9 Cracker Barrel Ordering Mistakes Georgia Diners Make

Two people slide into a booth at the Cracker Barrel off Exit 62 in Tifton at 6:20 on a Tuesday and order the same dinners they always order.

They missed the cheaper version by twenty minutes.

These are the Cracker Barrel ordering mistakes that cost Georgia diners every time.

1. Joining After You Order

Joining Cracker Barrel Rewards costs nothing, and the sign-up takes about a minute at the table.

Cracker Barrel puts a QR code right on the table, so you can sign up before your biscuits come out.

You earn nothing at all on a meal if you join once the food is already in front of you.

The program credits Pegs only on purchases you make as a member.

That’s a whole meal wasted.

You feel that timing twice over, since Cracker Barrel hands new members a free Shareable that shows up in your account only after your first purchase.

From there, it lasts 30 days.

Many new members sign up in March, forget the account until June, and never taste that appetizer at all.

2. Missing Early Dinner Deals

The cheapest homestyle plates at Cracker Barrel come out between 4 and 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Early Dinner Deals put smaller portions of those plates at lower prices, Monday through Friday, and the chain changes the lineup from season to season.

The list Cracker Barrel published dates to 2024, so ask what’s on the Early Dinner Deals menu now before you plan a drive around it.

Meatloaf and Homestyle Chicken have both had turns on it.

Saturday and Sunday are out, which is why a 4:30 seat in Cartersville on a weekend costs the same as an 8 o’clock seat.

The bigger catch is where you eat.

Cracker Barrel keeps Early Dinner Deals out of every to-go bag, so the lower price only exists when you dine inside the restaurant.

3. Ordering Through Another App

Every dollar you spend inside a Cracker Barrel earns one Peg, in the restaurant, in the store, and on the chain’s own website and app.

Route that same order through DoorDash or Uber Eats, and Cracker Barrel counts none of it.

Third-party delivery sits outside the rewards program by company rule, so you paid a premium for zero credit.

Your Peg balance never moves.

Cracker Barrel runs curbside pickup at many locations through its own app, McDonough included.

A team member walks the bag to your car after you tap the “I’m Here” button in your confirmation email.

The food comes out of the same kitchen, and the Pegs post to your account.

4. Ordering Four Sides Separately

At Cracker Barrel, you’ll find one of the fuller dinners on the menu in the sides column instead of the entrée pages.

The Country Vegetable Plate is a choice of four classic sides, served with buttermilk biscuits or corn muffins.

That’s four sides, one price.

So four people at the Perry store order hashbrown casserole, fried apples, green beans and mashed potatoes one at a time, and never notice that a single plate already covers four sides plus the biscuits or corn muffins.

Cracker Barrel also splits its sides into two lists, country sides and premium sides.

Ask which list your pick comes from before the server writes it down.

5. Wasting Your Entrée Reward

The top standard reward tier in Cracker Barrel Rewards costs 225 Pegs and covers an entrée, up to a maximum discount of $20.

Cash that reward on the cheapest dinner on the menu, and you never see the rest of that discount.

Pick the expensive plate.

The 75-Peg Individual Side Reward comes with a catch of its own.

It does cover premium sides, but Cracker Barrel won’t let you put it toward a side that already comes with an entrée.

You have to add a separate Individual Side for the reward to attach to anything.

The discount comes off whatever entrée you put on the ticket, so the plate you order decides how much of that $20 you use.

Psst! How much do you know about Cracker Barrel and Southern cooking? Flip through these cards and see how many you can call right.

6. Skipping the Register

Cracker Barrel lets you scan the QR code at the bottom of your check and pay from your phone, tip and all.

At the Marietta store on a Sunday, that’s the fastest way out the door.

It’s also the fastest way to waste a reward.

Cracker Barrel hasn’t switched on Peg redemption for its dine-in mobile pay yet, so a 150-Peg dessert reward can’t come off a check you settled at the table.

You still have to carry the ticket to the cashier and say which reward you want on it.

Earning has its own catch.

Cracker Barrel’s rewards questions page tells mobile pay users to make sure they’re signed in, even when they came straight from the app.

Paying while you’re signed out earns you nothing on that visit.

7. Taking Meals for Two Home

Cracker Barrel sells its All-American Campfire Meals for Two only to people sitting in the dining room, and the offer runs through August 17.

Carryout, curbside, delivery and online orders ring up at regular menu prices in Cordele and everywhere else.

Two more conditions apply once you’re seated.

You can’t pay any part of it with Pegs.

Cracker Barrel won’t stack it with another discount or promotion either, so the military discount and this deal never land on the same check.

Drinks cost extra.

A pitcher of sweet tea comes on its own line of the bill.

8. Spending Pegs on Alcohol

Cracker Barrel lets rewards members put Pegs toward almost anything the kitchen sends out.

You can’t spend Pegs on two things: Alcoholic beverages and gift cards.

So the Watermelon Mimosa on the summer list stays cash only, since Cracker Barrel builds it with sparkling wine.

Everything else is fair game.

A 150-Peg reward covers a dessert outright, which puts a slice of Coca-Cola cake among the easier things on the menu to get for free.

John Pemberton mixed the first Coca-Cola syrup in Atlanta in 1886, and the All-American Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake is the one dessert on the menu built on it.

9. Claiming the Military Discount Late

Show a military ID at Cracker Barrel, and 10% comes off the check if you time it right.

The timing rule costs diners the discount more often than the fine print suggests.

Cracker Barrel’s promotions terms limit it to Rewards members who are active-duty, reserve, retired or veteran service members, and you have to show a valid military or veteran ID.

You have to ask for the discount before the card runs.

Where you order matters too.

The benefit covers in-store restaurant and retail transactions only.

Online orders, catering, delivery and takeout are all out.

Cracker Barrel runs the whole benefit through ID.me, and you have to verify with the same email address you used for Rewards.

Sign up with one address and verify your service with another, and the cashier’s screen at the Grovetown store outside Augusta shows no discount at all.