Me trying to explain both of these to our agent in New York: Waffle House has truckers and Cracker Barrel has retirees.
She: Are those my only choices?
Yes. Yes, those are.
Damn, that chicken and waffles look good. I’ve gone back to working out after taking a holiday break and I am so hungry. I haven’t had fried chicken in ages. My fired chicken is fish. Steamed. With broccoli. Oy.
Mmm, yummy chicken.
PS. We know that this debate can get heated, so a reminder – personal attacks won’t be tolerated. Halloween is coming up and Mod R is very happy to decorate the Trash folder. đ
Been to both and I am a Dennyâs girl all day every day.
Scrambled eggs with cheese at Waffle House, chicken and dumplings with a side order of greens at Cracker Barrel, omelets at IHOP, pancakes at Perkins, and scrapple, sausage, and eggs fried hard at Bob Evans. I still prefer the independent diners like Theo and Stacy’s in Kalamazoo or the Highland diner in Highland Illinois, but I have very rarely ever met a breakfast I wouldn’t love for three meals a day.
OMELETS at IHop? I’m sorry but that is just wrong.. it’s the house of pancakes.. pancakes are delicious. I have a headache now.
Cracker Barrel drug of choice: Lipitor
Waffle House drug of choice: marijuana (or something)
‘Nuff said.
Now if you want to talk 24-hour hangover sustenance and ambiance, we’re talking White Castle in my part of the world. Nothing like it. Double cheeseburger with pickles and onion.
Not to start something. Don’t be a hater.
Now I need to rewatch Harold and Kumar đ
White Castle onion rings and a chocolate milkshake were the best where I went to in a small town in Missouri. I didn’t like their hamburgers.
I have only eaten at waffle house I enjoyed it. Maybe it was the novelty as I am in the UK
You’ll tear my fried chicken from my cold, dead hands.
Waffle House always, but no chicken. Waffles. I love, love waffles… yum
The one time we tried to eat at Waffle House, it was too dirty to sit down. I know this doesnât speak to all locations, but it was our experience. Weâve eaten at Cracker Barrel several times. Itâs novel to walk through the country store and the breakfast is good, a lot of food.
I prefer the food at Cracker Barrel, but donât really like the atmosphere so we just pick it up!
OK
I grew up in San Antonio, Texas.
There are 2 Air Force bases in San Antonio, and also, Fort Sam Houston (i think it is #4 of largest state-side Army bases?)
There are MANY military units in San Antonio, there is EVEN a Luftwaffe unit.
Yes, that is the German Air Force.
So. Military folk from all over the world.
There are also colleges.
And university campuses, which bring to the City of the Alamo thousands of ravenously hungry bottomless pits, cleverly disguised as students dedicated to learning and Preparing For Life.
I lived in San Antonio from 1962, until we moved to Wisconsin in 1972 — i was 14.
Although i was not yet a college student, i DID qualify as a (previously mentioned) RHBP. I was, after all, a (fast)growing child.
My parents LOVED the entire concept of restaurants.
By the age of eight, i could tell you the best place to get hush puppies (Stage Coach Inn on the way to Cuervo); Sopapillas (La Quinta) and Pizza (Shakees).
Now with all of that as preface, let me just say:
Never, NOT ONCE, did i ever hear of chicken-n-waffles.
I have eaten mussels, oysters, crab, lobster, frog legs, snails, birds, beasties and bugs. I have even tried to take a bite out of my brother (the snails taste much better,,,garlic!).
I lived here in Oregon for nearly 30 years before anyone mentioned chicken-n-waffles.
I thought they were joking. Or delusional.
What worries me is that somewhere in the most you-caint-git-there-from-here part of Southern nowhere-in-particular there is a cook at a diner who is about to fry up a big ol’ batch of possum-n-waffles …. Or maybe Snapping Turtle!
Yum?
Chicken and waffles came out of the Black South, part of the soul food culture. They are delicious! We have many options for them here in Atlanta. In fact, Gladys Knight has a chicken and waffles restaurant here.
We do occasionally eat at a Cracker Barrel when we are in the mood for food we grew up with in Southeast Texas on the border with Louisiana. My go-to order there is Beans and Greens with cornbread. This is one of the few restaurants that doesn’t sweeten the cornbread, which is how my mama made it. Just don’t care at all for sugar in my cornbread.
I once ordered a chicken-fried steak and when the order came out it was chicken. I sent it back and waited til they brought out the right thing. I’m not a fried chicken fan and my husband thinks there’s nothing better than KFC, though he’s learned to like the local Royal Farms version. That’s where he goes when he’s jonesing for fried chicken.
I’m near Kansas City and we just got our first Black Bear Diner about a year ago. We love it. It’s closer than Cracker Barrel, which we also love.
I grew up eating at Cracker Barrel and always enjoy the food. I’ve only eaten at a Waffle House once. I’m never going to seek one out for itself, but if I’m hungry and on the road I’d be delighted to see one.
My drunken college days are over, but we always went to a Sonic that was open all night. I’m not sure why we thought a cheese coney would be good after booze, but it always hit the spot.
Denny’s all the way!
Bwah haha . Thank you for the post, Ilona Andrews.
I like both. Waffle House and Cracker Barrel. Years ago, my sister who only stays at âmotelsâ where the room door opens into an enclosed corridor (meaning hotelsâ I usually am traveling with a big dog or dogs and it gets interesting when they need to potty while waiting on elevator so I like really like convenience of motels) drew the line at Waffle House with a C rating in either Texas or Mississippi when we were traveling to see our military sister out west. Rest of time we ate at Cracker Barrel or Waffle House. Comfort food for us born and grown in southeastern USA.
I really got tickled by the difference in iced tea between NC, SC, AL, GA, LA. MI, Texas, AZ, Tennessee then home. Some places it was sugar water with tea flavoring or it was tea with a hint of sugar or âweirdâ tasting water. At those places we switched to coke or Pepsi in an unopened can.
Tell your agent that one should always try local cuisine in local community. The water is different so tastes different. That what I tell nieces and nephews as they explore the big wide world. Itâs part of the adventure.
LoL In NC, the tea can send you into sugar shock…its like syrup.
I like my sweet tea crunchy with sugar. Mmmmm.
Westerner here: I like sweet tea, but only when I sweeten it. It could be the control freak in me. Or perhaps I’m just addicted to aspertame…
I was scratching my head. Down under in Apocalypse Land (aka Australia). We have this delicious cheese and that is all.
Also last 18months we have had drought, fires, floods, a mouse plague, a pandemic, an earthquake and now a tornado. All the first-borns should be trembling in fear.
Hmmmm
Also Australia needs more wafflesâŠ.
Thank goodness we have Kerbey Lane Cafe or even Magnolia CafeâŠ
Yes!
Im in NC where both are up & down the scale.
I prefer Cracker Barrel but I’ve seen Waffle Houses out on the coast set up like upscale dining ( it was a WTH moment). Most WH around Charlotte look unappetizing. But I’ve found that the waitresses at the CB can make or ruin the experience.
Ohh, and Cracker Barrel has those nice big rockers outside!
You folks are aware that chicken and waffles were first noted in the vicinity of the Cotton Club? In Harlem, NY, NY? I donât know if itâs still available, but I seem to remember an episode of one of the shows Anthony Bourdain did with a review and many nice images of what he used to call âfood pornâ.
Waffle House has it’s share of retirees. It also has teens, young adults, and middle aged customers.
The food is better than Cracker Barrel. My husband and I ate there recently. We were not impressed. The chicken fried steak tasted like the stuff from the freezer section at the grocery store.
Waffle House is always freshly cooked where you can watch the entire process. “Dinner and a show”.
Bay Area resident goes…. Cracker Barrel? Waffle House? What are those?
After visiting the south and dining like twice at both because residents there insisted I “must”, I’m happiest with Cracker Barrel.
There’s a reason we call them crapper barrel and awful house lol. Both will enhance your bathroom trips. Lol. I’m partial to Cracker barrels chicken n dumplings
just moved to Washington State a couple months ago so no Waffle House, Cracker Barrel or Bucees. I really miss Bucees…
My husband and I drove two hours to Portland Oregon because I really wanted two Cracker Barrel rocking chairs for my new front porch. Ok, maybe fried catfish and turnip greens had something to do with it.
Gotta go with Cracker Barrel, but much love for smothered hash brown.
For those with Celiac,
Fried Chicken: Marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into thirds in buttermilk seasoned with salt and just enough cayenne pepper to turn your mixture LIGHT pink in the refrigerator for at least 12 and up to 24 hours. I use a ziplock bag in a plastic food bin so that nothing can escape.
In a fresh ziplock bag add King Arthur gluten free flour. You won’t know how much you need in total until you’ve completed this next step. Start with one and a half to two cups of King Arthur gluten free flour. Add chicken pieces One At A Time agitating to coat after each addition. As your bag of chicken gets too wet to coat the additions with dry flour add another half cup of flour and continue until you have dry flour on all sides of every piece and it looks as if there MUST be too much flour. Refrigerate again for another 3 hours, turning every 30 to 45 minutes to keep the chicken pieces separate and ensure even concretion.
I use a cast iron dutch oven and Crisco Shortening but have gotten fantastic results the one time I was out of Crisco and used Avocado Oil. Fill pot with enough Crisco to reach a depth of about 1 inch when fully melted and hot. I judge the temperature correct when a single chopstick or bamboo skewer placed against the bottom has bubbles rising from it. This method is called Pan Frying.
Place the chicken pieces in the bottom of the pot gently with the side nearest you touching bottom first so that if there is a wave of hot grease it is moving away from you. The fat should come about half way up the side/depth of your chicken pieces. They must not touch each other. You will need to work in batches. The oil should Not be bubbling when the chicken first goes in and if it gets very busy bubbling your oil is too hot. Do not disturb your chicken. Let it cook a bit over 15 minutes until the first side is truly golden brown and turn the chicken gently again making sure that the side near you touches first. Cook another 15 minutes so that the second side is done. Remove from pot and allow to drain on a rack or paper towels. Repeat process until you have run out of chicken. Warning! you may have to employ drastic measures to ensure that any housemates or family don’t abscond with your chicken as quickly as you cook it. I developed this recipe when I was trying to help a friend who had been diagnosed with celiac and “couldn’t survive” without fried chicken. Yes, it does improve the dish to use free range or yard birds rather than battery hens.
Ooooooo! Sounds yummy! Thanks, my son has celiac and I’ve been afraid to try fried chicken recipes, too intimidating. But this sounds manageable.
Go on YouTube and see if you can find anyone fighting at Cracker barrel? Waffle House you can always find a fight. I worked at Waffle House and was fired because I was on workman’s comp and now I work at Cracker barrel thank God..
Unfortunately it doesn’t really matter in Oregon or Wichita, Kansas. Waffle House is ILLEGAL in both.
Highly recommend the chicken and waffles at chili’s. That is all.
Can drinking a laxative and going to the bathroom to wait be a third choice? Iâd rather skip the middle man, or men in this case.
I usually eat at Cracker twice a year when relatives (old and/or Southern relatives) come to visit. Havenât been to Waffle House since high school.
Sooooooooo true.
Add:
I would totally break down characters from our favorite authors into who world eat where, but I’d be eaten alive.
So, I’ll stick to safe stuff.
Sam and Dean=Waffle House
Crowley=Cracker Barrel
For me, Event of an Apocalypse=Waffle House. Black coffee, smothered and covered hashbrowns please.
This was in response to Priscilla’s comment!
I read the title really quickly when it popped up in my feed and I was like… what’s a crack barrel?
We don’t have either in the UK, but with other waffle places like wafflemeister I can guess what waffle house might be like….though I don’t think I’ve seen one that mixed in chicken…. so maybe more like the My Old Dutch pancake places in terms of combos.
And watching the vid above, cracker barrel is like our Riad cheifs or moto service station?
The Back porch bickering is funny
Waffle House for the win! Where else can you get two over easy with hash browns and crisp bacon at 3am? With raisin toast!!
Retiree here, Waffle House coffee is better. Unfortunately, they keep me the restaurant temperature at refrigerator level. Cracker Barrel is noisy but the the fried chicken is excellent. ????
Fear Kate Daniels. She is a mighty and terrible ruler. Grendel can anoint the petitioners with his vomit. Itâll be great . . .
Re-reading for the nth time and still finding this hysterical.
I adore Waffle House! Cracker Barrel, not so much, but my mama loves it!
I am happy we have both.
Having traveled extensively through the south, sorry, the South!, I’ve been to both and I have to say Waffle house hands down. Cracker Barrel leaves me, meh, while Breakfast at Waffle House does it for me every time.
Also, Chicken and Waffles is a take it or leave it thing. I love both individually, and NOBODY in the northern states does fried chicken like the South (Georgia, mid-70’s, outside of Ft. Stewart, some guy had set up a little cooker out of his garage and fried the chicken and then dredged it through honey!!! Best I’ve ever had!!) unless they are transplants..
Been to Cracker Barrel once, Waffle House never. We have IHOP here. I prefer locally-owned holes-in-the-wall to any of them.
I feel your steamed-fish-and-broccoli pain. Any more than trace amounts of dairy and wheat now mess up my guts for months. Most types of oil other than olive, including sunflower (which is in everything now) and avocado, same. Trace amounts only do for a few days, so I’m willing to deal with it on an occasional basis. Full servings however are right out, and so are Cracker Barrel and Waffle House.
I vote Cracker Barrel, but not Chicken and Waffles at any place. When I had to live with my (now X) Mother In Law, because my Husband left after saying he didn’t want responsibility of raising our children.I lost my job and my van had been stolen. I was stuck. She fried EVERYTHING. I can still see her bending over, grabbing the frying pan from the cupboard by the stove and slapping it on the burner.
Every day there was fried (insert some meat) and salad at times. Me and the kids just couldn’t…..so we would choke down a couple bites and say we were going to the park, or taking a walk. Cracker Barrel was a life saver!!!! They served real veggies!!!!!!! We could have non fried food…grins. My kids when they were older would get Chicken and Waffles when we went to a local BBQ place, but I just can’t. I’ve contemplated it, but never tried it.
I’ve never been to either one. The few times I’ve traveled to the US, I think I stayed too far north. Sbarro’s on the other hand, good Italian fast food, or it used to be. I haven’t been in a long time.
In the Land of Sugar ???? We could only choose from Dennyâs or ihop, and if I had to choose it was always ihop. But now we have The Toasted YolkâŠbreakfast nirvana ????. The close second is my house but I hate cooking for one.
My answer is why not both? But I have never felt quite comfortable about my local Waffle House since it had a grizzly doubke homicide. So, itâs usually only Waffle House when we travel.
Oh, my lord- you oughta collect and post the most, er, ‘heated’ replies. It’d be a hoot.
Waffle House all the food is rich and tasty; Cracker Barrel is bland homestyle food where they forgot about seasonings and salt. Waffle House serves breakfast 24 hours while other restaurants cut you off at 10:30 am. Waffles, Bacon, and hashbrowns cooked with whatever you can imagine piled on top or dry meatloaf and buttered vegies.
Chicken and waffels? From my Czech POV this is very strange choice indeed… but if you like the taste, who am I to judge. My father loved the cowtongue in aspic (or any other brawn). Simply enjoy what you like. I love czech open sandwich “obloĆŸenĂ© chlebĂÄky”.
“Hello, Granny! What a strange taste you have.” Said little Red riding hood
North easterner here but we drive up and down the east coast often to visit family.
Not a fan of either restaurant but if push came to shove Iâd pick Cracker Barrel.
I havenât gone to a Waffle House yet that wasnât grungy and that just puts me off.
Well, I love Cracker Barrel cause I love their southern style vegetables–fried okra is a guilty pleasure. But…since you’re in Texas I absolutely loved going to Luby’s Cafeteria when I visited Austin. My mother always had the LuAnn platter–a generous 1/2 size portion of the meat, 2 sides and a roll. Yumm, their yeast rolls tasted good. And, chicken fried steak makes my mouth water.
The late Anthony Bourdain liked Waffle House. I don’t think there is a better recommendation.
I can’t compute this food picture at all. The chicken is a main course and needs a lot of salad to offset the deep fried aspect. The waffles are dessert but why would you have maple syrup AND butter – one or the other surely? Too much or I’m just too English …
It’s a meal for hungry late night travelers. It’s too late for dinner, and they will sleep through breakfast. But what if they could get both? Dinner and breakfast: Chicken and waffles!
There are ‘gift’ cards for both. Most of our WHs are inner city and we have just 1 CB. Buses show up at the CB, never the WHs. The Cb has more space and better cooks, while it seems those who cook at the WHs don’t seem to care enough to ‘cook’ to order. The WHs seem to have ‘food made in a dorm room’ currently, menu cut down, while CB has Expanded theirs. Here in CO Springs.