Here's Why You Can't Visit The First Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel is a beloved breakfast and lunch restaurant with over 50 years of history dishing up country fried eggs and fluffy pancakes. Whether you're visiting for the iconic rocking chairs, the wacky selection of retro candies in the Old Country Store, or the tabletop board games, Cracker Barrel has a little bit of something for everyone. Over half a century of leading the charge for homestyle cooking, Cracker Barrel is currently sitting at an impressive 657 locations across 43 states, but out of all of those locations, the one that you won't be able to visit is the very first.

The original Cracker Barrel building was lifted from its foundation and hauled to Fiddlers Grove Historical Village in 2019, where it will most likely become a museum or find purpose in other "meaningful" ways, according to an official statement from the company. The original location, which leased the property it lived on, shut its doors in the early 1980s and sat untouched for decades, withering away until the entire structure became unstable. The unused property was put up for auction and ended up in the hands of Sami and Lina Arnouk in 2011. Luckily, the new owners understood that they were standing in the presence of something remarkable and decided that although remodeling and reopening the store wasn't "cost-effective," it shouldn't necessarily be destroyed.

In 1969, the original Cracker Barrel Old Country Store opened in Lebanon, Tennessee under the genius of Dan W. Evins, the restaurant's creator. The idea began as a way for Evins, a sales representative for Shell Oil Company, to draw customers for a quick refuel, the location prominent off of Interstate 40. At first, the store only sold a few Southern comfort foods, biscuits and gravy included, but pretty soon the business took off and Evins expanded not only the offerings and decor of his stores but the locations, too. By 1977 there were 13 locations across the South and by the early '80s another location opened in Lebanon. The original location shut its doors that same year, but the concept lived on.

The original Cracker Barrel store was mercifully preserved, but the new owners in Tennessee have other plans for the actual property, including an expansive retail center with four spaces for new businesses. Not long after the building was moved to Fiddlers Grove, Cracker Barrel stayed true to its word and used small pieces of reclaimed wood for its 2019 Annual Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade float, recreating a miniature replica of a real store with pieces of the building that started it all. You may not be able to dine at the original location, but maybe one day you'll be able to say you've visited the world's only Cracker Barrel Museum. If you're looking for a Cracker Barrel you can visit, try visiting the state with the highest number of Cracker Barrel locations.