On the way up to Country Thunder, you may want to get in the mood by yielding to the Cracker Barrel sign that beckons from Interstate 10.
Since opening in Marana in 1997 as one of nearly 600 in the national chain, Cracker Barrel has coaxed freeway travelers to exit onto Cortaro Road toward down-home, Southern-tinged comfort food.
Attached to a nostalgia-filled country store full of knickknacks and vintage candies, the restaurant feels like a time warp to the 1950s. The low prices — with only one dish, the 10-ounce rib-eye steak, cracking the $10 mark — maintain the old-style feel.
General manager Guido Manzo said the restaurant is aimed at families.
"We're definitely a family restaurant. . . . We're all about pleasing people," said Manzo, who moved to Tucson from Michigan in 1999 and worked his way up from associate manger. "We give the utmost best service and atmosphere, the best quality of food and don't skimp on any ingredients. It's all top shelf, and it's all about people."
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Everything is relaxed and casual, with little kids running around under parents' watchful eyes on the rocking-chair-lined patio. Inside, the country store pulses with browsing shoppers.
The chain sells several exclusive CDs from country stars, including a collector's edition of Dolly Parton's "Backwoods Barbie" that came out Monday.
Leaving the kids with a sitter, we decided to indulge in the all-day breakfast menu.
The seemingly never-ending Country Boy Breakfast seemed fit for a country giant. "Just loosen your belt," the menu astutely advises.
The waitress impressively lugged several bowls and plates that included thin-sliced country ham (pork chops, country fried steak, tenderloin steak or chicken fried chicken are other options), three eggs over easy, fried apples bathed in cinnamon and syrup, biscuits, gravy, hash browns and grits.
If you truly are what you eat, then I was in calorie-exploding heaven after I finished. The standouts were the cheesy, soft and chewy hash browns, which were yummy enough to make me neglect the ham, biscuits and gravy. Just magic.
We also ordered the Momma's Pancake Breakfast: three blanketlike, down-soft pancakes served with scrambled eggs and sausage patties (bacon and turkey sausage are also available). The comparatively diminutive dish was dwarfed by the Country Boy, but the pancakes were superb and our order of frozen-mug apple cider helped wash it down in a swirl of lusciousness. Our only complaint was that the mini syrup bottles were a bit too small. On the other hand, subjecting the flaky, elegant pancakes to syrup almost seemed like an insult.
One thing's for sure — the downside to starting your day with breakfast at Cracker Barrel is that it's all downhill from here.
• Where: 8400 N. Cracker Barrel Road, off Interstate 10 and Cortaro Road.
• Hours: 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
• Phone: 579-1845.
The Bill
• Country Boy Breakfast $8.89.
• Momma's Pancake Breakfast $7.19.
• Fountain drink $1.89.
• Frozen mug apple cider $2.19.
• Total, before tax and tip: $20.16.
