Cracker Barrel, Southern restaurant chain in Memphis, United States
Cracker Barrel is a Southern-style American restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, part of a large chain found across the country. The building includes a covered front porch with rocking chairs and an attached country store selling candy, gifts, and regional goods alongside the dining room.
Dan Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee, combining a gas station with a restaurant to serve travelers on the highway. Over time the gas station side was dropped, and the chain grew to hundreds of locations across the United States.
The rocking chairs lined up on the front porch are a familiar sight at every Cracker Barrel, and many guests sit outside before or after eating. Inside, old tools, tin signs, and black-and-white photographs cover the walls, giving a sense of rural Southern life as it looked decades ago.
The restaurant has its own parking area, making it easy to reach by car. Weekends and holidays tend to bring longer waits, so coming earlier in the day is a good idea if you want to avoid a queue.
Every table has a small wooden peg game where the goal is to jump pegs over each other until only one remains. The board itself labels players by how many pegs are left, calling someone who finishes with just one peg an "eg-no-ra-moose" in reverse, meaning very smart.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
