Cracker Barrel Bar & Grill

Went there yesterday with a friend for lunch. The wait at 2 pm for the food to arrive was about 20 minutes. When it did, the sandwich that I had ordered was wrong– entirely the wrong thing. Waitress: I’ll go put in an order for the right one…(already waited 20 min– me-​frustrated and hungry) My friends tuna melt which he ordered on rye came on white– he wasn’t happy about that but we agreed to just share the sandwich. I told the waitress to cancel my order as we did not want to wait any longer. Then here comes the kicker! When I picked up my half of the sandwich, the cook had burned the bread and had put the burned side down, as if he thought he could just pass it off that way– we got up and left. I will never return there.

Great service. Great food. Cool atmosphere. I dont unerstand the bad reviews that others gave. Ordered burgers and sweet potato fries, salads, and apps. The salads are huge and very fresh. By themselves they could be a meal. The fries and burger were perfection. On a very busy night our waitress was attentive, and made us feel well cared for. Do not hesitate to visit this place and have dinner.

Food is great. Fries or chips homemade. Kids love the pizza, and menu is a bit more than pub fare. Corned beef excellent. Looks like recent remodel. I would definitely recommend for food and drink!

It used to go here a lot a few years ago. My friend and I went back today for football. They finally had the taco shell salad back, so we ordered two after waiting for 30 – 45 mins for the waitress to take our order (she was very sweet). Our salads came: salad from a bag with a scoop of chili and some crispy things on top all for $ 11.50! We now had a different waitress, and I had mentioned that the menu said the salad came in a taco shell. She said, «let me see what we can do…» She spoke to the bartender, Katie, who has NEVER been nice, and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back and said the chef will specially make a taco shell. I said id rather order something else. Her reply: no, it’s easier for us to do this. Within five mins, the salad came back in a fried taco shell. Still tasted like a salad in a bag. A pitcher of Coors L was $ 10! I am disgusted at the staff’s lack in professionalism when their food didn’t match the menu item and gave ME, the paying customer, an attitude bc I sent the food back! I’m sure I ate spit. We won’t be going back, ever. Gordon Ramsey needs to step in and take over this place!

First impressions: Dirty floor. Dirty torn menus.
I wanted to like this place but it’s a step up from a dive bar.
App sampler was pretty good. Crab cake was nothing to write home about. Wings were good.
Fish & chips (Friday special) weren’t particularly flavorful.
PhD Pibb cocktail was OK but not refined. Like a rum & Coke made with Mr. Pibb & Rye whiskey.
We seemed to have two waitresses. One was kind of stoned and in another world. The other one was very helpful. Food came out reasonably fast.
My wife didn’t enjoy this place at all. If you want beer and wings and to watch the game on TV. Head on over. Otherwise don’t expect too much.

This is a hard review to write. The owners, staff (most) are hard working and try to do a good job. The new ‘Chef’ is another story. He’s pompous, over-​bearing, and a blow-​hard. His «cooking,» if that’s what you call it, is generally awful. I use to order the specials, the previous Chef, he was a trained Chef, had some incredible specials. Now it’s not burned brussel sprouts for $ 8, something smothered in cheese, and a ‘new’ menu that looks the same but with higher prices.
Suggestion: Don’t hire someone who doesn’t have the credentials or proper training. Don’t make a wanna-​be Chef the GM too… you’re asking for problems. Hire a proper Chef, hire a manager to take care of the day to day operations if you can not be there. When you do interview a Chef, put out 3 – 4 ingredients and give them 30 minutes to make a dish. Ask them what their signature dish is and have him/​her make it and taste it!
You have a trained Chef on staff, why didn’t you promote him instead of hiring Chef Boyardee?

Visited for lunch on a Tuesday. Very slow, I was with two others and the dining room sat 2 more 2tops. Took about a half hour for 1 onion soup, which was NOT French by any means, with either a chicken stock or an unacceptably light beef stock, my guess is as good as yours because there was no taste. After another 20 min we got salad which looked like a 4 year old tossed it together. It was chophouse, not chopped, either. Blue cheese dressing was offensively garlicky. The burger was charred– but asked for medium, chips I think were homemade should take a backseat for a bagged chip– burnt taste, just ruined the burger even more. Someone had a Reuben and that appeared to be decent. Chef may need some training. Server was nice but would disappear for a long time. Other table was getting up and looking around the corners for some attention and she still didn’t come back for several minutes… Strange. Not going back, I know the server or chef may have had an off day but I don’t enjoy grocery store salad in a bag type of food while I dine out. Soup is skip able. Burger temp was wayyyyy off.

It’s a typical pub. The food is decent, prices are fine, booze selection standard. I like the location a lot, it is in a charming area of CT right along the Farmington River. The outside patio is also really nice with a large deck built right around an old oak tree. It’s definitely nothing special but is worth it for a quick bite and drink. If you’re in the area it’s worth checking out.

Came in to eat on 11−13−13 and was shocked at the quality of food. I have eaten here allot in the past and everything is pretty tasty. Recently the food has taken a dive for the worst. I had ordered a half chicken entrée’ and it was horrible. Chicken was dry and WAY overly salty. Whoever cooked that bird has no tact and needs to find quit cooking. THAT BAD!
Its a shame, heard they have a new chef in there from our server. I said nothing of my dish to her. Definitely wont be going back, i’ve seen «chefs» come into decent places and tank them before. Too bad.

I don’t think my wife and I will return for some time. They have a good selection of craft beers, but the clientele is often loud and obnoxious (drunk). We only ordered pizza and the middle was a tad soggy. The waitress reminded me of Miss Trunchbull from «Matilda». Inappropriately dressed and although trying hard, didn’t have great social skills. Management needs to bring in «Restaurant Impossible». It’s too bad because it could be a gem of a location for the locals.

Less than stellar tonight.
Thirty minutes for the food (quesadillas and a buffalo chicken salad) to come out. As we waited, the server walked by us 4 times, ignored us 4 times, and schmoozed and hugged people at the booth in front of us. I was worried that my wife’s quesadilla was going to be cold, but it wasn’t. Turned out my broiled chicken was cold, but I could see the handwriting on the wall that was an off night and didn’t say a word.
Server told us at the end (right around invoice time) that she was slammed busy, they were understaffed, they had big parties inside, big parties outside, and the kitchen was backed up –on and on yadda yadda yadda.
1) I’m sorry the restaurant was busy, but don’t restaurants want to be busy on a Friday at dinner time? By the way, the dining room had 14 tables and booths, and six were empty. I counted.
2) I’m sorry the restaurant appeared to be understaffed. If that’s a management issue, shame on management for overloading the servers.
3) I’ll cut our server a little slack in case she was super busy, but she wasn’t busy enough to kibbitz with the table in front of us and hug patrons more than once. If you’re that busy you have to know how to prioritize and manage your time, and she didn’t at all.
4) Was she so busy that she can excuse walking by us 4X as the clock hit a 30-​minute wait and not say a word?
5) Was she so busy that she was forced to wait until the check was on the table to explain the service deficiencies?
Doubt we’ll be back.
Oh, and one more word of advice, get some more coasters to put under the leg of our wobbly table. The 6 you had there weren’t getting the job done.
.

I was raised since birth just down from the center, on Red Hill Rd.
Where you — (Cracker Barrel) are, used to be a bar and grill. I saw it change ownership several times. The locals loved it and hung out there after work. I did also once I became of age at that time 18 was the legal drinking age. In the same building were you are, to the left was a small market, the owners and my family were long time friends. Down the street was a soda fountain/​coffee shop and next to it a Liquor store, both owned and run by the Blazis family. A best friend there used to live on top of your building in the 1^st apt. My dad was one of the early firemen there in T’ville and retired as Chief of the AVON vol. Fire Dept rounding out his 30 yr career.
I graduated Simsbury H.S. in ’75, I left for the army where I stayed for 22 years. I haven’t been back to «T’ville» in a very long time, and my child hood friends I found on Facebook, brought me up to speed. Only a few remain there, and happy for them since I can get any «News» from there. Tariffville is and will remain very near and dear to my heart. Someday if I get back that way I’ll have to stop in for olé’ time sake and have a burger. Thank you for this moment and opportunity. It’s nice to reminisce.
From Texas I’m
ED PEASE JR, U.S. ARMY RETIRED

1.) The Low Down:
The pub food is good. They make wings that are unbelievably HOT! I really don’t know what kind of pepper they put in it. They have some good selections of beer on tap.
Now what makes me very angry and has me refusing to return? THE SERVICE. They are assholes here and will tell it to your face! If it’s night time, and it’s way before closing time, they will try to kick you out. Here are some things they have said to my friend and I:
A.) Night One:
CBB Staff: Hey how are you guys doing?
Me and Friend: Good, how you doing?
CBB Staff: Better, if you guys could get the fuck out of here! *walks away, doesn’t talk to us even after paying the bill. He was our bartender*
B.) Some other Night Two:
CBB Staff: I wish you guys could go home. There’s nobody here! Can’t you get a life?
Us: *Looking to each other, clueless.*
(We were only there for 15 minutes until they said that).
C.) Another Night Three:
CBB Staff: «You guys should call yourself Ebony & Ivory.»
US: (which consisted of myself and my Caucasian friend) *looking clueless at each other*
CBB Staff: Can you guys get the fuck out of here?
*this time we were here for 30 minutes around 10pm. The place closes on Friday at Midnight.*
2.) Impressions:
Neither myself nor my friend were close to them to have them talk to us like that. I’ve heard it from other customers that they treat customers like that in the same manner, specifically «around» closing time. They are so lucky I keep my composure. Another person would have punched them right in the face, especially on the occasion of «C.) Another Night Three.»

Up until just recently this was the best burger I’ve had in CT. The black and blue burger was tremendous! After a long hike on one of the nearby trails this is a great casual spot to unwind with a beer and some decent food. The bartender (I ate at the bar) could not have been better. The food came quickly and was cooked perfectly. The bar seemed to have a lot of local people in it and most of them were eating so I took that as a good sign.
There are mixed reviews on Unilocal,so here are my thoughts on that:
Like a lot of small watering holes in out of the way places, you sort of enter the twilight zone when you step inside. If you go on a day when the cook’s girlfriend accused him of killing her cat who disappeared under mysterious circumstances 3 nights earlier, your food might be overdone. If your bartender is ticked because his team just got eliminated, he might not make you feel welcome at first. Although it’s not right to say that the customer has to win over the pub, in the small hole in the wall place in a one horse town, the customer naturally has some responsibility for how they are treated and the type of experience they end up with. It’s definitely not right, but that’s how it is. In New England, we probably have it better than most places on the planet, but anyone can have a bad day and any place can let its customers down. There’s no reason to ever return to a place that lets you down but if enough people work to convince you that your experience was unusual then perhaps you should give it another shot with an open mind.
So to the people who gave this place a bad review, I hope you’ll give it another shot. That Black and Blue burger was incredible and my bartender could not have been more friendly or attentive on my first visit. I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on this burger as a result of those reviews. Give this place a shot. I can’t wait to go back!

I did not have time to do a Unilocal checkout before I popped in on a Friday for lunch. I think if I had I probably would’ve suggested another place instead, but I’m glad I got to experience it for myself. The bar wasn’t big-​time full when we arrived but it did fill up while we were there. The menu is pretty standard bar food (meaning everything looked nummy to me) and while I didn’t see the beer list they did have Sam Summer on tap so I was happy. My friends enjoyed Long Trail, Bud Light and Stella. I had the meatloaf melt sandwich. I love meatloaf and I love sandwiches so this was a wonderful pairing. It comes with bacon on it however I picked it off because it was limp (the meatloaf is baked in it) and I also passed on the grilled onions (not my thing) but the sammy was still very tasty and I would definitely order it again. They have steak fries, curly fries, shoe string fries and homemade tater chips. I got the shoestring. They were nothing special but decent. I’ll try the tater chips next time.
The place has a huge deck in the back which looks perfect for a gathering with friends on a warm day (sadly it wasn’t nice enough out for us to enjoy it) and it’s got a total bar vibe. It looks like a fantastic place to see some live music and as a musician it looks like a great place to play too.
I’d say, give Cracker Barrel a shot on your own. I’m glad I did. The service was attentive and the bill was pretty cheap for 5 lunches and 7 beers (under $ 70!).
Update! I hit this place again (5÷9÷2012) for a weekday lunch and had another good exprience. I just had to mention that because I feel bad about the the other negative reviews (not sure why I do, but I do).

THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. SERIOUSLY. I was going to write about everything that went wrong and I just don’t have the energy. I even spoke to the owner and I can’t believe she owns a business. Her customer service skills are apparent with the quality of service you get. DON’T GO TO THIS PLACE. If you do… read this when you get back and all I can say is… «I told you so».

Great for a pub, not so much for dinner (food-​wise).
They have a great beer selection, beautiful deck and nice overall relaxed atmosphere. I’ll be a regular for cocktails from now on, but the dinner menu seemed to be all frozen and deep-​fried pub-​fare, could use a little improvement there.

Cracker Barrel Pub is a fantastic spot for both afternoon and evening attendance. The wait staff and bartenders are fantastic, and the food is terrific.
Portions are moderate in size and very well priced. Their service is attentive and lunch can usually run between 30 minutes to an hour, although you will likely want to stay longer.
They have daily specials aside from their normal menu which are usually unique and appetizing. Don’t hesitate to ask for substitutions or custom orders, they will almost always accommodate your request. I frequently go for lunch and am never disappointed.

Hi All,
I go here regularly for lunch and once in awhile for after work drinks. The bartenders are wonderful. The wait staff is equally as good. The food is above average. I have had several items on there menu, but my favorites are: French dip, and turkey club. Portions are average size, which is great for lunch. If you are really hungry for lunch, you may not be that satisfied with the portion. Lunch takes less than an hour… so you are in and out in a normal time frame.
They also have a really nice environment and friendly patrons.
FYI… This place is NOT part of the Cracker Barrel chain… it was named this prior to the chain. This is an obvious plus.
Overall can’t go wrong with this above average establishment for lunch. And it is the only place in Tarriffville for night time.
I recommend it.
MSZ

C-​Barrel is pretty good. Nothing special but alright. I flew in from SD last night into the BDL and went here at around 9:30.
We had two waitresses. The first one brought me a beer that was in a small Sam Adam’s glass. The second one brought me a beer in a nice big glass, so I guess I liked the second one better. And I’m sure the first one charged me for a large, even though it was a small.
The reuben I had was pretty good. It was a little soggy, but the meat was good and the cheese was melted nicely. Go with fries, as the homemade chips were not as good as the fries.
I would go back here. Although it’s not great, the prices seem reasonable for the area and it’s a cool little bar/​restaurant.