The Food Thread

[Vrede too]

How sweet! A daily dose of dark chocolate may cut your risk of diabetes

I always keep some dark chocolate in the frig. Now I can tell myself it's for the health benefits.

[Vrede too]

Waldorf, Charles County, Maryland:

Cracker Barrel: Contact Us

Re:
Parent 'saw red' after disabled students turned away from Cracker Barrel; protest planned
https://www.yahoo.com/news/protest-set- ... 46101.html

The specific and likely illegal discrimination can possibly be attributed to the local manager, but the response from corporate is wholly inadequate and unacceptable. Past customer, I will now boycott all Cracker Barrels.

Shame on you.

(real name and contact info)

Technically, I have been boycotting all Cracker Barrels for years, but they don't need to know that.

[Vrede too]

From: guestservices@crackerbarrel.com

We sincerely apologize for the experience that the group of students and teachers had during their recent visit to Waldorf, MD location. We truly value creating a welcoming environment and providing an exceptional experience for all of our guests, and we deeply regret that we fell short on this occasion.

The situation was unfortunate, but it is important to emphasize that it was in no way a reflection of the students’ behavior or capabilities. The challenges arose from our inability to properly accommodate a party of 18 while also managing unexpected staffing issues. This resulted in us partially closing our second dining room and, unfortunately, failing to adhere to our usual operational protocols. Our poor communication only added to the misunderstandings, for which we are truly sorry.

This group of students and teachers were, are, and always will be welcome to dine with us. We have already extended an invitation for them to return, and we sincerely hope they will give us the opportunity to make amends. To ensure this does not happen again, we are working closely with the school and the parent community to better understand what went wrong and how we can improve our processes. We are committed to making things right and earning their trust and confidence. We hope to have the opportunity to provide a much better experience in the future.

Thank you for sharing your concern with Cracker Barrel Guest Relations, and our deepest apologies for the misunderstanding.

Tammy
Guest Relations Supervisor
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.

Hi Tammy,

Thank you for the rapid response.

"inability to properly accommodate a party of 18 while also managing unexpected staffing issues" and "misunderstandings" do not excuse staff rudeness, the lack of offered refreshments during the wait, the unacceptably long to-go wait when other parties were seated, served and departed, nor the request to be removed from the school's approved list of restaurants.

I await an ADA lawsuit, as do you.

Barring an extraordinary explanation, the manager must be fired or the franchise cancelled. Please inform me of the ultimate resolution.

Sincerely,
(Vrede too)