{"id":172050,"date":"2025-08-24T15:50:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/172050\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T15:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:50:16","slug":"restaurant-slammed-for-depressing-rebrand-as-cracker-barrel-continues-to-take-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/172050\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant slammed for &#8216;depressing&#8217; rebrand as Cracker Barrel continues to take heat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Rachel Love just wants to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/topic\/cracker-barrel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cracker Barrel<\/a> great again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">The 38-year-old Tennessee resident and self-proclaimed Cracker Barrel loyalist first caught <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/food-drink\/food\/restaurants\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the restaurant<\/a> chain&#8217;s attention after she strolled into an Old Country Store location in April and noticed things were different.<\/p>\n<p>The place was brighter, the antiquities were missing from the walls \u2014 and the peg games were gone, she told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/cracker-barrel-dismisses-critics-vocal-minority-while-rival-restaurant-backlash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CRACKER BARREL DISMISSES CRITICS AS &#8216;VOCAL MINORITY&#8217; WHILE RIVAL RESTAURANT ADDS TO BACKLASH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Love shared a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/lifestyle\/viral-videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TikTok video<\/a> of the restaurant&#8217;s new look, along with a caption that read, &#8220;When Cracker Barrel took away the last piece of nostalgia you had left.&#8221; Her post quickly went viral.<\/p>\n<p>Love&#8217;s video created such a buzz that Cracker Barrel sent her a gift basket.<\/p>\n<p>It turns out her sentiments about an early test concept for the restaurant were shared by other Cracker Barrel lovers as well.<\/p>\n<p>Many have taken to social media in recent days to vent their displeasure with the wider rollout and rebrand, which includes a new text-only logo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel like they ruined a good thing,&#8221; Love told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/cracker-barrel-faces-customer-criticism-after-ditching-iconic-48-year-old-logo-new-design\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CRACKER BARREL FACES CUSTOMER CRITICISM AFTER DITCHING ICONIC 48-YEAR-OLD LOGO FOR NEW DESIGN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sarah Moore, Cracker Barrel&#8217;s chief marketing officer, told Fox News Digital in May that the classic peg games, rocking chairs and the &#8220;things you love about us&#8221; would remain.<\/p>\n<p>Love said she heard the same thing from Cracker Barrel&#8217;s TikTok account, which replied to one of her videos.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While a few things may look different, we&#8217;re not changing who we are \u2026 just shining things up a bit,&#8221; Cracker Barrel commented.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/cracker-barrel-unveils-new-simplified-logo-our-story-hasnt-changed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CRACKER BARREL UNVEILS NEW SIMPLIFIED LOGO: &#8216;OUR STORY HASN&#8217;T CHANGED&#8217;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The reply has since been removed, Love said.<\/p>\n<p>She believes the company&#8217;s social media folks deleted the comment because &#8220;they realized they were feeding us a line.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rachel-love-split-letter-from-cracker-barrel.jpg\" alt=\"Rachel Love, who received a letter, right, with a gift package from Cracker Barrel, speaks to Fox News Digital.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Rachel Love shows off the note she received in a Cracker Barrel gift basket. (Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n<p>Using a gift card she received in her gift basket, Love returned to the Cracker Barrel in June with her parents and son.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It just didn&#8217;t feel like Cracker Barrel anymore,&#8221; she recalled. &#8220;It felt more like any other big chain restaurant \u2013 polished and manufactured but lacking soul.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote\">\n<p class=\"quote-text\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a business degree, but I have common sense.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Love also believes that &#8220;the quality of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/food-drink\/food\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the food<\/a> has gone downhill significantly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/cracker-barrel-executive-insists-restaurant-remodels-what-guests-asked-for\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CRACKER BARREL EXECUTIVE INSISTS RESTAURANT REMODELS ARE &#8216;WHAT THE GUESTS ASKED FOR&#8217;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She said, &#8220;I was honestly shocked by the biscuits. They weren&#8217;t the soft, buttery biscuits I remember. They resembled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/food-drink\/recipes\/meals\/dinner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dinner rolls<\/a> that were hard and flat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/food-drink\/recipes\/meals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;go-to&#8221; meal<\/a> is the meatloaf dinner with mac and cheese, green beans and mashed potatoes.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cracker-barrel-biscuits-split-meatloaf-meal.jpg\" alt=\"Cracker Barrel's biscuits, left, and meatloaf meal are pictured at one of the remodeled restaurants.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A Cracker Barrel loyalist claims the quality of Cracker Barrel&#8217;s food has declined. &#8220;The mashed potatoes had an odd consistency.&#8221; (Rachel Love)<\/p>\n<p>Love was complimentary of the meatloaf and the mac and cheese \u2014 but said the &#8220;green beans still tasted like they were straight from a can, only heated for a few minutes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She added that &#8220;the mashed potatoes had an odd consistency \u2013 dry, lumpy and sticky, as if half of them wouldn&#8217;t even come off the serving spoon.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/cracker-barrel-fans-viral-tiktok-sparks-backlash-restaurant-makeover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CRACKER BARREL FAN&#8217;S VIRAL TIKTOK SPARKS BACKLASH OVER RESTAURANT MAKEOVER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She said Cracker Barrel executives might be better off focusing on the food than changing the restaurant&#8217;s look and feel.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For a restaurant known for its nostalgia, it&#8217;s like, what sets you apart from everybody else now?&#8221; Love said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cracker-barrel-customers-eat-with-antiquities-on-wall.jpg\" alt=\"Cracker Barrel Old Country Store customers eat inside a restaurant with antiquities on the wall.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>The nostalgia that customers love about Cracker Barrel is missing in its newly remodeled restaurants, many are claiming on social media. (Jeffrey Greenberg\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Another social media video posted by @CoachDuggs earlier this month that shows the interior of a remodeled Cracker Barrel also went viral.<\/p>\n<p>The caption reads, &#8220;At a remodeled Cracker Barrel. I hate it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/cracker-barrel-customers-hate-restaurant-chains-new-look-viral-social-media-videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CRACKER BARREL CUSTOMERS &#8216;HATE&#8217; RESTAURANT CHAIN&#8217;S NEW LOOK IN VIRAL SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEOS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Duggs, a 37-year-old Florida resident who asked not to be identified by his real name, told Fox News Digital the classic look made him feel like &#8220;you were about to sit down for an actual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/food-drink\/recipes\/cuisines\/southern\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">home-cooked meal<\/a> from someone&#8217;s southern grandma.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The aesthetics matched the food,&#8221; Duggs said.<\/p>\n<p>Now, he said, it feels &#8220;like we&#8217;re in a kind of warehouse where they&#8217;ve hung knickknacks on the wall.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cracker-barrel-interior-deer-head-repositioned.jpg\" alt=\"A deer head hangs inside a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurant.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A Cracker Barrel customer said the restaurant&#8217;s classic look made it feel like &#8220;you were about to sit down for an actual home-cooked meal from someone&#8217;s southern grandma.&#8221; Now, things are different, he said. (Luke Sharrett\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just \u2014 it&#8217;s not the same.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Love described the remodeled restaurant as &#8220;sterile&#8221; and &#8220;depressing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters?cmpid=fnfirstnl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A Cracker Barrel spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement that the response to the remodeled locations &#8220;has been overwhelmingly positive&#8221; and that the changes &#8220;were informed by direct input from our guests and team members alike.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cracker Barrel added that &#8220;there may be a vocal minority who feel differently.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cracker-barrel-interior-remodel-split.jpg\" alt=\"A Cracker Barrel appears more illuminated and has different decor on the walls after a remodel.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Cracker Barrel claims that &#8220;a vocal minority&#8221; are objecting to the changes. (Rachel Love)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;However, the strong performance of these locations affirms that we are moving in the right direction,&#8221; the statement continued in part.<\/p>\n<p>Fox News Digital also reached out about Love&#8217;s latest comments but did not immediately hear back from the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Duggs said he&#8217;s not &#8220;inclined to go back to a Cracker Barrel&#8221; unless it&#8217;s the old model.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote\">\n<p class=\"quote-text\">&#8220;Do not do this to any more stores, or you&#8217;re going to tank this company.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to question whether or not, you know \u2014 is this Cracker Barrel remodeled?&#8221; he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>For more Lifestyle articles, visit <\/strong><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Am I going to be going to the Cracker Barrel that I know and love, or am I going to be setting myself up for disappointment?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Love said the only &#8220;saving grace&#8221; for Cracker Barrel is to preserve the locations that haven&#8217;t been touched yet.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cracker-barrel-waiter-at-table.jpg\" alt=\"A Cracker Barrel Old Country Store waiter holds a plate near a table inside the restaurant.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A Cracker Barrel customer (not pictured) said he will not go to a remodeled restaurant. Instead, he strongly prefers the classic look.\u00a0 (Eric Reed\/AP Images for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Do not do this to any more stores, or you&#8217;re going to tank this company,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a business degree, but I have common sense, and I can see what people in the world are saying.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Peter Burke is a lifestyle editor with Fox News Digital. He covers various lifestyle topics, with an emphasis on food and drink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Rachel Love just wants to make Cracker Barrel great again.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":172051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[6329,94505,171,990,8364,1165,988,173,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-172050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-breakfast","9":"tag-cracker-barrel","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-food","12":"tag-food-drink","13":"tag-lifestyle","14":"tag-restaurants","15":"tag-tv","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115084541453242051","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}