Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®  is a familiar restaurant and retail store, but some folks may not be familiar with how we got our name. It’s a simple story really, but we think it’s pretty interesting. Would you like to hear it? OK, let’s gather around the cracker barrel and we’ll tell ya!

Soda crackers used to be shipped to old country stores in large wooden barrels to prevent the crackers from breaking apart during the shipping process. Back in the day, country stores were a gathering place for many communities; somewhere folks could catch up on news, local events, and their neighbors’ lives. Sounds like a familiar place, right? So, when barrels were empty, they were used as makeshift tables to hold a checkerboard, a conversation or both. We’d like to think some things never change.

Cracker barrels represent the simple comfort and comradery of life in and around a country store and synonymous with coming together to tell stories.

Country stores used to also come complete with front porches, rocking chairs, good conversations and some unexpected retail treasures. They were truly places where people found comfort, hospitality, and friendships. For us, these characteristics of an old country store are some of the best things about our American communities.

This is why we can’t imagine any name more fitting than Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®.