Cracker Barrel's Restaurants Didn't Survive In This State

Nothing says "American road trip" like a pit stop at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. With over 600 locations spread out across 43 U.S. states, you're bound to encounter a Cracker Barrel while driving through the country — unless you're in Oregon, that is. As of 2024, all Oregon Cracker Barrel locations have closed for business. While it's a shame Oregonians can no longer enjoy Chicken n' Dumplins while surrounded by antique Americana, it's even more disappointing that the restaurant only lasted around seven years in the state.

Back in April 2017, the first Oregon Cracker Barrel opened in Tualatin, a Portland suburb. The location opened to great fanfare, as it was the first Cracker Barrel on the West Coast. Three more Oregon stores opened in 2018: Beaverton, Jantzen Beach, and Medford. But perhaps the unluckiest location was the Bend Cracker Barrel, which opened in February 2019, just a year before the pandemic began. Sadly, Oregon's Cracker Barrels began closing in August 2022, starting with the Jantzen Beach location. Beaverton, Bend, and Tualatin followed in March 2023, while the Medford Cracker Barrel held on until April 2024.

The rise and fall of Oregon's Cracker Barrels was surprisingly brief, considering the company's nearly 60-year history. But the unfortunate timing of the restaurants' openings so close to the onset of the pandemic, along with other circumstances largely out of its control, disrupted those crucial early years.

According to Cracker Barrel's 2022 financial report, the company's revenue was up when the Oregon locations began to close, but its growth underperformed. That's unsurprising considering restaurants still faced closures in 2022 due to new COVID-19 variants. Indeed, the reason Cracker Barrel gave for the 2023 closures of its Beaverton, Tualatin, and Bend locations was along these lines. A brand representative told KGW at the time, "[W]e have been unable to overcome the impact the pandemic had on our business." That seems consistent with the company's 2023 financial report, which mentions "traffic challenges."

Still, there were other issues unique to the stores' areas, as was the case with the Jantzen Beach closure. Although the official response only alluded to low performance, employees told KGW that management blamed security issues.

To explain the closure of the final Oregon location in Medford, Cracker Barrel only cited "business reasons," according to the Rogue Valley Times. The restaurant's Yelp reviews, however, may provide more insight. One reviewer prophetically quipped, "I expect the Medford Cracker Barrel will soon go out of business" in November 2023, just six months before the restaurant closed. Their reasoning? Deteriorating food quality. While a single Yelp review doesn't explain the restaurant's entire Oregon downfall, it does highlight potential customer dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, this likely won't be the last of Cracker Barrel's troubles. After stalled renovations, the logo fiasco of 2025, and the closure of its only restaurant in Maine, the brand's future remains rocky.