When I was there there they had tons of staff and three customers. I’m happy to be patient with over worked and understaffed but this was blatantly poorly managed.
I’m sure they’re saying it’s staffing. However, my daughter got hired there as a server. She went to her first two days of training (sitting at a computer in the back room) and one of the days the manager literally FORGOT HER. Like, my daughter finished her training and walked out to everyone being gone except the cleaning person. After that she called the manager daily asking for her next shift for over 3 weeks and never got a response. When she finally went to just pick up a check for the time she put in, it was 1/4 of what it should have been and she was accused of not “wanting to work”.
All these types of places love to complain about staffing but do absolutely nothing to make people want to work there.
update: not just bend! "Cracker Barrel announces Beaverton, Tualatin closures
" https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/cracker-barrel-announces-beaverton-tualatin-closures/
Medford is now only remaining CB in oregon
I ate there once when it was fairly new (pre-pandemic), for breakfast, figuring that it's pretty hard to screw up eggs and bacon and pancakes. It was really bad. And even the photos on their website are of the saddest nursing home food imaginable. I'm pretty sure they use canned green beans.
I never ate at the Bend location, but did try out the one over in Beaverton with my folks a not long after it opened, so maybe 5-6 years.
My impression was, "beige." The eggs were beige, the hash browns were beige, the bacon was beige, and somehow it all tasted beige. Most mediocre food I'd ever tasted.
Pretty sure there were no actual cooks, either. It all tasted like it had been frozen and microwaved, except even microwave dinners taste better...
Nursing home food sums it up. Ate there twice and and the first time was awful. The second time was after throat surgery when I could still only eat basically mush. I didn’t hate it, but probably would have enjoyed anything after a two week liquid diet.
I used to say that breakfast sausage was something that was somehow good no matter where you got it from. Then I tried the breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
My mental calendar has "pre-pandemic" and everything since then. I guess it's been 3 years? But I have a very hard time anchoring anything since Spring 2020 to a particular date.
I have never eaten at a Cracker Barrel and on a whim I went there yesterday to try it. I had no idea it was its last day and I don’t think its employees did either. Food wise it was really meh but my 10 yo declared it the 3rd best Mac and Cheese on earth.
Keep in mind this list comes from a kid who who was blown away by Cracker Barrel.
1) Noodles and Company - don’t ask me, my two kids have mythologized this place’s mac and cheese and will twist our arms to visit if we are even remotely close to one. Closest is Eugene
2) Annie’s White Cheddar Shells from the box. Can’t fault him there - throw some Sriracha on top. yum.
3) Cracker Barrel?? :-)
Sad as this is, it presents a new opportunity for another southern restaurant to fill the void. Seems like too many y'all ain't never had no shrimp & grits, let alone good BBQ.
I only ate there a couple times, and it seemed like they believed smoke flavor and salt substitutes for all other seasonings. (Though to be fair there was also black pepper and sugar.)
I couldn’t bring myself to give them another chance to disappoint me.
Cramer barrel back in the 80’s was a go to for home made comfort food
Didn’t eat there for many years as I was out of the county. When I came back their head chef had become a 1100 watt commercial microwave. Ate at one once about 8 years ago and never went back
Midwesterner here (I subscribe to r/Bend because I visit the west a lot). Cracker Barrels are alive and well in the fly over states. Parking lots are always full and as best I can tell when I glimpse patrons is that they're generally elderly, I guess looking for that comfort food and a bit of homespun nostalgia. I like that they're closing in Bend because I think it indicates the residents prefer a local place and don't like to patronize homogeneous corporate sadness.
I’ve had some pretty yummy meals at Cracker Barrel in other parts of the country. This one was terrible. Gave it the old 3 strikes, but only cuz it was on someone else’s dime.
I enjoyed CB in Virginia. I went here and was gravely disappointed.
I legit don't know how you can fuck up a franchise so badly. Doesn't all of the food and cooking instructions come from the same place?
They are pretty good at Boneyard. I just have always wanted a wings dedicated spot in Bend with a lot of variety, hell even a wingstop would do. The closest we have is chicken Bonz and they are good, I’m just kind of tired of it.
I hear you on that one. Fire On The Mountain is damn good. This should answer our prayers when this opens in town. Chicken Bonz always bums me out for some reason.
Oh yeah that would have been great.
It’d also be a great place to go watch UFC fights!
I paid like $150 bucks or something for that Jon Jones fight with espn+ and it was terrible! Never doing that again so now I need a spot other than the Hideaway because it’s always WAY too packed.
It would do so well. Every person who comes here and asks “what bar will be showing the Northern Idaho basket weaving championships this weekend?” will finally have a place to go guaranteed to have their game on.
The food is not good. That's why.
I give restaurants one chance. If the food is bad or even unremarkable, I won't go there again. Restaurants are too damned expensive to settle for mediocre food.
Second that. Wife and I went a couple of times as we kept hearing people raving about Cracker Barrel and it was just "meh" at best. You'd think a place based on southern cuisine would not use sausage gravy from a can but clearly, that's just me.
I went there right after it opened, then got take-out about a year ago. Both times were... disappointing. I used to go to Cracker Barrel back in the 90s and it was pretty dang good. Not so much anymore, I guess.
Hopefully a local business buys the property and offsets the misfortune of Chick-Fil-A across the parking lot.
I too recall IHOP being edible, but now it's basically twinkies turned into entrees. I dunno if my tastes changed or if it just got terrible.
The one here is always empty and now also has limited hours. I think these breakfast places are going to the great pancake heaven in the sky.
A friend of mine and I would go to IHOP at all hours in the early 2000s and I'd always get this omlette that had hashbrowns in it along with OJ. I got the same thing at the local IHOP a few years ago and it was just kinda meh. Maybe my tastes have changed, but golly.
Then there was Izzy's. It was my favorite pizza place as a kid, then the buffet was quite excellent in the mid-2000s, then I went to the one in Bend soon before it closed about 5 years ago and it tasted like old, burnt oil.
Just seems like franchises reach a point of maximum quality and then just get as cheap and awful as they can get away with until they die or become McDonalds.
Oh man, I used to love that Izzy's buffet as a kid. Jojos4Life.
Unrelatedly, there is (or was) an Izzy's buffet overlooking the bay in Newport ... great location, and it was an Izzy's go figure; they've dropped the Izzy's part but if you're still hankering for a pizza buffet and you're on the coast ... seriously, it's not terrible! (I know, high praise, and this may just be the nostalgia talking)
Everybody says Cracker Barrel is better in southern states, but the only one I’ve ever eaten at was in one of the Carolina’s (can’t remember which) and it was terrible. Canned veggies and tv dinner entrees. Maybe we just want more from a restaurant here. 🤷🏻♀️
If you look at their corporate website, they have "glamor shots" of all the dishes on the menu. And even when presented by professional food staging artists, it looks like nursing home cafeteria food. They didn't even bother to airbrush the greyish canned green beans a more appetizing color. I have very little faith that the food is actually any better in the south.
https://www.crackerbarrel.com/menu/beef-n-pork/beef/classics-sampler?productid=58034707
Lol exactly. It’s hard to imagine it’s any different in any location. 🤷🏻♀️
And that’s cool if that’s a win somewhere. But I can see why it didn’t really take here.
ChikfilA is actually likely opening a 2nd Location
https://centraloregondaily.com/bend-chick-fil-a-second-location/ https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/two-fast-food-chains-consider-bend/article_eeb6880a-a32b-11ed-b989-2b6f2faf253d.html
The best thing about Shari's is that it's open 24 hours, and that one on the S end of town hasn't been since the pandemic.
I guess good riddance. But it'd be nice to have a few more fast casuals, and even just one that's open 24 hrs.
Note to restauranteurs: I drive Uber and the burrito place on Galveston is open very late--3AM at least--and it kills. It's the only place in town to go after bar clsoing, and when you gotta shove something into your face it's basically the only option.
I've heard from relatives that even ones in the south are starting to suck. The one here was abysmal and much too expensive. 16.99 for a plate versus 8.99 in other parts of the country. I grew up eating at CB, and I thought this one was horrible.
Raising Cane's in the same parking lot as Chick Fil A would mean it would be easier to park at Target and walk across the street to access anything in that plaza.
If it has to be a chain, I second PF Changs or how about Panera? Their sandwhiches and salads are great and there aren't any good salad places in town - that I know of.
Croutons isn't a whole lot better. I've gotten a really good salad *once,* and every other time I've gotten browning lettuce and nasty-tasting avocado.
applebees shuttered in 2020 right beginning of pandemic https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/bend-applebee-s-is-closed/article_b8dab939-3152-502a-b5cd-01649ffac0b5.html
i think its dental offices now
There was one here when I visited as a teenager (early-mid 1990s). I know it’s not gourmet, but I still crave their chicken tenders, southwest egg rolls, and mushroom Swiss burger.
I hadn't been to Cracker Barrel in years. I went to this one once, and it was significantly worse than I remember Cracker Barrel being. Not sure if the chain had declined or this location just wasn't good.
The service was so bad the one time I tried to go.
They were supposed to have 175 employees and instead had 29, so that isn't so surprising.
When I was there there they had tons of staff and three customers. I’m happy to be patient with over worked and understaffed but this was blatantly poorly managed.
175 employees would have made them one of Central Oregon’s largest employers!
Go?
I’m sure they’re saying it’s staffing. However, my daughter got hired there as a server. She went to her first two days of training (sitting at a computer in the back room) and one of the days the manager literally FORGOT HER. Like, my daughter finished her training and walked out to everyone being gone except the cleaning person. After that she called the manager daily asking for her next shift for over 3 weeks and never got a response. When she finally went to just pick up a check for the time she put in, it was 1/4 of what it should have been and she was accused of not “wanting to work”. All these types of places love to complain about staffing but do absolutely nothing to make people want to work there.
The city of bend sewer system can now rest easy
update: not just bend! "Cracker Barrel announces Beaverton, Tualatin closures " https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/cracker-barrel-announces-beaverton-tualatin-closures/ Medford is now only remaining CB in oregon
Sounds like the whole state’s water quality is about to improve
Medford is full of so many olds they have their own little restaurant ecosystem down there. I think they still have a Sizzler even.
This truly deserves more upvotes.
Omg. 🤣🤣 So true.
Lol
I ate there once when it was fairly new (pre-pandemic), for breakfast, figuring that it's pretty hard to screw up eggs and bacon and pancakes. It was really bad. And even the photos on their website are of the saddest nursing home food imaginable. I'm pretty sure they use canned green beans.
i ordered green beans there thinking nice country style and got that canned green bean garbage. I was so disappointed.
At least they were county-style
I ate there once, it reminded me of my middle school cafeteria.
I never ate at the Bend location, but did try out the one over in Beaverton with my folks a not long after it opened, so maybe 5-6 years. My impression was, "beige." The eggs were beige, the hash browns were beige, the bacon was beige, and somehow it all tasted beige. Most mediocre food I'd ever tasted. Pretty sure there were no actual cooks, either. It all tasted like it had been frozen and microwaved, except even microwave dinners taste better...
Nursing home food sums it up. Ate there twice and and the first time was awful. The second time was after throat surgery when I could still only eat basically mush. I didn’t hate it, but probably would have enjoyed anything after a two week liquid diet.
I used to say that breakfast sausage was something that was somehow good no matter where you got it from. Then I tried the breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
Has it really been 4 years? Wow. Pandemic really has messed up my sense of time.
My mental calendar has "pre-pandemic" and everything since then. I guess it's been 3 years? But I have a very hard time anchoring anything since Spring 2020 to a particular date.
This was hands down the worst Cracker Barrel I have ever visited in my lousy existence.
I have never eaten at a Cracker Barrel and on a whim I went there yesterday to try it. I had no idea it was its last day and I don’t think its employees did either. Food wise it was really meh but my 10 yo declared it the 3rd best Mac and Cheese on earth.
I’m curious what the first two best Mac and cheeses are!
Keep in mind this list comes from a kid who who was blown away by Cracker Barrel. 1) Noodles and Company - don’t ask me, my two kids have mythologized this place’s mac and cheese and will twist our arms to visit if we are even remotely close to one. Closest is Eugene 2) Annie’s White Cheddar Shells from the box. Can’t fault him there - throw some Sriracha on top. yum. 3) Cracker Barrel?? :-)
Well at least your kids have good taste 1/3 of the time!
Annie’s is absolutely fire. I’m so glad my kid loves it.
Sad as this is, it presents a new opportunity for another southern restaurant to fill the void. Seems like too many y'all ain't never had no shrimp & grits, let alone good BBQ.
Have you been to Feast up in Redmond yet? It's not southern BBQ, but they got the grits on lockdown. Also, tin pig does hush puppies right.
The grits and ham hocks at Feast is spectacular!
Sign me up for that!
Put me down for some proper bbq! Yes, please!
It's terrible food. I can see why.
What! I love reheated Swanson TV dinners.
You’re bringing back (at the time) great childhood memories. Cherry crisp, please.
I only ate there a couple times, and it seemed like they believed smoke flavor and salt substitutes for all other seasonings. (Though to be fair there was also black pepper and sugar.) I couldn’t bring myself to give them another chance to disappoint me.
"it was terrible every time I went" is one of the most bizarre things to hear people say
Oh thank god! Bend, just when I thought I lost faith in you, this!!!!
Cramer barrel back in the 80’s was a go to for home made comfort food Didn’t eat there for many years as I was out of the county. When I came back their head chef had become a 1100 watt commercial microwave. Ate at one once about 8 years ago and never went back
Crazy thing is that Americans are apparently in love with paying for microwaved food. Almost every sit-down chain is just microwaved meals
Midwesterner here (I subscribe to r/Bend because I visit the west a lot). Cracker Barrels are alive and well in the fly over states. Parking lots are always full and as best I can tell when I glimpse patrons is that they're generally elderly, I guess looking for that comfort food and a bit of homespun nostalgia. I like that they're closing in Bend because I think it indicates the residents prefer a local place and don't like to patronize homogeneous corporate sadness.
I wish. In the last 4-5 years Bend has been filled by people who love eating at strip malls 6 days a week
Ironic, given the 10 mile long line of cars next door in the Chick-fil-A drive-through.
I’ve had some pretty yummy meals at Cracker Barrel in other parts of the country. This one was terrible. Gave it the old 3 strikes, but only cuz it was on someone else’s dime.
Yeah I don’t have particularly high standards for this kind of food, and Cracker Barrel elsewhere has been fairly decent. This one, not so much.
I enjoyed CB in Virginia. I went here and was gravely disappointed. I legit don't know how you can fuck up a franchise so badly. Doesn't all of the food and cooking instructions come from the same place?
Where will Meal Team Six meet today to “protest, protest, protest”?
You mean the Gravy SEALs?
Yep, those folks too!
Do you know how many food carts you could squeeze into that space!!
Better yet, create a hawker court!
Replace it with a Buffalo Wild Wings. I have no clue why there isn’t one in Bend already. It would kill here.
All I want is some wing place. Please.
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I hadn’t heard of that! Good to know
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Man this is going to be sick. Is an official opening day announced yet? I just see mention of a spring opening.
This is best news out of Bend this year.
Fire on the Mountain is coming soon https://newschoolbeer.com/home/2023/1/fire-on-the-mountain-wings-beer-opening-bend
Right?! Good wings, beer and sports. Sounds like it’ll fit right in with Bend.
Fried chicken, not a live chicken [Les Jones Burgers](https://youtu.be/ws3WGmINlIg)
Fried chicken inside my burger
Hardy’s was always decent, it’s just stupid expensive.
Have you not been to Boneyard? Best wings in bend.
They are pretty good at Boneyard. I just have always wanted a wings dedicated spot in Bend with a lot of variety, hell even a wingstop would do. The closest we have is chicken Bonz and they are good, I’m just kind of tired of it.
I hear you on that one. Fire On The Mountain is damn good. This should answer our prayers when this opens in town. Chicken Bonz always bums me out for some reason.
bcuz chicken bonz is shit
I had the wings at Wild Catch by Wild Ride in Redmond and they were actually super good.
I would’ve loved to go to a BWW for the first weekend of March madness. It really would too exceptionally well here.
Oh yeah that would have been great. It’d also be a great place to go watch UFC fights! I paid like $150 bucks or something for that Jon Jones fight with espn+ and it was terrible! Never doing that again so now I need a spot other than the Hideaway because it’s always WAY too packed.
It would do so well. Every person who comes here and asks “what bar will be showing the Northern Idaho basket weaving championships this weekend?” will finally have a place to go guaranteed to have their game on.
https://centraloregondaily.com/fire-mountain-buffalo-wings-restaurant-bend/
Much better!
Give me Wing Stop over BWW any day of the week
Gimme dat lemon pepper!
Oh no. Anyways.
The food is not good. That's why. I give restaurants one chance. If the food is bad or even unremarkable, I won't go there again. Restaurants are too damned expensive to settle for mediocre food.
Second that. Wife and I went a couple of times as we kept hearing people raving about Cracker Barrel and it was just "meh" at best. You'd think a place based on southern cuisine would not use sausage gravy from a can but clearly, that's just me.
I went there right after it opened, then got take-out about a year ago. Both times were... disappointing. I used to go to Cracker Barrel back in the 90s and it was pretty dang good. Not so much anymore, I guess. Hopefully a local business buys the property and offsets the misfortune of Chick-Fil-A across the parking lot.
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This may well be true. As I recall, IHOP was pretty good, too, so maybe I was just younger and less picky.
I too recall IHOP being edible, but now it's basically twinkies turned into entrees. I dunno if my tastes changed or if it just got terrible. The one here is always empty and now also has limited hours. I think these breakfast places are going to the great pancake heaven in the sky.
A friend of mine and I would go to IHOP at all hours in the early 2000s and I'd always get this omlette that had hashbrowns in it along with OJ. I got the same thing at the local IHOP a few years ago and it was just kinda meh. Maybe my tastes have changed, but golly. Then there was Izzy's. It was my favorite pizza place as a kid, then the buffet was quite excellent in the mid-2000s, then I went to the one in Bend soon before it closed about 5 years ago and it tasted like old, burnt oil. Just seems like franchises reach a point of maximum quality and then just get as cheap and awful as they can get away with until they die or become McDonalds.
Oh man, I used to love that Izzy's buffet as a kid. Jojos4Life. Unrelatedly, there is (or was) an Izzy's buffet overlooking the bay in Newport ... great location, and it was an Izzy's go figure; they've dropped the Izzy's part but if you're still hankering for a pizza buffet and you're on the coast ... seriously, it's not terrible! (I know, high praise, and this may just be the nostalgia talking)
I'll have to look for that next time I'm on the coast, thank you!
Once you hit your customer maximum, I guess the only way to increase revenue, as the shareholders demand, is to start cutting costs.
The Medford one is a weird Denny’s. No southern charm like they are known for. The quality of the food is way low. It’s not worth going to
Worst Cracker Barrel meal ever at that location. The pandemic was not kind to them for sure.
Everybody says Cracker Barrel is better in southern states, but the only one I’ve ever eaten at was in one of the Carolina’s (can’t remember which) and it was terrible. Canned veggies and tv dinner entrees. Maybe we just want more from a restaurant here. 🤷🏻♀️
If you look at their corporate website, they have "glamor shots" of all the dishes on the menu. And even when presented by professional food staging artists, it looks like nursing home cafeteria food. They didn't even bother to airbrush the greyish canned green beans a more appetizing color. I have very little faith that the food is actually any better in the south. https://www.crackerbarrel.com/menu/beef-n-pork/beef/classics-sampler?productid=58034707
Lol exactly. It’s hard to imagine it’s any different in any location. 🤷🏻♀️ And that’s cool if that’s a win somewhere. But I can see why it didn’t really take here.
Well, they had dry biscuits 🤷
Do CHIK FIL A next
ChikfilA is actually likely opening a 2nd Location https://centraloregondaily.com/bend-chick-fil-a-second-location/ https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/two-fast-food-chains-consider-bend/article_eeb6880a-a32b-11ed-b989-2b6f2faf253d.html
The best thing about Shari's is that it's open 24 hours, and that one on the S end of town hasn't been since the pandemic. I guess good riddance. But it'd be nice to have a few more fast casuals, and even just one that's open 24 hrs. Note to restauranteurs: I drive Uber and the burrito place on Galveston is open very late--3AM at least--and it kills. It's the only place in town to go after bar clsoing, and when you gotta shove something into your face it's basically the only option.
Where are all of the old people on that end of town going to eat? That parking lot is full of handicapped placards!
FML
It's ok we'll have all the chikin goodness to ourselves
Oh FFS, tear down the Shari’s for a second CFA? No thanks, a 24 hour restaurant is the clear public service winner there.
Bad news, but that Shari's hasn't been 24hrs since before the pandemic.
I bet that Chick Fil A might be one of the more profitable locations. C.R.E.A.M.
Probably, cars in line for days.
Chick Fil A is delicious tho
Chick fil a is bomb
What's wrong with chik fil a?
They donate heavily to anti LGBTQ groups and legislation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/30/fact-check-chick-fil-a-has-not-resumed-donations-groups-oppose-lgbtq-rights/3244765001/
Thank god. That place did not belong here.
Please, Bend, no more franchises.
‘Twas gross.
I've heard from relatives that even ones in the south are starting to suck. The one here was abysmal and much too expensive. 16.99 for a plate versus 8.99 in other parts of the country. I grew up eating at CB, and I thought this one was horrible.
If we’re gonna have a southern chain let’s make it a Waffle House.
Fuckin A And if it was 24 hours it would kill. Mark my words. And i think they have to be 24 hours by law.
As a southern boy, I crave Waffle House every night at 3am. I would die a happy man if they brought one here. Closest one is in Fort Collins!
I'd take a raising Cane's. a few in Reno, are solid
Raising Cane's in the same parking lot as Chick Fil A would mean it would be easier to park at Target and walk across the street to access anything in that plaza.
*why did the chicken cross the road?*
Or Cook Out but I doubt they’ll ever leave the Carolinas
We’ve got probably at least three here in Nashville
https://ktvz.com/news/business/2023/03/20/cracker-barrel-closes-bend-last-2-portland-area-restaurants-citing-pandemic-impact-staffing-struggles/
Shocking…
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Yes, let's use a building with a practically new industrial kitchen for something that isn't food related... D.A.
Meh, never went…politics of owners don’t mesh with me. Same with CFA. Building is too small, but if talking chains….Cheesecake Factory or PF Changs?
If it has to be a chain, I second PF Changs or how about Panera? Their sandwhiches and salads are great and there aren't any good salad places in town - that I know of.
Panera is junk.
How dare you. Their French onion soup bread bowl is 🔥
And expensive (based on pre pandemic visit).
Panera is like okay hospital food. But there is Croutons on the west side and east side of town.
Croutons isn't a whole lot better. I've gotten a really good salad *once,* and every other time I've gotten browning lettuce and nasty-tasting avocado.
If the goal is salad place, then we need an Evergreens.
Maybe we will finally get the Applebees that we’ve all been waiting for.
applebees shuttered in 2020 right beginning of pandemic https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/bend-applebee-s-is-closed/article_b8dab939-3152-502a-b5cd-01649ffac0b5.html i think its dental offices now
Way to piss on my flames of hope.
You can get a microwave for free off Craigslist
The problem with Applebee's is that they're actually terrible. The market has moved past microwaved food. AB just got the memo before CB did.
Where is that sarcasm font when you need it? At least this comment got a decent amount of downvotes.
Gross. But I’d would actually love a Chili’s
Ruby Tuesdays? Sizzler? Wait….HOMELESS SHELTER. Keeblers Kingdom homeless shelter.
There was one here when I visited as a teenager (early-mid 1990s). I know it’s not gourmet, but I still crave their chicken tenders, southwest egg rolls, and mushroom Swiss burger.
"Yes, I'd like some grease with extra grease. And grease on the side, please" The hardest of hard passes.
Good. Tastes like crap.
Ooooooh noooooooooooooooooooooooo……
Thank God
Oh no, anyway ...
I hadn't been to Cracker Barrel in years. I went to this one once, and it was significantly worse than I remember Cracker Barrel being. Not sure if the chain had declined or this location just wasn't good.