Cracker Barrel history

Evins incorporated Cracker Barrel in February 1970, and soon opened more locations.

People seemed more than pleased with the cooking, and by 1977, Dan Evins and his investors (most of whom were local friends and associates) had opened 13 stores from Kentucky to Georgia.

Cracker Barrel became a publicly traded company in 1981 to raise funds for further expansion.

Following the initial public offering, Cracker Barrel grew at a rate of around 20 percent per year; by 1987, the company had become a chain of more than 50 units in eight states, with annual net sales of almost $81 million.

In 1993, the chain's revenue was nearly twice that of any other family restaurant.

In 1994, the chain tested a carry-out-only store, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Corner Market, in suburban residential neighborhoods.

By September 1997, Cracker Barrel had 314 restaurants, and aimed to increase the number of stores by approximately 50 per year over the following five years.

The chain opened its first restaurant and gift store not located near a highway in 1998, in Dothan, Alabama.

By 2011, Cracker Barrel had opened more than 600 restaurants in 42 states.

On January 17, 2012, company founder Dan Evins died of bladder cancer.

The company has since begun expansion to the West Coast: in 2017, their first store in the region opened in Tualatin, Oregon, and their first store in California was opened the next year in Victorville.

In 2019 Cracker Barrel purchased Maple Street Biscuit Company for $36 million cash.

In May of 2021, Cracker Barrel launched Chicken 'n Biscuits by Cracker Barrel™, its first virtual brand offering its signature fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits.