Ever wonder how Cracker Barrel can offer so much food for such reasonable prices?
The answers might surprise you. Keep watching to learn what piece
of furniture keeps the restaurant in the black and the prices on the menu low!
Hash browns are always a good idea for breakfast, but Cracker Barrel puts a spin on them that takes
it to another level. Made with seasoned shredded potatoes, Colby cheese, and chopped onions,
Cracker Barrel's signature hash brown casserole gets baked in the
oven and comes out crispy and creamy. If you've ever been to Cracker Barrel,
you're well aware that no breakfast there is complete without it.
Delicious as they are, there's a secret to that magical shredded potato casserole recipe that
you might find disappointing. According to an alleged Cracker Barrel cook on Reddit
who was asked about the recipe, one of the ingredients is frozen hash browns. While we
have no reason to believe anyone would be dishonest about such an innocuous detail…
"And the truth shall set you free!"
Keep in mind that this claim is only coming from a single cook. However, some restaurants
use pre-made hash browns to save time, so it's certainly possible that a majo r chain
like Cracker Barrel does too. If what the cook is saying rings true, then Cracker Barrel is saving
some major time by sidestepping the whole process of having to shred fresh potatoes from scratch,
which also saves money and keeps prices cheap. Regardless, there's no denying that
Cracker Barrel's hash brown casserole is truly mouthwatering. If you haven't had it before,
find your way to a Cracker Barrel to try a forkful and you'll become a believer.
From creamy spreads to aged bricks and powdered packets,
cheese comes in many forms. All of which are uniquely delicious in their own way.
"Mmmm…it's pretty scrumptious.".
Macaroni and cheese, one of the best vessels to showcase dairy in all of its miraculous glory,
typically calls for a batch of gooey cheese sauce. While there's always some room for
different interpretations and variations, cheese sauce is usually a combination of butter, flour,
milk or cream, and cheese. While the recipe is pretty simple,
it can still be a little messy and time-consuming. So it would make sense for some of the bigger
restaurant chains to outsource their cheese sauce. And apparently, that's exactly what
Cracker Barrel does, according to a Redditor who claims to be a cook at the restaurant.
Someone once asked what Cracker Barrel's secret is to making such delicious macaroni and cheese.
The former cook responded by informing the world that Cracker Barrel's cheese
arrives at the restaurant frozen in bags. If the cook's claim is accurate,
then Cracker Barrel is streamlining its macaroni and cheese recipe by utilizing
a cheese sauce that's pre-made. And while using a pre-made sauce may be disappointing to some…
"Disappointed!"
…it probably allows the chain to save on labor costs. The decision to use the pre-made sauce
likely goes a long way to keep the price of macaroni and cheese on the menu affordable.
At the end of the day, Cracker Barrel's macaroni and cheese is still delicious,
and isn't that all that really matters?
Maple syrup and breakfast go hand-in-hand. When we daydream about fluffy pancakes,
there are always glistening drops of sticky syrup drizzling over them like sweet,
heavenly rain. But the truth is that lots of restaurant chains don't actually use 100% pure
maple syrup. And that includes Cracker Barrel. Instead of using 100 percent pure maple syrup,
Cracker Barrel mixes maple syrup with sugar cane syrup. According to the label
on Cracker Barrel's syrup bottle, the mix is 55% pure maple syrup and 45% sugarcane syrup.
Let's give credit where it's due — we'd much rather have a sugary blend that includes
some authentic maple syrup rather than a bottle that has none at all. That said,
mixing pure maple syrup with sugarcane syrup is probably much cheaper than exclusively filling up
the whole bottle with pure maple syrup. That's because maple syrup tends to be pretty pricey,
which makes sense considering it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of
maple syrup. By mixing sugarcane syrup with pure maple syrup, Cracker Barrel is
keeping the cost of its syrup down, which translates into lower prices for diners.
For those unaware, a roux [ROO] is basically just flour whisked with melted butter.
This blend creates a thin paste that forms the base for many different
kinds of sauces. The longer it cooks, the darker it becomes,
setting the stage for everything from a simple béchamel [BAY-sha-mell] to a flavorful gumbo.
Making a roux isn't necessarily difficult, but it does require some time and measurement.
That might be the reason why Cracker Barrel allegedly uses a pre-made roux for their gravy.
According to a Redditor who claims to be a line cook at Cracker Barrel,
the roux at Cracker Barrel's restaurants is already pre-made so that all the cooks have
to do is mix it with some milk. Considering that another cook on Reddit claims that other Cracker
Barrel menu items like cornbread and biscuits are made from scratch, we have to admit it does seem a
little strange to outsource something as basic as a roux. At the same time, it simplifies the
cooking process a little bit, which helps the cooks whip up batches of gravy a little faster.
Using a pre-made roux allows Cracker Barrel to streamline the gravy process,
which gets it on your plate quicker. This can help Cracker Barrel sell more
in a shorter amount of time, which is good for business and keeps the prices nice and cheap.
Cracker Barrel put together a list of its 10 most popular menu items,
and at the top of the list is Momma's Pancake Breakfast.
This item includes three buttermilk pancakes, a couple of farm-fresh eggs, and a choice of smoked
sausage or thick-sliced bacon. As a restaurant that specializes in classic breakfast dishes,
it should come as no surprise that one of Cracker Barrel's top-selling items
is pancakes. But what might surprise you is just how profitable those pancakes are.
Cracker Barrel sells a 2 lb. box of its pancake mix for $5.99 and according to the box, it can
make up to 35 pancakes. Some quick math tells us that comes out to about 18 cents per pancake.
And we have to admit that pancakes for less than a quarter a piece are a pretty sweet deal.
Yet Cracker Barrel charges around eight bucks for three of its buttermilk pancakes at its
restaurants. Those same three pancakes would cost just a little over fifty cents
if you made them at home from the box. By striking a balance between
a reasonable price tag and profitability, Cracker Barrel ensures a menu that's both
financially successful for the business and also affordable for customers.
One of the best things a restaurant can hope for is a constant stream of diners and that's
definitely something Cracker Barrel has on its side. That's because every year,
Cracker Barrel serves around 230 million guests. Even if the restaurant isn't making a ton of
money on each individual sale, if it does enough business, it will still earn a lot of revenue.
About 40% of those guests are travelers, which makes sense considering that Cracker Barrels tend
to be strategically located near highway exits. In the late 1960s, America's interstate system
was expanding, and Cracker Barrel founder Dan Evins capitalized on that moment by recognizing
it as the perfect opportunity to launch a chain of roadside restaurants. He envisioned a diner that
catered to people on the road. He wanted to go above and beyond what fast food companies offered
by giving guests a more comfortable place to fill their bellies and talk around the table.
He even attached a quaint little country store for everyone to do a little shopping.
All of this proved to be very fortuitous for Cracker Barrel. Today,
Cracker Barrel's steady business translates into about three billion dollars in total revenue
every year. Consistently impressive sales volume like this allows Cracker Barrel's business to
thrive — which helps the company keep menu prices that are affordable for everyone.
Some restaurants spend big bucks on fancy furniture, stylish décor [dih·KOR], and
elegant lighting to create a more sophisticated atmosphere. Cracker Barrel takes a different
approach, devoting its efforts to rustic adornments that evoke feelings of nostalgia
[nuh·STAHL·jhuh] and simplicity. Cracker Barrel isn't trying to conjure up a sense of lavishness.
Instead, its décor turns back time to reawaken cozy visions of a bygone era steeped in classic
Americana. Some may say it's kitsch [KITCH], but plenty of other people find it charming.
Cracker Barrel's old-timey aesthetic [uhs·THEH·tick] and its attached country
store gift shop have helped the restaurant carve out a distinct identity for itself.
Cracker Barrel's sense of style feels unique and authentic. But it's also fair to assume that the
price of all these weathered antiques [an·TEEKS] and replicas probably pales in comparison to the
higher cost of installing sleek, modern décor. The décor serves Cracker Barrel's bottom line in
two ways. Not only is it cheaper, but it also generates lots of money for the restaurant.
That's because the design scheme [SKEEM] tends to attract diners into the gift shop
where it sells lucrative collectibles. Cracker Barrel's most recent fiscal report posted on
its website reveals a total annual revenue of over $2.5 billion. Nearly $500 million of
that is from retail alone. Cheaper investment in décor along with sales at its gift shops
means more money in the company's pocket, which keeps prices low all around.
Rocking chairs are probably one of the first things that come to mind when you think about
Cracker Barrel. After a hearty Southern-style meal, it's hard to resist taking one of those
iconic rocking chairs for a spin, gently swaying in the breeze with a happy belly.
What you might find surprising is how many of those rocking chairs the restaurant actually
sells. Hinkle Chair Company, which has been hand-making rocking chairs for nearly 200 years,
builds about 200,000 of them a year for Cracker Barrels all across the country.
Considering that most of Cracker Barrel's rocking chairs cost around 200 bucks a pop,
it's fair to assume the company makes a pretty penny off of these babies.
The revenue generated from the gift shop and the restaurant is lumped together,
despite the fact that they are operated by two different teams. This means that all of those
rocking chair sales help keep the restaurant side of the business afloat. In other words,
all of the sales generated from the gift shop, including Cracker Barrel's rocking chairs,
help subsidize prices on the menu to keep everything affordable.
Every job has its stresses. The reality is that every form of labor comes with some
level of strain and hardship — that's the nature of work.
"I gotta get outta here, I think I'm gonna lose it!"
"Uh, oh! Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays!"
That's certainly true for employees at restaurants,
where the jobs tend to be physically demanding and fast-paced. Breaks at work offer fleeting,
glorious moments of much-deserved rest. They are essential for everyone's mental health
and physical well-being. The irony is that while employers may think they're getting
away with something by not providing opportunities for consistent breaks,
there's evidence that some downtime is actually better for productivity. That's because moments
of rest renew our focus, increase morale, and improve our capacity for learning.
Unfortunately, according to an alleged former Cracker Barrel employee on Glassdoor,
the restaurant doesn't appear to prioritize breaks for its employees. The anonymous employee
claims that the only way to get breaks at Cracker Barrel is to work a double shift or to just be in
the good graces of management. Another former employee echoes these same claims on YouTube.
And flat-out says that she never had a break during her time at Cracker Barrel.
By not providing steady breaks, Cracker Barrel squeezes more labor out of its employees and
makes sure the restaurant is always well-attended, which brings in more profit and keeps prices low.
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