The Two States That Can't Get Enough Of Cracker Barrel
Since its start in 1969, Cracker Barrel's national presence has soared tremendously. According to ScrapeHero, the Southern comfort kitchen has 667 locations in 45 states across the country. This places it in Restaurant Business Online's top 50 restaurant chains in the United States, indicating that it is a favorite amongst many American diners.
But there are some states where Cracker Barrel's Southern cooking and homey gift shops are more popular than others. As inferred from its hashbrown casserole and fried chicken, Cracker Barrel's menu items can mainly be classified as Southern comfort food, which is known for its "basic, inexpensive ingredients and simple, direct seasonings," according to Life in the USA. Not everyone can eat chicken n' dumplings everyday, but in some states, the odds are better than others. Here are the two states that run on Cracker Barrel, according to recent consumer data that was analyzed by Top Agency.
Tennessee
It's no surprise that Cracker Barrel's home state, Tennessee, goes wild for this particular establishment. Top Agency reported that Cracker Barrel was the best chain restaurant in the state in April 2022. The fast casual chain is actually modeled after a country store from the 1900s, which were spread throughout the state during this time when there were few commercial vendors (via Tennessee Vacation).
One of Tennessee's biggest values as a state is family, according to Knox News. Both country stores and Cracker Barrel encapsulate this virtue. In the past, country stores served as the centers of their respective towns, allowing for families to travel together to get everything they needed in one stop (viaCrane's Country Store). Likewise, Cracker Barrel is noted as a family "one stop shop," having seasonal offerings such as its Heat n' Serve package during the holidays last year, which made preparing dinner for a large family easy (via PR Newswire). Perhaps this is why Cracker Barrel continues to remain popular in Tennessee to this day.
North Carolina
According to Top Agency, Cracker Barrel also scored the highest of marks in North Carolina. As of 2022, North Carolina currently has 41 locations of the fast casual chain. In particular, the Jonesville, North Carolina location has received good marks from TripAdvisor reviewers. One writer, @vhash77 wrote that this specific establishment was, "Probably the Best Cracker Barrel," noting that they "have yet to eat anything that was not good at this restaurant and the service is awesome." And that's the beauty in the chain — every restaurant will be slightly different, according to Little Things. Perhaps this contributes to the restaurant chain's unique cozy and local feel, which people across the board can agree on (via Thrillist).
Cracker Barrels are spread throughout North Carolina, with a location recently opening in Winston-Salem in 2020 (via Facebook). Since North Carolina is the state with the fifth most Cracker Barrels, perhaps this number will continue to rise in the future.