(08-27-2025 09:31 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:11 AM)miko33 Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:01 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 08:32 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 08:02 AM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  Made from scratch and it still hasn't been good for at least a decade if not longer. If I want breakfast I still love Waffle House. Remember all the CK's around town? Those were the best.

The issue for them is labor. When you are “from scratch” you’re only as good the the kitchen; and most restaurants saw a mass exodus of kitchen personnel during the pandemic & those people found better paying jobs in other industries & never returned. Kitchen staff had been underpaid for years, and Covid exposed it.

No. People were paid not to work.

I think both may be true. In 2021 and into 2022 there were a lot of issues going on where the government was throwing money at businesses that were hurt by the lockdowns AND to people who got their stimulus checks and thought it was better to stay unemployed and live off the stimulus plus other funds for displaced workers during this time.

I don't know the restaurant business that well but it wouldn't surprise me if food prep employees made less money than other parts of the economy. Restaurants were hit excessively hard - especially blue states where the lifting of the lockdowns took longer than in the red states.

I have worked in and around the restaurant industry for 35 years… server/bartender in college, foodservice distribution after graduating, and manufacturers for the past 25. Back of the house workers are low wage hourly employees, typically making far less than tipped servers. Restaurants, post-Covid have increasingly worked to even this disparity by robbing servers and enforcing tip share to avoid raising hourly salaries & menu prices but this has been spotty. When restaurants closed, many of these line workers found better gigs; and the impacts are still being felt. Sure, some took the unemployment when available but that dried up years ago and the industry is still void of talent. Those people were underpaid, under appreciated and have moved on.

You completely whiffed on why in your opinion folks are underpaid in the food industry.

You pretend like these restaurants are banking yet I see them closing their doors monthly.

Some high end restaurants with great food and service are doing well and I’ll promise you their employees are paid well.

It’s a supply and demand issue

Restaurant business is overcrowded

Chuy’s a chain Tex Mex maybe New Mexico Mex food place has their signature Elvis Presley plate at $14

The place isn’t covered up with customers as there are too many other options

That is why pay is low

Economics 101

You might look into this course for future reference

(08-27-2025 10:05 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:54 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:50 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:37 AM)mlb Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:35 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  tip sharing between the front and back was going on for decades prior to covid. So I'm not sure which restaurants you were familiar with.

With the back of the house? I know lots that shared with bussers and hostesses, I know of only a few that shared with the cooks.

Hooters were doing it since the 90's. if you got you food slow, its because the waitress failed to share appropriately with the cooks, and they made her customer's food really slowly.

I've never been to Hooters. Was I missing out? (I ask because last I heard that restaurant chain had filed for bankruptcy.)

Their wings were good back when it was practically the only option for wings.

They went bankrupt because they went woke and hired men as waitresses.

Yea, their food was decent enough, but it was the "T's and A's" that made them stand out. Possibly the easiest model in the history of restaurant models to apply and they still managed to FK it up.

They were unapologetically Man-Town... they should have stayed unapologetic.

We never discussed why back of house pay is low or why restaurants close. I simply pointed out why Cracker Barrel struggles with consistency. I never spoke on restaurants profitability or fast casual v white table cloth. We were simply speaking in generalized terms as they relate to a chain like Cracker Barrel.

(08-27-2025 09:14 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  I loved the interview the CEO did... to paraphrase... [It was very positive with the test group].

I would love to see who was in that group - cuz they are not smart people.

Yep, my guess is that the test group didn't have many core customers. It was probably packed with those they were supposedly targeting, which were noncore younger people. This is the same problem we run into with political polls. Lots of times, the outcome is manufactured by who is included in the test group/poll.

(08-27-2025 10:36 AM)BlueDragon Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:31 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:11 AM)miko33 Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:01 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 08:32 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  The issue for them is labor. When you are “from scratch” you’re only as good the the kitchen; and most restaurants saw a mass exodus of kitchen personnel during the pandemic & those people found better paying jobs in other industries & never returned. Kitchen staff had been underpaid for years, and Covid exposed it.

No. People were paid not to work.

I think both may be true. In 2021 and into 2022 there were a lot of issues going on where the government was throwing money at businesses that were hurt by the lockdowns AND to people who got their stimulus checks and thought it was better to stay unemployed and live off the stimulus plus other funds for displaced workers during this time.

I don't know the restaurant business that well but it wouldn't surprise me if food prep employees made less money than other parts of the economy. Restaurants were hit excessively hard - especially blue states where the lifting of the lockdowns took longer than in the red states.

I have worked in and around the restaurant industry for 35 years… server/bartender in college, foodservice distribution after graduating, and manufacturers for the past 25. Back of the house workers are low wage hourly employees, typically making far less than tipped servers. Restaurants, post-Covid have increasingly worked to even this disparity by robbing servers and enforcing tip share to avoid raising hourly salaries & menu prices but this has been spotty. When restaurants closed, many of these line workers found better gigs; and the impacts are still being felt. Sure, some took the unemployment when available but that dried up years ago and the industry is still void of talent. Those people were underpaid, under appreciated and have moved on.

You completely whiffed on why in your opinion folks are underpaid in the food industry.

You pretend like these restaurants are banking yet I see them closing their doors monthly.

Some high end restaurants with great food and service are doing well and I’ll promise you their employees are paid well.

It’s a supply and demand issue

Restaurant business is overcrowded

Chuy’s a chain Tex Mex maybe New Mexico Mex food place has their signature Elvis Presley plate at $14

The place isn’t covered up with customers as there are too many other options

That is why pay is low

Economics 101

You might look into this course for future reference

I think it's all of the above. COVID accelerated what was already going on for awhile with regards to making wages more competitive in the restaurant industry compared to other areas of the economy. To your point - high end restaurants are doing okay and their employees are making competitive wages. But mid tier and lower are struggling. From my POV - fast food is suffering the most due to the quality of their food. What was once solidly mid-tier are trying to move down into areas once dominated by fast food - Chili's is a good example of this where they are making takeout orders for burgers and fries that make people second guess ordering the same from the fast food joints.

Where COVID factors in is how people learned more about cooking their own meals. You still see "a lot" of people dining out. However, I believe the overall market for buying prepared food (dining out, delivery or getting fast food yourself) has shrunk. I'm not sure what all of the dynamics were that got us to the situation today, but my guess is as follows:

1. COVID resulted in lockdowns and more people had to cook at home - likely having to learn how to cook to some degree
2. Lockdowns lifted and people were itching to dine out again. Restaurants upcharged to 1) try to recoup losses from 2020 and 2) tried to leverage the increased demand
3. Restaurant workers available pre COVID moved on to other jobs as restaurants were the hardest hit industries via lockdowns
4. Remaining restaurant employees were fewer in number upon the return and likely tried to leverage that for higher wages
5. Also, restaurants needed to attract more employees - fast - and thus raised wages for new workers
6. Something had to give so restaurants had to 1) increase revenue via cost increases and 2) cut costs with lower quality ingredients
7. Customers started to feel cheated by seeing exploding prices for meals that didn't taste like they used to.
8. Customers remembered that they picked up some cooking skills during lockdowns and thought to themselves "Hey, I can make something better at home"!
9. Current situation where the market shrinks.
   

(08-27-2025 11:02 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:14 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  I loved the interview the CEO did... to paraphrase... [It was very positive with the test group].

I would love to see who was in that group - cuz they are not smart people.

Yep, my guess is that the test group didn't have many core customers. It was probably packed with those they were supposedly targeting, which were noncore younger people. This is the same problem we run into with political polls. Lots of times, the outcome is manufactured by who is included in the test group/poll.

MAGA influencers saw this redesign as an opportunity to politically exploit the removal of a white man from a logo and took to Twitter and riled up their base. There was nothing woke about brightening up the stores… many of their guests had been doing the same to their kitchens for the past decade… and the simplified look of the logo was in line with other concepts who had made changes. No, this became an issue because the white man was removed from the logo and MAGA saw it as an opportunity to play their woke card and in so doing almost destroyed a viable American business. It’s unbelievable how much influence social media has over this country.

(08-27-2025 11:20 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 11:02 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:14 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  I loved the interview the CEO did... to paraphrase... [It was very positive with the test group].

I would love to see who was in that group - cuz they are not smart people.

Yep, my guess is that the test group didn't have many core customers. It was probably packed with those they were supposedly targeting, which were noncore younger people. This is the same problem we run into with political polls. Lots of times, the outcome is manufactured by who is included in the test group/poll.

MAGA influencers saw this redesign as an opportunity to politically exploit the removal of a white man from a logo and took to Twitter and riled up their base. There was nothing woke about brightening up the stores… many of their guests had been doing the same to their kitchens for the past decade… and the simplified look of the logo was in line with other concepts who had made changes. No, this became an issue because the white man was removed from the logo and MAGA saw it as an opportunity to play their woke card and in so doing almost destroyed a viable American business. It’s unbelievable how much influence social media has over this country.

Also shows a difference between how right and left protest something. The right doesn't stand outside with signs protesting and yelling at customers. They simply quit going to the establishment or buying the product. Judging by the results the left is pretty much out of touch with everyday people.

(08-27-2025 10:05 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  Their wings were good back when it was practically the only option for wings.

They went bankrupt because they went woke and hired men as waitresses.

Hmm. I still go to one in the area 3 or 4 times a year, just to get the wings and curly fries (they are still good). I've yet to ever see a man anywhere besides the kitchen. Always women working the tables.

I will say that Twin Peaks has likely hurt them all over the country because they have higher end food with the same type of skimpy clothing.

(08-27-2025 07:18 AM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  You're wrong Mensa, but you should be used to that.

Then I'm wrong, too. I bet I eat there more than anybody on this board. Next time I'm in, I'm going back into the kitchen and find the microwave, lol.

Maybe there's a store or two with a manager who allows it. But I don't believe for a second that it's a store-wide policy.

They sure as hell don't do it for breakfast, and if you saw how long it takes to prepare food, even with practically nobody there, you wouldn't believe it, either. Why else would they use a microwave, if not to speed up prep?

I think you got bad info, brother.

I know people that work there that told me this. And I know someone that got a completely frozen meal (chicken fried steak if I remember). A table full of people and he was the only one who got a frozen meal. Whoops.

Explain that.

(08-27-2025 08:32 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 08:02 AM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 04:42 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 12:18 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  They were microwaving frozen premade food long before Covid.

Cracker Barrel does not microwave their food.
There may be frozen pre-breaded items like okra or catfish filets, or frozen prepared mac n cheese, but neither would go in a microwave.

Made from scratch and it still hasn't been good for at least a decade if not longer. If I want breakfast I still love Waffle House. Remember all the CK's around town? Those were the best.

The issue for them is labor. When you are “from scratch” you’re only as good the the kitchen; and most restaurants saw a mass exodus of kitchen personnel during the pandemic & those people found better paying jobs in other industries & never returned. Kitchen staff had been underpaid for years, and Covid exposed it.

For once, you and I agree on something, about the food being from scratch, and it has zero to do with politics.

(08-27-2025 01:02 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  I know people that work there that told me this. And I know someone that got a completely frozen meal (chicken fried steak if I remember). A table full of people and he was the only one who got a frozen meal. Whoops.

Explain that.

I believe you. I just know I go there regularly, and I don't believe for a second that it is a company-wide practice.

I'm serious. Next time, I will ask the manager and have him take me back to the kitchen, lol.

By the way, the person that got the frozen meal at Cracker Barrel was my dad. He was not the kind of guy to make stuff like that up. My step-mom also confirmed it.

(08-27-2025 10:14 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:52 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:31 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:11 AM)miko33 Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:01 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  No. People were paid not to work.

I think both may be true. In 2021 and into 2022 there were a lot of issues going on where the government was throwing money at businesses that were hurt by the lockdowns AND to people who got their stimulus checks and thought it was better to stay unemployed and live off the stimulus plus other funds for displaced workers during this time.

I don't know the restaurant business that well but it wouldn't surprise me if food prep employees made less money than other parts of the economy. Restaurants were hit excessively hard - especially blue states where the lifting of the lockdowns took longer than in the red states.

I have worked in and around the restaurant industry for 35 years… server/bartender in college, foodservice distribution after graduating, and manufacturers for the past 25. Back of the house workers are low wage hourly employees, typically making far less than tipped servers. Restaurants, post-Covid have increasingly worked to even this disparity by robbing servers and enforcing tip share to avoid raising hourly salaries & menu prices but this has been spotty. When restaurants closed, many of these line workers found better gigs; and the impacts are still being felt. Sure, some took the unemployment when available but that dried up years ago and the industry is still void of talent. Those people were underpaid, under appreciated and have moved on.

Low iq jobs get paid poorly.

Shocker

Glad you found your calling

Its paid my bills, put my kids thru CBHS & St Agnes & then their college.
I can’t complain.

Thats exactly what you were doing. Complaining

FFS

(08-27-2025 01:55 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  By the way, the person that got the frozen meal at Cracker Barrel was my dad. He was not the kind of guy to make stuff like that up. My step-mom also confirmed it.

Like I said, I believe you. I just seriously doubt that is a company wide practice. And I have been eating there regularly since they opened in 1969.

(08-27-2025 01:56 PM)shere khan Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 10:14 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:52 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:31 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-27-2025 09:11 AM)miko33 Wrote:  I think both may be true. In 2021 and into 2022 there were a lot of issues going on where the government was throwing money at businesses that were hurt by the lockdowns AND to people who got their stimulus checks and thought it was better to stay unemployed and live off the stimulus plus other funds for displaced workers during this time.

I don't know the restaurant business that well but it wouldn't surprise me if food prep employees made less money than other parts of the economy. Restaurants were hit excessively hard - especially blue states where the lifting of the lockdowns took longer than in the red states.

I have worked in and around the restaurant industry for 35 years… server/bartender in college, foodservice distribution after graduating, and manufacturers for the past 25. Back of the house workers are low wage hourly employees, typically making far less than tipped servers. Restaurants, post-Covid have increasingly worked to even this disparity by robbing servers and enforcing tip share to avoid raising hourly salaries & menu prices but this has been spotty. When restaurants closed, many of these line workers found better gigs; and the impacts are still being felt. Sure, some took the unemployment when available but that dried up years ago and the industry is still void of talent. Those people were underpaid, under appreciated and have moved on.

Low iq jobs get paid poorly.

Shocker

Glad you found your calling

Its paid my bills, put my kids thru CBHS & St Agnes & then their college.
I can’t complain.

Thats exactly what you were doing. Complaining

FFS

No, I’m pointing out why your country fried steak at Cracker Barrel is inconsistent. You’re complaining.

It's inconsistent when they forget to microwave it.

I'm not in the food industry, but I have a few friends/acquaintances that are. I've been told by them that the #1 issue is back of the house labor, but I've also heard that from them for the last 10-12 years. Maybe COVID exacerbated it, but what Mensa is saying rings true from my discussions.

(08-27-2025 02:05 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  It's inconsistent when they forget to microwave it.

I said I believe you, I'm just not convinced they do it everywhere as common practice.

But I was curious, so I did a brief search. This is Reddit, so TIFWIW, but I found it informative. Especially a store manager named arod1086:

Quote:The upcoming changes do not involve precooking food. Pre staging food yes, but not recooking, for the exception of the biscuits.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackerBarrel/c...heir_food/

I've been pondering this Cracker Barrel logo issue today. What if — in a truly bold and mind-boggling move — Cracker Barrel officials had replaced Uncle Herschel with a hatchet-juggling pink-tutu-wearing Bill Dazzle? In other words, if CBarrel was going to fumble and bumble ... it should have gone for broke.