- I imagine when they
created this menu item it's for like a man who's about to go work on the farm all day, and not a girl who's about
to eat 50 menu items. We're at Cracker Barrel right now. Look how many rocking chairs there are. And I'm about to do
something a little crazy. I'm about to try 50 dishes
for their 50th anniversary. And we're gonna do it by the decade. They opened in '69, so we're
starting with the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90, 2000s, and
then the newest menu items. What are we getting ourselves into? I'm really not sure, pray for me, please. Oh God, it's a lot. (upbeat music) This is the '60s, so these
are the original menu items. I'm starting with the
Country Boy Breakfast that comes with really
beautifully made sirloin. And, of course, three sunny-side up eggs, not just one or two, three eggs. Mm, this is my go-to
order at Cracker Barrel every single time I'm here. You have to make sure the gravy
to biscuit ratio is perfect. You want like almost
60% gravy, 40% biscuit. (cheerful music) So with any dish you get
here at Cracker Barrel, you get some amazing sides to go with it. And if you noticed, the side plate is just as big as your actual meal plate. You're getting basically
three meals for one. And you can never go wrong with grits. I wanna add the bacon in with my grits. Perfectly crispy bacon,
thank you, no sogginess here. If you come here and you
forget to order this, you have made a huge mistake. It has a cult following here. It comes warm and it has almost like a caramel-type sauce on it. It truly tastes like a fall day when you're apple picking. It's like a hug. They don't serve alcohol here, but if I was able to like take this to go and bring it to a tailgate and put some whiskey in it, prime. Oh my gosh, those are real
blackberries in there. I feel like they picked
these this morning. They don't mess around here. We are ready for round
two, which is the '70s. We're starting with the chef salad, I'm gonna get my
vegetables out of the way, quick and dirty. I do have to say, for a salad, there's lots of meats going on here. We got ham, turkey,
bacon, the largest piece of cheddar cheese I've
seen on a salad ever. And deviled eggs, which
I'm gonna go straight for the deviled egg I think, because I imagine
they're really good here. (upbeat music) Confirmed. I don't know how to get the perfect bite because there's so many
things to put on this bite. This is basically like a charcuterie board with lettuce accidentally
underneath, I'm gonna call it. I feel like meatloaf gets such a bad rep, and it's really rude. It's not the hottest girl at the party, but it's really good, there's a reason why it's still on the menu and people still are clearly ordering it. These are hand-made at the dumpling part. I feel like they look like noodles, I call them noodles,
but they're dumplings. I don't get how they do this. I feel like dumplings can
go so wrong sometimes, and the flavor can be so
bleh, and these aren't. So this is a blood orange soda, because it's like the all natural
flavorings and everything, that's why it doesn't have that like really bright orange color
that you're used to seeing. Ooh, yummy. ♪ We're in the '80s ♪ (upbeat electronic music) That's a side salad? The '80s has some of the
most beautiful dishes so far. I'm not really sure where to begin. - [Woman] How you doing there? - The stretching actually
really feels so good. Let's start with the catfish. We have two different kinds here. So we have it fried regular,
and then spicy grilled. My favorite part is just how flakey it is. It's just so tender, really good catfish just kind of falls apart almost. I think I got some down my shirt. Let me do the spicy one. So it's spicy and it's grilled. Loads of seasoning on there. This is what I would call my mom's spicy. My mom thinks everything's
spicy, when it's not. (laughs) Oh wait, hush puppy! (gasps) I don't like doughnuts, so
hush puppies are my doughnut. Amazing, a savory doughnut hole. Momma's Pancakes here are
the most ordered entree, which means breakfast, lunch, or dinner, this is what people are
ordering, this is their favorite. It comes with its own little
mini maple syrup bottle that's warm, like this
is warm to the touch. Oh baby. There's actually something going on here. This one has personality. Uncle Herschel's Favorite,
which I've learned today is the actual uncle of the owner, and there's some sort of
conspiracy theory out there that Uncle Herschel's face is like the logo of the
restaurant, but it's not. We have it confirmed it's
not, it's just a random man. The hashbrown casserole here
is the number one seller. That's a lot to live up to, I have to say. Look at this though, look at that cheese. It's creamy, it's savory. I will actually probably
eat this entire thing and forget about everything
else on the table. Wow. Just put the hash brown on everything. Just do it. Thank God for the '80s,
thank you, God bless you. It's like a (bleep)
ton of apples in there. It looks like they took like eight apples, and they were like, (vocalizing). And then they're like, "Cinnamon!" That is so good. They don't serve alcohol here, but if they did, I would
put some Fireball in there. Roast beef also sometimes gets a bad rep because it can be super tough. But I'm just gonna show
you here, look at that. It just breaks apart. Meaty. This gravy is like a lighter one, I wouldn't consider it super creamy. This, with the mashed
potatoes, I feel like is a very hearty meal. You definitely need to be
cutting down some trees after. Little note, this comes
with this side salad here, which, by the way, this
side salad is pretty big. Ready for the '90s? ♪ Believe in yourself ♪ ♪ 'Cause it starts with you ♪ - This is only round one of the '90s, so there's a second round. We're just doing breakfast from the '90s. I might be a little impartial
since I was born in the '90s, but I think that we did
breakfast really well. I'm overwhelmed. I'm starting with the
blackberry french toast. I feel like a really good
barometer for french toast is if it's like the
perfect amount of soft, but not soggy almost. That's almost like dessert,
really like super sweet. Pecan or pecan, I call it pecan. If you're a true Cracker Barrel fan, you probably say pecan. I don't know, pecan just comes off better. There are so many chopped pecans in here. Crunchy. It's like a crispy,
crunchy pancake, into it. I can't imagine who's
ordering this for breakfast. I see this as like a lunch or dinner, but even so, you're putting
chicken and then gravy, and then you have eggs and
then you have the hasbr... You're a little bit of a monster. I remember as a kid, my dad
making these all the time. When you break it open, you get this really nice yolk break here. And with that yolk break,
with your extra piece of bread that was cut out, you
can then kinda dip it. I feel like this is a really
great activity of a meal. You can literally take the piece of bread, and if you didn't eat this part, you could go like this, and
you have a little sandwich. That's a breakfast slider right there. I feel like this is the perfect dish if you have never been here before, you might get this first. You get to do a little bit
of sampler of everything. I'm going to try the egg sandwich. I don't know if this is rude, I'm adding some of the loaded
hash brown to my egg sandwich. Ready for this? (singing) (laughing) It's an egg sandwich. I think that adding the loaded hash brown is gonna add more of that
flavor that you want. Gives you even more oomf. We're about to do round two of the '90s, which is gonna be lunch and dinner. I can hear them saying
like, "She's ready." And I'm like, I don't know if I am. ♪ Believe yeah ♪ ♪ In yourself ♪ - Oh my God.
- Looks good? (laughing) - This marks halfway. I'm looking at this, I'm just like, what have I gotten myself into? And also, how does Cracker
Barrel have this many items? I'm doing diet rootbeer because, you know, gotta watch that figure while
you're eating 50 menu items. So that's really interesting about this is that it's only served
on Wednesdays at lunch. So you have to like really
make time it right to get here, and we were talking to some
of the people who work here and they were saying that
people like specifically will drive here and come here to make it for Wednesday lunch
to have the chicken pot pie. Which means this has to
be really, really good. This is a huge bite. (slow rock music) Hot. Hot. Oh my gosh, the crust
on this is so perfect. That tastes like Meema's chicken pot pie made with a lot of love. I get why people come here
on Wednesdays for lunch and order this work of art. For my biscuits and gravy
I do 60/40 on the biscuit, or on the gravy biscuit ratio, but for this one I'm gonna do the inverse. Also, because I'm like at dish number 22. This is why I love this dish. You know you're not getting
skinnier by eating it, but it just tastes so
good you don't even care. The grilled chicken tenders
here comes with the okra, the chicken dumplins, biscuit. And this isn't just like
boring, dried grilled chicken, it's been marinated, they
said, for at least 18 hours, which means this is gonna
be like really moist. If you're doing a little
bit of a healthier thing, this is totally worth it. We have the Beans n' Greens. We're gonna go with the beans first. Pretty simple here. Mm, really good sauce,
it's not just dry beans. Then we have our turnip greens, which you put the chow chow relish on. So it has onions, green peppers, apples, we have the vinegar in there. I think the chow chow
relish on it is really good. It's just that really nice
vinegary, funky flavor that it's giving your vegetables. So it makes it not feel like you're actually eating a vegetable. The breading on the shrimp is really nice. Has a really good zesty bite to it. And the sauce adds a
little pep to your step. Just look at that. I almost wanna call this like
the Southern chicken parm, because it reminds me of the
chicken parm in a lot of ways. It's like the fried chicken, and then instead of like
marinara sauce on it, you get the gravy. Love you, love you, baby. If you've never put Coke in your cake, you're really missing out. It's like that secret ingredient when you're trying it,
you're like, what is that? And it's like, it's Coke. There's a reason why
it's called double fudge chocolate cake, that is the dream, this is the goal that
you're trying to get. I would order it for my birthday. We have 24 more dishes to come. We're going into the 2000s. We're ready to go, let's do this. (upbeat music) (laughing)
- Enjoy. - Why is it getting bigger every round? The 2000s is like doing me dirty. This, for me, reminds me of Thanksgiving. We always do really good apple pie dishes. You can eat that whole thing yourself. Thanksgiving's the busiest
day at Cracker Barrel. People come here with their families, and this is what they eat. But you can also get this
year-round on Thursdays. My mom makes amazing stuffing. If there was going to be
one that beats her stuffing, this could be it, maybe. Sorry mom. And that is awesome. This is like chunky, this is a big boy. I don't wanna say it's
better than the catfish, 'cause I really like the catfish. But this really rivals it. The breading is beautiful. You have your sandwich
bread underneath it. And then it's just piled
high with the gravy. You have to have the gravy on it, that's just like a mess on a plate, and it's a beautiful mess. Look how big these pieces are. This is huge. That's beautiful. I like the crispiest parts. I want like more breading
than I want chicken when I eat my fried chicken. It's a wrap, we're done, we don't have to shoot anymore, found it. We're done, right? No? The broccoli cheddar chicken, which has Ritz cracker
bread crumbs on top. You just know it's gonna be a good time. It's gonna be really buttery, and like Ritz crackers have
really good saltiness to them. Oh, I just burped. (upbeat music) ♪ My favorite so far ♪ We just had the salad left, but then that one's hiding
in the corner from me. I'm not complaining in any way. I'm getting excited to get to the end. (singing) If we can incorporate that
sound, that would be lovely. Filling without filling
you up to the point where you can't button your pants. Wait, bacon, lettuce, tomat,
so this also has cheese on it. So it's a chicken BLTC. Chicken BLTC. Thank you to my stretchy pants for holding me together literally today. All the flavors you want in one bite. Just order it, I don't know, order it. You're gonna be happy. And you just dip it in like that, like so. And then you put it in your mouth hole. Yeah, just take a jar
home, don't even try it, just take a jar home. Give it to your grandma for Christmas, she'll definitely love you. I need to literally walk it out. (upbeat music) We went from like the
super chicken fried steak and gravy on everything, and now we're at the
point where we're like, okay, so no gravy,
(laughing) like eggs whites, more oranges, more fruit. That's really indicative of the decade we're still in, I guess. We're gonna start with
the Grandma's Sampler, which comes with the
two blueberry pancakes. And then you get your sunny-side up eggs, you get your hash browns,
you get your meat. That's a real little
baby blueberry in there. That's not like anything
that's like the fake ones that are all syrupy and gross. (gentle music) Everything on this plate,
I've already tried. Confirmed, the hash browns are still good. I feel like my body's going to reject anything that's healthy at this point, because it only wants the gravy. Strawberry, raspberry and
vanilla, really good layers. Boom, I'm healthy now. I understand this is the healthier way, I just, yolks are a beautiful thing and it's not an egg unless
there's a yolk to me. Feel like a little kid again, I'm like, I don't want to. I don't want it. Turkey sausage, I will eat. I think turkey sausage is really good. This is the Fresh Start Sampler, which has the muffin with it,
and then the scrambled eggs with the yolk in there, obviously. This is a loaded muffin, I have to say. Sweet and sugary and happy. I feel like these together is probably one of the healthier breakfast
options you have here. The one really nice
thing about this oatmeal, well one, you get your
own little personal dish, and it comes with the milk on the side so you can pour it in. But this one has a lot going on there, there's a lot of fruit,
a lotta pecans in there. You can tell it's homemade. Just like the perfect
amount for breakfast. ♪ We're blacking out on breakfast ♪ We love adding flavors. We love things that
taste like other things. So a latte that tastes like french toast just makes a lot of sense to me. (gentle music) Oh. This one tastes like a fall morning, and you're going like pumpkin
and apple picking for the day. Would be great with rum. Last but not least. Fruits, tomatoes, turkey
sausage, egg whites, grits. Are you tired yet? I am. I have to say for plain grits,
they're pretty damn good. Confirmed, it tastes like a tomato. You know how I feel about egg whites. Strawberry. That singular half strawberry
is going to propel me into the last two rounds. I'm not sure if I'm ready, but
I have to be at this point, like they need to kick me
out, I've been here so long. We have two rounds left,
that's all we have. (upbeat music) Are you tired? - Nope, look good? - I'm good. - Enjoy.
- Thank you so much. It's their unsweetened ice tea with all of the berry flavors, like three different berries in there. Ooh. I wanna drink this on a porch. Look at all of that seasoning on there. They were not skimping on any of it. Lemon pepper fresh, so good. The one thing about this grilled cheese that makes it, I think, different
than most grilled cheeses is this, the Parmesan-crusted top. This is gonna be a really
good grilled cheese, I can tell. It has like Italian herbs
with the Parmesan in there, that's like a really
classy grilled cheese. I mean, hello. I would order both these,
these are a good lunch. Ugh, salad, been there, done that. That's just a hunk of cheese. The cheese to salad ratio,
again, they understand me. The right amount of
Caesar to parm to salad, this is a good portion size, I would say. This is one of our favorite
things to make at home. And it's just so melty and the fact that you get to dip it in the au jus. The caramelized onions, the au jus sauce, this is a really good one. Okay. (sighs) Okay, okay. I feel like it's Cracker Barrel's
own spin on healthy food, the fact that it is the
barbecue with the fruit. I don't think you would
get this anywhere else when it comes to doing a healthy spin. Comes with the croutons,
you get your crackers. That is rich, wow. That tastes like a gravy almost. Tastes like Thanksgiving as well. So this is number 48 of our menu item. Just by the looks of it, I'm into it. Ooh. If I can learn how to hold a burger. I'm so bad at this, okay. Enough talking, let's go eat. That's a good burger. It's really hard for me to
give up my biscuits and gravy, but this one, I think would
beat any bar burger I've had. This is the buttermilk pie. Mm, what is that? It's like a massage in your mouth. Also, I think it's that the
crust on this is really good, you can tell when someone's
like making it by hand. And I feel like this is how
you know this buttermilk pie is like definitely made
from scratch or something. Also, on that note,
we're on our final dish. The last dish came out last week. They've been having people
ask for fried chicken, like this buttermilk fried
chicken for probably 50 years, and they haven't released
it until this past week. So we're gonna get to try it, be one of the first people to try it, and see what's been
taking so long for them. I was like, I'm gonna be an
investigative journalist, and then now I'm like, I'm gonna eat 50 dishes at Cracker Barrel. Hoo, we're on number 50. Their Southern fried bone-in chicken. It's taken them 50 years to get here, and just look at it, like look at this. What's one more thing
in your body after 49? I don't usually put honey on mine unless it's like a hot honey, spicy honey, but since they offered it on the table, I'm gonna try it with it. (upbeat music) This is the most serious
food coma I've ever had. Holy fried chicken. There's a reason that it
took them like 50 years to put this on the menu,
and it was worth the wait. This is awesome. I would get an entire bucket
of these and demolish them if I did not just try 50 things. I feel like it's perfect. It's a 10 out of 10. This is the most food we've
ever eaten on one of these, and this was honestly the
best food I've had so far. Cracker Barrel is just
like comforting, happy food and you know it's all made from scratch, so it just makes you feel good, even when you eat 50 of them. I feel like I have like
a warm home in my belly. So I'm gonna politely escort myself out before someone has to, on that note. (upbeat music)
