From gas stations to a controversial logo change: The history of Cracker Barrel in photos

Dan Evins’ family was in the gasoline business. The American highway system was still young, meaning food on the road was difficult to come by.

“What Evins had in mind was the kind of place he’d been to hundreds of times as a boy,” the company’s site reads. “Evins figured maybe folks traveling on the big, new interstate system might appreciate a clean, comfortable, relaxed place to stop in for a good meal and some shopping.”

Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel location in 1969 on Highway 109 in Lebanon, TN.

The name “Cracker Barrel” dates back to the country stores that Evins modeled his restaurant chain after. These stores would receive large shipments of soda crackers stored in barrels to prevent cracking. After the barrels were emptied, customers would use them as makeshift tables for checkers.

These barrels became symbols of camaraderie — and the brand’s namesake.

When Evins opened his first restaurant, he invited local antique store owners Don and Kathleen Singleton to curate the chain’s general stores. The couple eventually joined as full-time designers.

In 1979, Kathleen retired after an illness, and her son Larry began to learn the trade from his father. Larry began stocking the brand’s 19 locations, visiting flea markets and auctions across the country.

For 39 years, Larry served as Cracker Barrel’s chief picker. He retired in 2019.

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) instituted a total ban on exporting oil to countries that had supported Israel. Gasoline in the United States became scarce, and prices skyrocketed.

Thanks to his family’s business, Evins’ first handful of Cracker Barrels had gasoline pumps on-site. After the OPEC embargo, Evins’ new restaurants stopped carrying gasoline.

By 1977, Evins had built 13 Cracker Barrels from Tennessee to Georgia.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores went public in November 1981 as part of a plan to expand beyond the American Southeast. On the day of its public offering, CRBL offered slightly over 600,000 shares at $10.00 per share.

Within five years, the company had doubled its store count to 47 and hit net annual sales of $81 million. By 1992, the company was valued at $1 billion.

On February 21, 1991, Cracker Barrel’s vice president of human resources William A. Bridges sent out a message: They would stop employing individuals “whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal heterosexual values which have been the foundation of families in our society.”

Multiple workers were fired in this period, before Cracker Barrel walked back the policy, saying that it would “continue to employ those folks who will provide the quality service our customers have come to expect from us.”

Activists said that the statement was not a retraction of the policy, and that Cracker Barrel had not rehired fired employees. The Los Angeles Times reported that Evins was also quoted in a Tennessee newspaper saying that Cracker Barrel would not hire homosexuals in rural communities.

Gay and lesbian activists protested and picketed Cracker Barrel. They also bought up stock, trying to financially pressure the restaurant chain.

In 2002, Cracker Barrel changed its nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation.

In the mid-1990s, Cracker Barrel tried to move off the roadside and into the suburbs. It launched Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Corner Market, a chain of gift shops without attached restaurants. Cracker Barrel also briefly expressed an interest in building hotels.

By 1997, the stores were shut down, and Cracker Barrel refocused on its dining and hospitality business. “At Cracker Barrel, we’re serving country food, country music, and we’ve got an old country store,” Ron Magruder, then-president of Cracker Barrel, told the Orlando Sentinel.

By 2000, there were 423 Cracker Barrel locations.

In November 2012, Cracker Barrel signed a licensing agreement with John Morrell Food Group to sell branded products in grocery stores. But Kraft already had a line of unaffiliated Cracker Barrel cheese products. The company sued Cracker Barrel for trademark infringement.

In 2013, Cracker Barrel agreed to sell its products under a different name: CB Old Country Store.

In 1999, thirteen current and former Cracker Barrel employees sued the company for racial discrimination. They later petitioned to turn the case into a class action suit, which was denied.

In 2001, 21 Black customers sued Cracker Barrel, accusing the company of widespread racism, from denying service to segregating their smoking section. Cracker Barrel’s then-president Donald Turner said that the accusations were false. “We believe in good service — and good service is colorblind,” he said.

Both lawsuits were settled by Cracker Barrel in 2004.

That same year, the Justice Department sued Cracker Barrel for discriminating against Black customers. The company settled, signing a five-year agreement to implement nondiscrimination policies, create new training programs, and retain an outside investigator to ensure compliance.

Cracker Barrel made multiple attempts to court customers back after the COVID-19 pandemic, including adding alcohol to the menu. The company also bolstered its takeout and catering business.

But some customers weren’t coming back. Between 2020 and 2024, Cracker Barrel lost 16% of its diners. “We’re just not as relevant as we once were,” CEO Julie Masino said on an investor call.

In 2024, Business Insider spoke with longtime patrons of the restaurant. They said food quality had declined.

On Tuesday, Cracker Barrel debuted a new logo as part of its fall marketing plan.

The logo drew criticism from social media users. “I’m all for minimalism, but this is too much,” one user said. On X, Donald Trump Jr posted, “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?”

Shares of Cracker Barrel were trading down 12% on Thursday afternoon.