The Number of Cracker Barrels in Every State

Special Report

Published: November 23, 2023 11:47 am

If you’ve ever taken a trip on the U.S. interstate system, especially through the South or Midwest, you have almost certainly seen signs for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. For years, the chain purposefully placed all of its restaurants along interstates to woo hungry travelers who needed a break from the road. The company correctly gauged that its menu of traditional southern home cooking dishes would be a welcome change from the fast-food drive-thrus that typically dominate the interstate landscape. (If you’d prefer to find a local restaurant instead of a chain on your next trip, here’s a list of America’s greatest roadside restaurants.)

While Cracker Barrel no longer builds stores exclusively along interstate highways, that is still where most of its restaurants are found. Before you plan your next road trip, take a look at our list of the number of Cracker Barrel locations in each U.S. state.

Tennessee Beginnings

The newest Cracker Barrel opened on October 30 in Reno, Nevada. That is about 2,200 highway miles from the site of the original Cracker Barrel.

The first Cracker Barrel opened in Lebanon, Tennessee, just east of Nashville, in 1969. The company’s headquarters are still located in Lebanon. As the company’s state of origin, Tennessee is home to a whole lot of Cracker Barrels. However, two states now boast more of these country-themed restaurants than the Volunteer State.

On the flip side, there are five states that have no Cracker Barrel restaurants. (There are also no Cracker Barrels in Washington, D.C., or any U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico.) Twenty more states have five or fewer Cracker Barrel locations.

Location-Specific Décor

As you look for Cracker Barrels along your travel route, it is interesting to note that each of the chain’s 665 locations is decorated with authentic American artifacts. Reproductions are strictly forbidden. Not only that, but each location’s décor is unique. The company’s décor team chooses items that reflect the history and culture of the area where the restaurant is located, meaning the décor in the Bakersfield, California Cracker Barrel will be quite different from that of the store in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. In this way, each restaurant also becomes a local museum of sorts. It’s one more pretty neat reason to seek out a Cracker Barrel while traveling.

While many of these antiques are unique to a store’s specific area, there are a few items that are universal. Every Cracker Barrel location features a traffic light over the restrooms, an ox yoke and a horseshoe hanging over the front door, an antique cookstove (usually found in the retail area), a taxidermy deer head hanging above a wood-burning fireplace, and a barrel with a checkerboard in front of that fireplace.

Cracker Barrel has a décor warehouse in Tennessee that is filled with around 90,000 pieces awaiting their permanent home in a future store. There are approximately 700,000 items currently hanging in the company’s restaurants throughout the nation, with each store displaying an average of 1,000 different items.

As you think about your next road trip or family vacation, here are the states (per the company’s website) where you can find a Cracker Barrel that is serving up Momma’s Pancake Breakfast and the chain’s signature Chicken n’ Dumplins.