GOSHEN —
With 620 different experiences, you think Ray and Wilma Yoder would have one time when they haven’t had good service at Cracker Barrel.
However, the couple, who have visited every single one of the 621 Cracker Barrel locations except one, said the service is always wonderful.
“Cracker Barrel makes you feel so much like home,” Ray Yoder said Thursday from their home in Goshen. “There’s a place to park your (recreational vehicle), and it’s convenient.”
Yoder said he began going to Cracker Barrels because of the convenience when he was transporting recreational vehicles across the nation. Around 25 years ago, he and his wife decided to make a point of going to all of the locations after having visited so many through his work.
“Four years ago we caught up with them in New Jersey,” Ray Yoder said. Since that time, they’ve had to “catch up” with the chain of stores as they open new locations. Most recently, they opened four over Labor Day Weekend. While the Yoders were able to hit all four that weekend, they still have one more location in San Antonio, Texas, to visit.
They’ll be traveling to Texas Oct. 24, as part of a “scenic route” to Florida, where they will spend some of the winter, he said.
The Yoders are well-known to some Cracker Barrel employees, they said. They were filmed two years ago for the promotional training video for the employees.
They’ve also been featured in the Cracker Barrel magazine. One of Ray Yoder’s personal copies is full of signatures of employees from the stores they visit. He also has menus that the employees have signed.
“We’ve never had a bad experience,” Wilma Yoder said. “Even before they knew about us, the service was great.”
Now, sometimes the Yoders are treated to their meals or given gift baskets when they go to a new store, Wilma Yoder said, though the stores don’t have to treat them any differently than other customers.
With all of those visits, the Yoders have taken in a lot of meals at Cracker Barrel. They said they have a few menu favorites, though they haven’t tried every item yet.
“The meatloaf is my favorite,” Ray Yoder said. “You can’t match it, even here at home!” he added, looking to his wife with a smile.
Ray and Wilma also included the hashbrown casserole, Virginia smoked ham, stew and the Friday fish dinners among their favorites.
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RAY YODER and his wife, Wilma, right, have visited more than 600 Cracker Barrel restaurants. Sam Householder
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