Strayed Cracker Barrel Country Store Restaurant University Americans love to eat out! In the United States alone, there are over 500 chain restaurants and with that as many as one in every five people dine in a restaurant daily whether it is a chain restaurant or a privately owned restaurant. It is safe to say that this has become a staple in the American way of life. In 1891, the YWCA located in of Kansas City, Missouri was considered by food-industry historians to be the first cafeteria style restaurant invented. (Bell’s) One of the most famous restaurant’s for travelers, whether it is personal or business travelers is Cracker Barrel, Old
Country Store. Mr.. Dan Evans opened the first Cracker Barrel in Lebanon Tennessee, a small town located between Knoxville and Nashville, on 19 September 1969. According to Dan, mealtime was a special time. He wanted more than a fast food restaurant; he wanted something homey, comfortable and a place where hot food could be served with a comfortable atmosphere for the patrons to relax while eating. With that in mind, Dan decided to build his restaurant similar to what is called a “trading post, general store or some knew them as a good ole country store.
Dan believed in making sure things were not only perfect, but that they were served fresh, manmade and with care. He based his restaurant cooking fresh food, such as cornbread which is made from corn meal and an old country recipe, not a mix that many other restaurants use. Prices were and are still at a low price, while always getting a friendly smile and a great attitude from the servers. Word began to spread and people were waiting in line for all the good country cooking. Before long, Dan began to look for investors to open more stores. By 1977 there were 13 stores located from Georgia to Tennessee. “Cracker barrel,” ) In 1981, Mr.. Evans took the company public with stock and was named in Institutions Magazine as one of assistants chains with the most growth. As of today, Cracker Barrel Country Store has approximately 600 stores in over 42, none of which are franchises. The restaurant has no plans for franchising, they want to maintain the regularity that the patrons like and continue to provide the country store style atmosphere. Home style meals made from scratch with quality ingredients are served at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Restaurants.
They are well known for their Southern traditional food and does not serve alcoholic beverages. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner between during their hours of operation. Their menu consists of home style country cooking prepared on in house from their own recipes always using quality ingredients and emphasizing authenticity. Cracker Barrel’s food items are priced fairly and include country ham, chicken, fish, roast beef, bears, turnip greens, vegetable plates, salads, sandwiches, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and grits. All beverages that are served minus soda, are made in the restaurant itself.
Cracker Barrel also attempts to offer a health-conscious menu for those who guest who may have concerns. They have menu items that may help in a selection of lower fat/ calorie foods. “Cracker barrel,” 2000) Cracker Barrel, Old Country Store is not only a restaurant, but a country store as well. All Cracker Barrel stores / restaurants across the country have similar layouts. The outside of the restaurant is lined with wooden rocking chairs that patrons can sit in while waiting to be seated. When entering the restaurant you walk thru the country store to get into the back area which is the restaurant.
The restaurant area includes a stone fireplace that is lit most of the time, with board games on the tables that can be played while waiting on your food. Most of the Cracker Barrel Restaurants have a seating capacity of 200. The restaurant uses an arithmetic method to track and develop their inventory plans. It is the basic Economic Order Quantity model which matches the information requirements with the inventory model. It is the most commonly known and the oldest model used to keep inventory-control. In addition, Cracker Barrel also has their own software developed and maintained by the company in order to manage their inventory. The restaurant negotiates directly with food vendors as to specification, price and other material terms of food purchases. Cracker Barrel is a party to a prime vendor contract with an unaffiliated distributor with custom striation centers. They purchase the majority of their food products and restaurant supplies on a cost-plus basis through unaffiliated distributors. The distributors are responsible for placing food orders, warehousing and delivering food products to Cracker Barrel’s stores. Deliveries generally are made once per week to the individual stores.
Certain perishable food items are purchased locally by Cracker Barrel stores. Cracker Barrel purchases its chicken tenderloin through two vendors. Cracker Barrel purchases its beef through nine vendors, pork through ten vendors, and poultry through nine vendors. Dairy and eggs are purchased through numerous vendors including local vendors. Should any food items from these vendors become unavailable, management believes that these food items could be obtained in sufficient quantities from other sources at competitive prices” (“Cracker barrel old,” 2013).
Cracker Barrel’s developed their own computer systems and various analytical tools that are used to maintain the operating information and provide management with reports on inventory, labor costs, food costs and or operating costs. The data created by the computer systems, analysis tools and monitoring recesses are used to manage the operations of each Cracker Barrel store. These systems and processes also are used in the development of forecasts, budget analyses, and planning (“Cracker barrel old,” 2013). Cracker Barrel has many.
One of the methods used to manage raw materials is rotating the raw materials in a certain order, I. E. , from oldest to newest. This allows the chefs to use the older products first. Another method is to serve a standard portion with certain utensils, or a weight machine. One example would be how they measure the portion of the fries they serve. One serving of fries has to weigh a definite amount in order to be served with the meal. Another method is work-in-process. This method is cooking a certain amount of food daily, never cook over that amount.
This amount is determined by management and put on what is called a cook sheet. This sheet is used for the cook to know the amount of pans of corn to cook for that shift they are working or number peas to cook for that night. The methods used on finished goods are what the restaurant calls deep auto. Deep auto meaner that the cook must use the proper utensils in order to dip up the right amount of food onto a plate. Cracker Barrel uses an inventory system called “The Par Level” system. It is an inventory system that works for keeping inventory too level in which inventory does not run out.
The restaurant has set a par level of 5. This meaner if the inventory goes’ lower than that set level, then the product must be re-ordered. In addition, a physical count of inventory is done once a week, and once a week they have a truck that delivers their inventory. According to one manager at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant, food cost inventory is conducted once a month. Dodo this, you calculate the ending inventory cost and purchases, and subtract the remaining inventory from both and that will give them the food cost for the month.
Because I live in South Florida, the distribution system could be interrupted by natural circumstances. If we are hit with a high category hurricane, our ports and distribution centers will shut down. Inventory will not be able to be delivered to the restaurant. You could solve this by having an agreement with local vendors that in case of an emergency they provide the restaurant with the products they need at a good price to get them thru until the situation of the distribution trucks gets resolved. Another major impact could be if the distribution center truck drivers initiate a strike.
Again, this could be resolved by working out an agreement with local vendors. Neither one of these are likely to happen, but it is better to be prepared than to be unprepared (“Cracker barrel old,” 2013). ” Cracker Barrel has not gone without it’s share of problems. They have been hit with lawsuits everywhere from employee discrimination to racial discrimination. But it is still considered one of the top chain restaurants in the United States. As of today, they have not taken the restaurant global and have no plans to do so. They have always been known for their family and friendly atmosphere.
