy, the diverse cultural area, the lack of the good old boy network, etc. They all evoke imagery about the DC metro of yesteryear (which never existed) and lament the loss of the "blue collar" ideal, which is a fake nostalgic view about the area when it was once white, poor and simple.

The poster isn't even subtle, but he's effective. Every single one of his posts sets off a firestorm which lasts for weeks, while the OP likely sits back and enjoys it.

Other posters have been banned for much less, I feel as though this "I'm Retired Now" caricature of Old Man Yells at Cloud should finally be put out to pasture

[I'm Retired Now]

Isn't there a rule against personal attacks on posters?

Now back to my question!

Originally Posted by Ed_Wood

I have followed this person's posts for the last year. They literally put the most passive aggressive posts possible to stir up the local population of DC and NoVa. They're all thinly veiled attacks on the new economy, the diverse cultural area, the lack of the good old boy network, etc. They all evoke imagery about the DC metro of yesteryear (which never existed) and lament the loss of the "blue collar" ideal, which is a fake nostalgic view about the area when it was once white, poor and simple.

The poster isn't even subtle, but he's effective. Every single one of his posts sets off a firestorm which lasts for weeks, while the OP likely sits back and enjoys it.

Other posters have been banned for much less, I feel as though this "I'm Retired Now" caricature of Old Man Yells at Cloud should finally be put out to pasture

[NOVA_guy]

A place like Cracker Barrell does much better business down south than it does up north. I'm surprised the few we have in NoVA have managed to stay in business.

I've only had their breakfast once and not only was the service awful but the food was as well.

[mikecart1]

Cracker Barrell is ok if you are on vacation and need to find some place to eat off the road. I used to like it when I was younger. But now that I'm older, I realized that the food there really isn't that good (taste, nutrition, quality, freshness) and it really is on the lower end of restaurant chains if chains is what you are looking for. I did like playing that tic-tac-toe game on that wooden triangle board on every table though. What we need instead is less chains and more 1-of-a-kind places. If you go to any shopping area, you will likely see a restaurant by one of these companies:

-Darden
-Bloomin'
-McDonald's

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Locals might eat there, I suppose, but to be honest I think they would more likely choose other restaurants. Bob Evans, Denny's and Panera sort of have the local markets for the after church/after meeting crowd. You asked if people on this forum would eat there. We wouldn't (although I love them when I'm on a road trip).

Also, there are plenty of Mimi's around. Don't want the Mimi's fans to feel left out.

[I'm Retired Now]

The couple of Bob Evans in the NOVA area are always empty except for some old people. The closest Perkins is in Frederick and the IHOP and Denny's crowd looks like you just visited the Welfare office. I think for $10 or less the food at Cracker Barrel is great. And I like the type of real folks crowd you find there.

I am shocked at the large number of posters who just hate Cracker Barrel. But if it is so terrible, then why is nearly every one of them full no matter what time of day you go?

[FCNova]

I hate Cracker Barrel. My wife feels the same way and she's originally from North Carolina so that's saying something. Every time I've eaten there for lunch or dinner the food was been thoroughly disappointing. Their breakfast is decent but it's hard to screw up eggs, bacon and toast. I think if they opened up around the beltway they'd be destroyed by the competition.

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

RE. the original post, I'm not sure what "regular folks" are, unless that's code for "low-income white people." (Who are the irregular folks, pray tell?)

Maybe regular folks is code for people who don't really give a crap how good their food tastes? The Cracker Barrel in my wife's hometown in NC does great. But then so does Ruby Tuesdays and Outback. Those places are always PACKED. We took her parents to an Outback near us in Vienna one time and they were amazed there wasn't a 1-2 hour wait.

[airjay75]

I generally find that mass, cheap, chain restaurants such as Cracker Barrel (and many others) simply aren't that enjoyable in large metro areas. This may sound elitist, but I find that the more urban the area, the more cheap, chain restaurants tend to attract different types of employees and customers than in small town America - primarily those from lower socioeconomic classes. As a result, I find the experience at such restaurants to be lacking in places like NoVA or any other large metropolitan area. I attribute it to two reasons. One, in small town America, there simply aren't many upscale restaurant choices - it's pretty much only chains and mom and pop type restaurants. So, if you want to go out to eat (or work at such a restaurant) that's all there is - you get both the good clientele and the bad clientele. Two, you don't have the income disparity in small town America that you do in major metro areas. Sure, you have people that are wealthier than others, but you don't have the very rich and the very poor like you do in major metro areas. It sort of creates a two tier system of restaurants - nicer restaurants that take reservations and cater to the upper middle class and mass, chain, cheap restaurants that cater to the lower middle classes. Similarly, because you won't make that much at a chain restaurant, you also have a harder time finding good employees in metro areas than you would in small town America. I think this reduces competition among the the chain restaurants and further leads to their decline.

Whenever someone suggests going to someplace like Fridays, Chilis, Applebee's, etc. around here, I immediately expect that I will get subpar service and lukewarm food - occasionally, I'm surprised. When I'm in small town America, I have had much better and consistent experiences at such restaurants.

So if a Cracker Barrel opened up near the Beltway, I would expect nothing less than bad service, low class customers, and an overall subpar experience. I remember a Cracker Barrel just off of 476 in suburban Philadelphia - that's pretty much what that place was. I went once or twice and never went back.