Angry Cracker Barrel workers dish on skimpy pay – Business News
Cracker Barrel staff are calling out their their embattled CEO following the restaurant chain’s brand disaster — and dishing on every thing from downsized hours and pay to the “frozen” food that’s handed off as homestyle cooking.
“Wanna know how your meatloaf is cooked whenever you come to Cracker Barrel,” in response to a 12-second video posted on X that presupposed to be taken inside one of the chain’s kitchens.
“We throw it in a microwave and then we serve it to you,” in response to the video, which panned to stacked trays allegedly full of pre-packaged meatloaf. “And sometimes it’s still cold.”
Cracker Barrel staff uncovered Cracker Barrel’s kitchen secrets and techniques on social media. Titkok/@shaggy_shagg
Elsewhere, weight loss influencer Kari Felkamp learn a purported letter from a Cracker Barrel worker that blamed CEO Julie Felss Masino for ruining Cracker Barrel by slashing kitchen jobs and serving “frozen food.”
“I was told today we have a gag order and are not supposed to be speaking about how the food is being made,” the alleged worker claimed within the letter, including that Masino fired cooks and prep cooks when she got here to the company in 2023.
Felkamp, who is predicated within the Chicago space, learn the word in a Tuesday video with out figuring out the worker. She has since heard from different Cracker Barrel staffers, she informed The Post.
The fired kitchen workers “cooked our country homemade food,” and “now our food is like fast food,” the letter added. “It’s all frozen in a bag off of a truck. We are basically turning into a fast food restaurant.”
Weight loss influencer learn a word to her followers from a Cracker Barrel worker. Titkok//@kkamp
The worker additionally griped about restaurant employees being cut back to part-time workers who can’t work more than 32 hours a week so “they don’t have to offer us health insurance.”
Servers who don’t sell enough take-out or “shareable” menu objects have their hours cut even more, in response to the worker, who mentioned she labored for a store in a “small town.”
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“We have families to feed and bills to pay,” the worker mentioned. Masino “has not only laid off many of her long term employees but now expects the least paid employees to do more.”
Cracker Barrel didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The 55-year-old company landed on the recent seat after it unveiled a brand final week that obtained rid of the barrel together with the chain’s folksy mascot “Uncle Herschel”.
The company’s short-lived revamped brand made it onto some menus. Getty Images
After initially doubling down, Cracker Barrel introduced late Tuesday that it will deliver back the “Old Timer” image shortly after President Trump weighed in on the matter.
“Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before. They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity,” the president posted on Truth Social.
Cracker Barrel executives reportedly had a call with the White House shortly earlier than they introduced their about-face.
The “old Timer” brand disappeared for much less than a week. Getty Images
“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,” the company mentioned in a assertion Tuesday. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘old timer’ will remain.”
But a greater issue could have been what was occurring within the business in latest days, in response to restaurant analyst Mark Kalinowski.
“When you see any company react this quickly, it says the uproar was worth reacting to,” Kalinowski informed The Post. “The likely explanation is that their guests stopped coming.”
