Back in the Hometown
For generations America has been served a homespun, aw-shucks image of the South by one of its most popular restaurants, Cracker Barrel.
From its logo of a good ol’ boy in overalls to its variety of antiques hanging from the rafters to its rocking chairs and checkerboard games on the front porch, Cracker Barrel rolls out a welcome mat that feels like coming home to great-grandpa and ‘ma. Old portraits of somebody’s great-grandparents on the walls fuel the nostalgia.
But perhaps Cracker Barrel, which came out of Tennessee more than 50 years ago, has been offering an incomplete picture of the South. Maybe that’s why the 663-store restaurant chain with a store in Jonesville has started offering alcoholic beverages.
After all, how do you think Southerners got to be such lively and happy folks? It’s not because of their baked apples at breakfast.
The new Cracker Barrel booze offers some intriguing possibilities. Should you pair white or red wine with your hashbrown casserole? A Cabernet Sauvignon with country fried steak? A mimosa with momma’s pancake breakfast?
Picture a young fellow wanting to impress his date. After an evening stroll through the Cracker Barrel gift shop, perhaps picking up a giant jawbreaker or Hershey bar while seeking to impress, the young man may escort the young lady into the restaurant and deftly play the peg game with plastic golf tees, earning in front of his date the genius prize by having just one peg left.
Next he may adroitly pair a Sutter Home Chardonnay with a couple of plates of chicken n’ dumplins.
Business people now may have Southern-style lunch with their associates from Europe, where drinking on the job is expected. For your associates from Britain, just say that the Southern biscuits are big, fluffy crumpets.
There is no Cracker Barrel in Wilkes County, and that’s a shame because there would be one and one drink only to serve there. I wonder how Junior Johnson or Call Family moonshine would go with the chicken pot pie? For those who say Cracker Barrel food is too bland – salty but not enough pepper and certainly not a jalapeno in sight – some ‘shine could certainly spice up a meal.
And with Cracker Barrel’s expertise in rounding up antiques, certainly some of Granny Clampett’s jugs with XXX hand-painted on the side could be rounded up to serve some of Wilkes County’s finest. “Is this ‘shine from a legal distillery?” a customer may ask. “Oh, of course,” the waitress with the thick drawl may reply. Wink. Wink.
Junior’s no longer with us, but perhaps Stone Mountain State Park could at least loan Cracker Barrel its Johnson replica still. That’s an antique that would REALLY impress.
The restaurant chain started serving Cracker Barrel booze in test locations last summer while seeking to recover some of its business lost due to the pandemic. They say that they’ll have alcohol in all stores by the end of the year.
There’s no word on whether they’re going to add a jug or a copper tube to the logo’s barrel.
“What’s better than champagne and fried chicken?” Cracker Barrel vice president of culinary and menu strategy Cammie Spillyards-Schaefer told FSR, a restaurant trade magazine. The addition of alcohol was part of a broader menu revamp that included a 24-ounce ham steak (I could only eat half of one at Easter) and, on the kids menu, a milk straw with cookies and cream flavor beads. Meatloaf sliders are being tested, the magazine said.
Orange and strawberry mimosas, especially suitable with breakfast dishes, have been the favorite drinks at Cracker Barrel so far, the magazine said.
So it’s time for an update of our down-home, Southern, country image. After all, Mountain Dew is more than just a charged citrus soda pop. And, truth be told, Southern folks keep more in that old barrel than just cheese and crackers.