Cracker Barrel Closes 20% of Its Once-Promising Biscuit Restaurant Locations In One Fell Swoop

Cracker Barrel is certainly known for its delicious, country-style biscuits.

But it’s had to throw in the towel on bit of its biscuit empire.

Back in 2019, Cracker Barrel bought the Maple Street Biscuit Company, a promising restaurant chain out of Jacksonville, Florida that’s mostly in Florida and the Southeast.

Think biscuit sandwiches like the Squawking Goat (fried chicken, crispy goat cheese, pepper jelly), which was featured on Food Network as well as bowls, waffles, and craft coffee.

What’s not to like?

Well, there is one thing…the financials of many of the locations.

Cracker Barrel told investors during its recent Q4 conference call that it’s closing 14 of its Maple Street Biscuit locations.

14 locations isn’t a lot for a chain like Cracker Barrel with hundreds of locations, but Maple Street only had 68 locations as of August 1.

Since then, it’s already closed those 14 locations.

Restaurant chains close poor-performing locations all the time, but closing 20% of your locations pretty much all at once is pretty drastic.

That doesn’t bode too well for the health of Maple Street’s business or its future. Maybe they picked correctly and the chain can thrive after pruning its worst-performing locations. But maybe it’s just the first shoe to drop.

In any case, Cracker Barrel’s management team hasn’t been on a winning streak after its debacle in trying to refresh its stores and get rid of its “Old Timer” logo.

The backlash from many corners led to a quick about-face. As its CEO Julie Masino told it, “We thank our guests for sharing their voices and their passion for Cracker Barrel in recent weeks, and we’ve listened, switching back to our “Old Timer” logo, hitting pause on remodels, and placing an even bigger emphasis in the kitchen and other areas that enhance the guest experience.”

We’ll be monitoring how it goes for Cracker Barrel overall and for the remaining 54 Maple Street Biscuit Company locations.

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