Idaho: Cracker Barrel Country Store

This is the closest Cracker Barrel to the Washington state border, and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is only 1/2 hour from Spokane.  According to the manager, this place has only been opened since June 2016, so its brand new.

As most people would say: if you’ve been to 1 Cracker Barrel, you’ve been to them all.  Not quite true, as the set up was different here.  Maybe I’m still a CB Newbie (I’ve only been to a handful) but when I walked in, I went to the far left, only to discover that the hostess station was not quite there.  The gift store seemed smaller than most CB location, so there’s wasn’t much stuff to look at to kill the time, while waiting for a table. Anyway, we were seated within 15 minutes and the dining area looked like any other CB.  Our drinks came out quickly, I had a diet coke while Stephen had coffee, and we flipped through their paper menu for their breakfast.

We narrowed our choices to the Uncle Hershel’s favorite for me (pork chop, egg, hash brown casserole), while Stephen had the Meat Sampler (eggs, 3 types of meats, hash brown casserole, and fried apples).  Both of our breakfasts came with a side of grits and biscuits with gravy.

The pork chop came out perfect and not overcooked.  I did mention to the server I wanted more “medium” as places tend to cook the heck out of a chop.  Coffee refills came many times, and we left satisfied.  Best of all, it was dirt cheap.. $22 for 2 people.

Someone commented CB is a glorified Denny’s.  I beg to differ.  Both places do an excellent job in breakfast, but I get that hometown feel when I visit a Cracker Barrel, and wish that California would allow them to build a restaurant.  I guess my next closest one is in Las Vegas, opening July 25.