Concentrate on what go you on the map to begin with…quality food and service.

It was unique and fresh in 1985 when I stopped and ate at one in Knoxville. The breakfast ham was cut thick and the eggs tasted like they just gotten picked out of a hen's nest. Atmosphere was country back when country wasn't cool.

Last time I ate there it was nothing special. Generation X special.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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The Kraken said:

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CEO is a woman, obviously a DEI hire! Rebranded the logo to something simpler, must be woke!

Hilarious how click baited some of you are.

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Only thing left to do is bump this thread when they file for Chapter 11.

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There are plenty of corporations and companies that go bankrupt headed by regular heterosexual white guys. Do all companies headed by women go bad?

The Kraken said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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The Kraken said:

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CEO is a woman, obviously a DEI hire! Rebranded the logo to something simpler, must be woke!

Hilarious how click baited some of you are.

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Only thing left to do is bump this thread when they file for Chapter 11.

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There are plenty of corporations and companies that go bankrupt headed by regular heterosexual white guys. Do all companies headed by women go bad?

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No, but they on a bad run as of late.

BarnacleBill said:

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I gotta say, I don't get the meltdown over this. They probably spent 10s of millions to come up with a logo that looks like it was made on 1995 Corel Paint. It's lame and wasteful, but not offensive. It's too bland to be offensive.

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Much like the food.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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The Hot Bisuit
Kelly's Country cookin'
Cracker Barrel
Village Inn
Perkin's
Shoney's
Huddle House
Grandy's
Ihop
Waffle House
Denny's

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In any event, been seeing these Black Bear Diners pop up lately.

Never eat at one myself, so where to they fall in the rankings of breakfast joints?

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Black Bear is nothing special.

JCA1 said:

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I'll play Devil's advocate here a little bit. Although I don't know the numbers, I would guess that CB has a rapidly aging customer base. My guess is their projections were that they had a decade or so remaining before their current customer base died off and/or moved into a nursing home. So, the choice was (a) stay the same and try to pocket as much as you can before your customer base dies off or (2) shake up the company to try and attract a younger audience. They chose number 2. Now, it may very well turn out to be a worse idea than choice 1. But I can understand why 2 was the choice. Tough spot.

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Even if that were true- I mean, if their customer base is old people, its not like old people are going extinct. When the current old people die off, the people in their 50s will have aged up and are the new old people.

It's a Boomer restaurant. According to Texags all things Boomer are bad. Shut'er down.

Signed;
Boomer

The Kraken said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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The Kraken said:

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CEO is a woman, obviously a DEI hire! Rebranded the logo to something simpler, must be woke!

Hilarious how click baited some of you are.

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Only thing left to do is bump this thread when they file for Chapter 11.

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There are plenty of corporations and companies that go bankrupt headed by regular heterosexual white guys. Do all companies headed by women go bad?

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All companies that hire total dumbasses only because they are DEI hires do poorly.

You are a bad person!

I've lived 10 minutes from a Cracker Barrell for 13 years & I've never eaten there.
Always thought it was for olds. Like Lubys.

A bit of a rebrand might not be a terrible idea

Take heart guys. If homosexuals don't procreate, there will be no one around to eat collards & cornbread at 4 PM in 50 years.

Kentucky Jeff said:

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Charpie said:

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OMG where are y'all going to go now?

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I'm gonna go throw chairs at Waffle House! Who's with me?

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I'll join. I've got a t-shirt that says Waffle House Fight Club that I can wear.

Keyno said:

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JCA1 said:

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I'll play Devil's advocate here a little bit. Although I don't know the numbers, I would guess that CB has a rapidly aging customer base. My guess is their projections were that they had a decade or so remaining before their current customer base died off and/or moved into a nursing home. So, the choice was (a) stay the same and try to pocket as much as you can before your customer base dies off or (2) shake up the company to try and attract a younger audience. They chose number 2. Now, it may very well turn out to be a worse idea than choice 1. But I can understand why 2 was the choice. Tough spot.

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Even if that were true- I mean, if their customer base is old people, it's not like old people are going extinct. When the current old people die off, the people in their 50s will have aged up and are the new old people.

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Not sure I can agree. Cracker Barrel's old-timey schtick provides nostalgia for a pretty clear generation who remembers when that's the way a lot of the world actually was (or at least had grandmas that cooked old school southern food when you went to visit). The people with these touchstones are dwindling. Unless you think everyone that turns 50 suddenly develops an affinity for an era they didn't live through, I don't know that CB translates to subsequent generations.

That very best breakfast I get out is when I travel to our gas plant over in West Virginia. Place is called Tudor's Biscuit World and it's fantastic! They know how to make biscuits!

I like Cracker Barrel.

But I will say, the interior could use a refresh. The storefronts are too crowded with slow moving crap, and the restaurant looks dated.

That said...the problem is that they tried to copy First Watch, and erased all the things people loved about it.

They should have updated it a bit, but still kept that down-home country feel. Keep that ranch-style country motif...just updated. That's why people ate there. When you make it look like everything else, you dont stand out anymore.

I'm as anti-woke as they come….I just don't see what the hysteria is about. The new logo is bland and boring but whatever. They needed to do something to reinvigorate sales.

I like their food for what it is and hope they do well.

JCA1 said:

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Keyno said:

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JCA1 said:

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I'll play Devil's advocate here a little bit. Although I don't know the numbers, I would guess that CB has a rapidly aging customer base. My guess is their projections were that they had a decade or so remaining before their current customer base died off and/or moved into a nursing home. So, the choice was (a) stay the same and try to pocket as much as you can before your customer base dies off or (2) shake up the company to try and attract a younger audience. They chose number 2. Now, it may very well turn out to be a worse idea than choice 1. But I can understand why 2 was the choice. Tough spot.

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Even if that were true- I mean, if their customer base is old people, it's not like old people are going extinct. When the current old people die off, the people in their 50s will have aged up and are the new old people.

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Not sure I can agree. Cracker Barrel's old-timey schtick provides nostalgia for a pretty clear generation who remembers when that's the way a lot of the world actually was (or at least had grandmas that cooked old school southern food when you went to visit). The people with these touchstones are dwindling. Unless you think everyone that turns 50 suddenly develops an affinity for an era they didn't live through, I don't know that CB translates to subsequent generations.

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Ah you make a legit point. I still think that theme is better than what it is now- generic, sterile, soulless- basically your standard modern aesthetic.

NormanEH said:

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I've lived 10 minutes from a Cracker Barrell for 13 years & I've never eaten there.
Always thought it was for olds. Like Lubys.

A bit of a rebrand might not be a terrible idea

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Wow- blast from the past.

as a young kid in Austin my grandparents from Florida would take us to the Lubys. Probably around 1981.

Keyno said:

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JCA1 said:

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Keyno said:

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JCA1 said:

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I'll play Devil's advocate here a little bit. Although I don't know the numbers, I would guess that CB has a rapidly aging customer base. My guess is their projections were that they had a decade or so remaining before their current customer base died off and/or moved into a nursing home. So, the choice was (a) stay the same and try to pocket as much as you can before your customer base dies off or (2) shake up the company to try and attract a younger audience. They chose number 2. Now, it may very well turn out to be a worse idea than choice 1. But I can understand why 2 was the choice. Tough spot.

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Even if that were true- I mean, if their customer base is old people, it's not like old people are going extinct. When the current old people die off, the people in their 50s will have aged up and are the new old people.

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Not sure I can agree. Cracker Barrel's old-timey schtick provides nostalgia for a pretty clear generation who remembers when that's the way a lot of the world actually was (or at least had grandmas that cooked old school southern food when you went to visit). The people with these touchstones are dwindling. Unless you think everyone that turns 50 suddenly develops an affinity for an era they didn't live through, I don't know that CB translates to subsequent generations.

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Ah you make a legit point. I still think that theme is better than what it is now- generic, sterile, soulless- basically your standard modern aesthetic.

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I agree that by trying to reach everyone, they'll likely reach no one.

Quote:

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That said...the problem is that they tried to copy First Watch

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Forgot about First Watch. Place is solid.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Quote:

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That said...the problem is that they tried to copy First Watch

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Forgot about First Watch. Place is solid.

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yes it is

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Quote:

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That said...the problem is that they tried to copy First Watch

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Forgot about First Watch. Place is solid.

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I haven't seen anything that says CB is radically changing the menu.

JCA1 said:

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Keyno said:

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JCA1 said:

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I'll play Devil's advocate here a little bit. Although I don't know the numbers, I would guess that CB has a rapidly aging customer base. My guess is their projections were that they had a decade or so remaining before their current customer base died off and/or moved into a nursing home. So, the choice was (a) stay the same and try to pocket as much as you can before your customer base dies off or (2) shake up the company to try and attract a younger audience. They chose number 2. Now, it may very well turn out to be a worse idea than choice 1. But I can understand why 2 was the choice. Tough spot.

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Even if that were true- I mean, if their customer base is old people, it's not like old people are going extinct. When the current old people die off, the people in their 50s will have aged up and are the new old people.

---

Not sure I can agree. Cracker Barrel's old-timey schtick provides nostalgia for a pretty clear generation who remembers when that's the way a lot of the world actually was (or at least had grandmas that cooked old school southern food when you went to visit). The people with these touchstones are dwindling. Unless you think everyone that turns 50 suddenly develops an affinity for an era they didn't live through, I don't know that CB translates to subsequent generations.

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This is the same thinking that animates (see what I did there) a lot of the recent decisions at Walt Disney World. "Kids today don't care about steamboats! Rip up Rivers of America!!!"

Except that younger people have nostalgia for experiences with their parents and grandparents that harken back to earlier times, even if they didn't live through them personally. My kids love Cracker Barrel because they went there often with their grandmother. I never traveled by steamboat but I loved RoA because I remember how I felt seeing it 40 years ago.

If the company is gonna turn CB into just another bland dining establishment with no real identity, what's the point? Why would anyone young person choose CB if it looks, tastes and costs just like any other chain?

.@ByronDonalds, who worked at Cracker Barrel, called @ClayTravis and @BuckSexton: "Listen, even at the Naples Cracker Barrel, it’s about biscuits and hashbrown casserole. That’s what it’s about. Ain’t nobody slipping hundreds in there. I promise you that." pic.twitter.com/2K2hOulJfE

— The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show (@clayandbuck) August 21, 2025

Florida congressman weighs in.

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If the company is gonna turn CB into just another bland dining establishment with no real identity, what's the point? Why would anyone young person choose CB if it looks, tastes and costs just like any other chain?

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Why do you think that's what they're doing? The general store is still there (and from the photos of the new reno's I've seen much more organized/clean than the overly cluttered mess of the current ones) which is very unique to them. They still have the big fireplaces. Rocking chairs on the patio. The walls aren't as cluttered but definitely don't scream Denny's, IHOP or Chipotle. And adding more nostalgia back on the walls if they overdid it one way is such an easy fix.

And the menu not only still is very southern, some of the new items I read about match that exact feel.

I watch a lot of foreigners' youtube channels that are obsessed with States, in particular, our foods. When they do visit, Cracker Barrel is one of their chosen restaurants to sample homestyle Southern food.

CB has a great rep overseas from what I have seen.

Bunk Moreland said:

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Quote:

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If the company is gonna turn CB into just another bland dining establishment with no real identity, what's the point? Why would anyone young person choose CB if it looks, tastes and costs just like any other chain?

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Why do you think that's what they're doing? The general store is still there (and from the photos of the new reno's I've seen much more organized/clean than the overly cluttered mess of the current ones) which is very unique to them. They still have the big fireplaces. Rocking chairs on the patio. The walls aren't as cluttered but definitely don't scream Denny's, IHOP or Chipotle. And adding more nostalgia back on the walls if they overdid it one way is such an easy fix.

And the menu not only still is very southern, some of the new items I read about match that exact feel.

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Okay ... we'll see. Maybe it's all good. You seem to have a lot of faith in Julie Masino and her team to walk that fine line between nostalgia and refresh. I hope you're right, and they'll pull it off.

I'm just not so sure.

The inside looks like a Chicken Salad Chick restaurant. It will look as dated as the previous look in a year, if it doesn't already. It looks like the kind of generic finish out you'd find in a mom and pop whose interior design was done by someone who watched nothing but old 2010s reruns of HGTV.

Zero desire to go near one.

flown-the-coop said:

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Time to go back to Denny's for breakfast.

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No. It's never time to go back to Denny's. Unless Applebee's is your idea of fine dining.

Hire Chris Rock and make the slogan "Cracker Ass Crack… Barrel"

Quote:

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Okay ... we'll see. Maybe it's all good. You seem to have a lot of faith in Julie Masino and her team to walk that fine line between nostalgia and refresh. I hope you're right, and they'll pull it off.

I'm just not so sure.

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It's not that I have faith in her per say, I just don't see anything close to woke/DEI/brand gutting that this conversation on here was all about. And I do see a need for them to have a strategy for the future.

That said, her background seems very appropriate to lead a restaurant chain and she has experience with brand refreshes in the past at Taco Bell so we'll see. They could butcher it, people could (so far incorrectly imo) boycott it, or it could all die down and they plod on like normal.