Cracker Barrel’s push to improve its cooking and drop its failed “woke” rebranding have brought back customers and boosted the company’s stock, but a veteran cook told The Post the chain is sliding back to the cost-cutting practices that got it in trouble last year.
Earlier this week, the 56-year-old company reported improved financial results that sent its shares soaring by as much as 35%.
The southern-style chain lost customers in droves last year when it began reheating food like its popular buttery biscuits in microwaves — and attempted a “woke” rebrand that alienated longtime diners.
CEO Julie Felss Masino went on to cut ties with the marketing firm behind the rebranding campaign and brought back a former vice president for menu strategy, the Wall Street Journal reported. She also promoted a longtime executive to oversee store operations.
This week, the company lifted its full-year outlook for revenues to $3.27 billion to $3.3 billion, up from $3.24 billion to $3.27 billion.
But the turnaround could flounder if the company tries to cut corners in the kitchen — again — said a cook who didn’t want their name published out of fear of losing their gig.
“They are reheating some food including rice and meatloaf in the microwave again,” fretted the employee. “That could be the beginning of loosening up our higher standards.”
The worker also described a recent mandate from supervisors to serve day-old seasoned rice that didn’t sell out.
Cracker Barrel sets aside some refrigerated meatloaf orders to use in its chili dishes, but if they don’t get used for the chili, supervisors have instructed the kitchen staff to reheat them for the dining room, the cook said.
“We were told if they don’t get used for the chili, it’s OK to reheat them in the microwave,” and send them out to customers, the employee told The Post.
The company’s mantra, the cook said, is “less work, more often” — meaning staff should find ways to cook larger volumes of food less frequently, potentially compromising freshness.
Cracker Barrel, which is based in Lebanon, Tenn., disputed the account.
“It’s not our process to reheat for next day service,” the company said, adding that its “rice is prepared daily as needed for our guests.
“Our meatloaf is cooked, cut and served fresh every day. Meatloaf used for our sandwiches is heated on the grill to ensure great flavor, and our chili gets prepared right in the kettle.”
Cracker Barrel has come a long way since last summer, when it exploded on social media for all the wrong reasons, sparking boycotts and even advice from President Trump to stick with its old logo.
Felss Masino’s plan to revamp the brand – to make it more “relevant” – called for scrapping its folksy farmer Uncle Herschel from the logo and to update its dining rooms, making them brighter and removing tchotchkes from the walls.
She changed course in August, leaning into the company’s traditions and reversing plans to save time and money in the kitchen.
“More of our stuff is fresh,” the veteran cook told The Post.
All veggies get boiled in kettles again, preserving their flavor, instead of baked in the oven in water that left them “mushy and tasteless,” the employee added.
The chain’s biscuits, which had briefly been frozen and reheated the next day, are made fresh each day.
“The biscuits were the biggest change that everyone complained about,” the cook noted.
Kitchen staffers, who’d seen their hours cut last year, are working full-time shifts, said the employee, whose hours have nearly doubled.
Cracker Barrel said its efforts have been paying off.
“We have taken important steps to ensure our signature dishes live up to our guests’ expectations of high quality and flavor,” the company said in a statement. “We see those efforts resonating with an improved Google Star rating, and quality, value, food taste and service scores all increasing.”
