Cracker Barrel may not be introducing a new logo following MAGA backlash, but the southern food chain is launching several new menu items as it undergoes a rebrand.
The restaurant chain has walked back on its plans to swap out its logo — to remove the one with “Uncle Herschel” in overalls leaning against a barrel and replace it with something more plain — after a barrage of backlash from conservatives, who accused the company of “going woke.”
Now, the company has turned to revamping its menu. The “New For Fall” menu features 13 dishes, some that are returning by popular demand and others that are brand new.
Uncle Herschel’s Favorite is among the items coming back. It offers two eggs, a breakfast meat, two sides and biscuits and gravy.
The restaurant chain, for the first time, is offering the Butter Pecan French Toast Bake, a “thick-cut country bread soaked in vanilla custard with cheesecake filling, baked ‘til golden and topped with praline pecan streusel.”
New items also include the Sausage and Egg Hashbrown Casserole, which features a “double portion of our signature hashbrown casserole” layered with Colby cheese, sawmill gravy, scrambled eggs and “a blend of crumbled smoked sausage, onions, red peppers and green chiles.” It’s served with fried onions, diced tomatoes and green onions on top.
Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino announced last year that the company planned to rebrand to become more “relevant” after a post-pandemic slump.
Part of that plan included revamping the logo. The restaurant chain announced that it would be exchanging the “Uncle Herschel” logo for a text-only logo, “which is now rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all,” the company said in an August 18 press release.
The decision ignited MAGA world.
Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson called the new logo “absolutely horrible.” Florida Congressman Byron Donalds posted on X that“no one asked for this woke rebrand.” Donald Trump Jr., the president’ eldest son, then added his two cents, wondering on X: “WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!”
For more than a week, pressure on the company to change course mounted. On August 21, three days after the company’s press release, Cracker Barrel’s stock plummeted, losing $94 million in value during one day.
Even President Donald Trump weighed in on the controversy. The president suggested Cracker Barrel “go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before,” he wrote on Truth Social.
That same day, the official White House X account chimed in, writing: “Go woke, go broke.”
Hours after Trump’s Truth Social post, the company announced it wouldn’t go through with the logo change.
“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,” Cracker Barrel said in a statement on X on Tuesday evening. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain. At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been – and always will be – about serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that feels like family.”
Following Cracker Barrel’s reversal, Trump congratulated the restaurant chain on its decision, writing on Truth Social: “All of your fans very much appreciate it. Good luck into the future. Make lots of money and, most importantly, make your customers happy again!”
