Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

This is a very backdated restaurant review. I initially didn't want to write about this anymore but I enjoyed the food there so much that I just had to write this review. We were on our way to Pittsburgh for Nick's confirmation when we decided to stop at Cracker Barrel in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania (somewhere off the Interstate, near Allentown) for dinner. We have always seen many Cracker Barrels along the way whenever we drive to home to Pittsburgh but this is the first time we are actually stopping at one.

It was a Friday evening and the car park was packed. The restaurant was filled with locals, so I guess it was a good sign. There is this old time country feeling the moment you step into the restaurant and there was also a nice working fireplace. The overall decor is very rustic (I like :P).

Our server handed us the menu and boy! it was a hugeee menu. There were so many yummy country style dishes to choose from. It took us quite a while to decide what to order :P

We finally placed our order and our server brought out some country biscuits as well as some home made corn muffin. It was served with real butter and a whole bowl filled with all kinds of jam and honey. The muffin wasn't really the best, it was just alright. The biscuit however was the bomb! Really buttery and nice, very very good! We tried the biscuits with all the different types of jam..mmm mmm mmm.

They even have games on each table for the customers to keep themselves busy while waiting for the food. We of course were keeping ourselves busy by stuffing our faces with the biscuits and muffin, so we didn't really have time to check out the games.

It didn't take too long for our dinner to arrive. Kevin ordered the Meatloaf Dinner, which comes with a thick cut of Meatloaf made with tomatoes, green peppers and onions. He had a choice of three country sides and he chose the Whole Kernel Corn, Country Green Beans and Fried Apples. He said that they were all really good and he enjoyed the whole dinner lots.

Since everything looked so good on the menu, I ordered the Cracker Barrel Sampler. A small selection of their three most famous dishes. Half a slice of Meatloaf, half a slice of Sugar Cured Ham and some of their famous Chicken n Dumplins. I just love their Chicken n Dumplins. Pieces of chicken tenderloin and dumplins that were hand made from scratch, slowly simmered in country chicken stock. Reallllly hearty and good. I also had a choice of three sides and I chose the Fried Apples (bad choice, I didn't really like it), Country Green Beans and Breaded Fried Okra. The fried apples tasted like commercial apple pie filling, so I didn't really like it that much. However, the green beans and okra rocked my world! It's really good, especially the okra.

After dinner, we took a walk in their gift shop. The whole place oozes of country charm. They had all kinds of apparel, boots and cowboy hats, Paula Deans cookbooks, old fashioned baked goods as well as old time candy! I felt like buying everything! At last we bought some chocolate covered walnuts and Dad's Root Beer hard candy to eat along the way to Pittsburgh.

As we left the restaurant, we noticed that they even had hand made rocking chairs on sale at their verandah. Man, if we had a southern style ranch house with a big verandah, we would definitely get a few rocking chairs. It would be so cool to just sit outside on the rocking chair, sipping ice tea and watching the sunset :P Overall, I'm glad we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. It was a pleasant break from the long journey and it's always good to eat some hearty 'home cooked' country style food. If only there was a Cracker Barrel somewhere nearer to our apartment. I should bring this franchise to Malaysia, anybody want to invest and be my partner? :P

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
7720 Main Street,
Suite 19,
Fogelsville, PA 18051
Tel: (610) 481-0055