Cracker Barrel

Eating dinner at Cracker Barrel reminds me of eating lunch in my cousins farmhouse kitchen. I dont know if farmers still eat big midday meals, but when I was a youngster, and I visited my cousins dairy farm, the midday meal wasnt a baloney sandwich and a Coke. It was more like what we had when we ate at Cracker Barrel for dinner fried steak, a pile of mashed potatoes smothered with gravy, a heaping portion of green beans, a dish of fried apples and a couple slices of grilled sourdough bread. Another similarity to the old farmhouse my cousin lived in is the feeling of family apparent at Cracker Barrel. First, the place is always lively; plan on waiting a while before you are seated. While waiting, plop yourself down in a rocking chair on their front porch and swap lies as the traffic roars by on Interstate 65. Or play a game of checkers with oversize checker pieces (which by the way, make it almost impossible to cheat!).If the weather doesnt cooperate, you can wander around the country store that serves as their lobby and gives the place its name. Just browsing among the nostalgic merchandise helps pass the time. Youre likely to find a Slinky, pure maple syrup, Cokes in small glass bottles, puzzles made from nails or horseshoes and any number of other items that country stores used to feature. A few more things reminded me of my cousins place. The dining room is huge at my cousins house, we ate in the kitchen, which was one of the biggest rooms in the house. No fancy islands, indirect lighting or hammered copper range hoods adorned the farmhouse kitchen. It was a big square room with plain Jane cupboards and family stuff hanging on the wall for decoration. Cracker Barrel has captured the same feeling: The dining area is two large rooms with high ceilings, and on the walls youll find old-looking pictures, glassware, quilts, antique advertising signs and early kitchen appliances. When it comes to vegetables, there may not be a better place to go for all-around goodness. Cracker Barrel doesnt do fancy veggies it does down home-style vegetables. For vegetable lovers, it offers its Country Vegetable Plate, which is your choice of four or six country vegetables. You can choose from whole kernel corn, country green beans, sweet whole baby carrots, pinto beans, turnip greens, cole slaw, fried apples, dumplings, steak fries, hashbrown casserole, breaded fried okra, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, apple sauce plus a vegetable of the day. Theyre usually served with biscuits or cornbread with real butter, but I recommend you ask for grilled sourdough bread. The veggie eater had sweet potato casserole, green beans, hashbrown casserole and macaroni and cheese. The sweet potato casserole was delicious, and very sweet; the hashbrown casserole was outstanding; the macaroni was firm and was smothered in creamy cheese. The meat eater had country-fried steak a nice portion of choice steak that was breaded and deep-fried. It wasnt farmer-meal size, but we didnt just milk a herd of cows before we ate, either. The white gravy called Sawmill gravy covered the meat and Idaho mashed potatoes. The gravy was thick but not lumpy with a great flavor, and the meat was tender and very hot when it was served. It was a good, stick-to-your-ribs meal. Dessert was an easy choice the chocolate cobbler had a fudgey brownie loaded with pecans, smothered with vanilla bean ice cream and topped with hot fudge. The service was as efficient as you would expect in a high-volume restaurant, but still friendly. The cashiers had a little more time to have fun with the customers, helping give Cracker Barrel the country-store feel they aim for. Now find me some cows to milk, I need to work off these calories. The reviewer is employed at the Daily News. He/she pays for his/her meals and his/her gym fees to maintain his/her figure. New restaurants are given an eight-week grace period before being reviewed. To comment, contact managing editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235.