When we think of the restaurant Cracker Barrel, we think of southern charm, comfort food, a country store, and a lot of recent changes that didn’t seem all that well thought out.
Just last year, the company’s CEO, Julie Masino, announced a rebrand of Cracker Barrel, including updated interiors and a sleeker sign that would be missing the mascot, Uncle Herschel. Restaurant patrons quickly made their feelings clear. Change was not what they wanted. The updates would simply be erasing everything they had grown to love about the restaurant. Modernizing it was not a good idea.
Quickly backtracking, Masino told investors that they would not be modernizing the stores after all. She shared, “We have already taken steps to get back on track. That’s why our team pivoted quickly to switch back to our old-timer logo, and has already begun executing new marketing, advertising, and social media initiatives, leaning into Uncle Herschel and the nostalgia around the brand, with more to come.”
That was 2025. But there’s a new controversy in 2026, and it involves what employees are allowed to eat.
In a company memo that was leaked to The Wall Street Journal, employees are told what they can and cannot eat on business trips. Employees who are traveling for work are given a company card to pay for expenses, but they have been notified about a couple of important changes to what charges are allowed. Notably, they are not allowed to expense alcohol unless given special permission. They are also required to eat at Cracker Barrel restaurants whenever possible.
Deposit PhotosA spokesperson from Cracker Barrel told The U.S. Sun that there are exceptions to the rule. Employees are only required to eat at Cracker Barrel when it’s practical. There may be situations where the location and schedule circumstances would make it necessary to eat somewhere else.
Where Did Cracker Barrel Get Its Name?
Long ago, soda crackers, which are nowadays more commonly known as “saltines”, would be shipped to general stores in the United States in barrels as a way to prevent the delicate crackers inside from breaking. While the barrels would typically get returned to be used again in shipments, some of the barrels remained behind at the general stores and were set up as tables, used as storage containers, and in other creative ways.
Deposit PhotosThat’s A Lot Of Food!
Each year, according to Cracker Barrel’s own website, they sell 162 million eggs, 140 million slices of bacon, and 75 million pancakes.
In addition to the food, they sell 70,000 rockers (whoa!) and 3.7 million pieces of women’s apparel.
Cracker BarrelOther Fun Facts About Cracker Barrel
Each Cracker Barrel store has up to 1,000 pieces of authentic décor on the walls. They claim there are no replicas. They also say that 40% of their clientele are travelers — likely many enticed by the more than 1,600 billboards across the United States that they use to “remind you we are always near”.
Also, the original Cracker Barrel corporate office was in Lebanon, Tennessee, which is just east of Nashville. The company moved its headquarters to its current location back in 1974.
Carter Billboard
