Monday, November 21, 2022

Cracker Barrel

I went with family to a nearby Cracker Barrel last night.  Just to give you a sense of the crowd, I was the 2nd youngest at our table of 8.

Unbeknownst to me, two of our party are vegetarians.  I'm just going to put this out there:  Cracker Barrel is not a restaurant for vegetarians.  I first learned of the vegetarians when the side salads were delivered--and had bacon crumbles on them.  Who doesn't like bacon crumbles on a salad?! Vegetarians, apparently, and a salad was sent back to be brought back kosher.

The other vegetarian ordered a vegetable plate consisting of 4 small bowls of rabbit food.  Upon delivery we learned that two of these bowls had meat in them--the pinto beans and I think the turnip greens.  Yes, the meat was all spelled out in the menu, but who would think to look for meat in a vegetable dish?  Turns out, you should expect to do so at Cracker Barrel.

Our poor waitress was cool about replacing those dishes with true vegetable dishes, I could tell it wasn't her first time.  She didn't have to take back my roast beef and gravy with mashed potatoes and corn--mmm mmm good.

7 comments:

Steve USMA '85 said...

Kinda like going to a sushi bar and ordering a cheeseburger.

Darren said...

Agreed! I can't imagine not wanting bacon on a side salad.

I didn't even know they were vegetarians.

Anonymous said...

Other tips for meat-eaters deciding where the group that might include vegetarians should eat:
* Refried beans are often fried in lard, which is pork fat.
* Collard greens and other greens are often flavored with pork.
* Soups are often made with beef or chicken stock. It takes special effort to use vegetable stock.
* Gelatin is made from animal collagen, there is a special vegan variety that is more expensive.
* Lay's Baked BBQ Potato Chips have milk and chicken flavoring. Regular BBQ chips are fine.
* Salad is not a meal.

PeggyU said...

Old people usually aren't vegetarians. We were born in the sensible era.

Anna A said...

I frequently eat vegetarian, because I like it, and if you are not strict about it, you can make a GOOD meal just from their sides. I'm thinking fried okra, greens and a potato dish.

One thing I like is that even adults can order from the children's menu, because their children's shrimp is a very nice Lenten lunch. (I tip as if I were buying adult sized meals, since the waitress does the same amount of work.)

Peg said...

Happy Thanksgiving Darren
I thoroughly enjoy your blog.

Darren said...

It was my mother's birthday, anonymous. She chose, and everyone else knew in advance when they had the chance to decline.