Cracker Barrel selling alcohol for first time in some Florida restaurants

20 Florida restaurants being used as test market for alcohol sales

A Cracker Barrel Old Country Store sign is visible atop one of its restaurant stores April 12, 2002 in Naperville, IL. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Move over biscuits and gravy, there are mimosas to be had.

As Cracker Barrel reopens its dining rooms, the restaurant is looking to make some pretty big changes which it had planned prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The restaurant chain announced it was testing an alcohol menu, including beer, wine, hard ciders and orange and strawberry mimosas, at 20 of its Florida restaurants, according to Restaurant Business.

"It was surprising to me how popular [the mimosas] are," CEO Sandy Cochran told Restaurant Business.

In addition to alcohol sales, Cracker Barrel said it’s reducing its menu and developing a digital store offering food and retail items, Restaurant Business reported.

“Investing in Cracker Barrel will remain a capital allocation priority,” Chief Financial Officer Jill Golder said in an interview. “Although we are focused on cash conservation in the near term, we will be making prudent investments in our menu evolution initiative, our beer and wine program, our digital strategy and our point-of-sale system.”

With social distancing restrictions in place for the foreseeable future, Cracker Barrel has rolled out a smaller menu offering to “better highlight our signature offerings and abundance, value and variety,” Cochran said.

Restaurant Business also reported Cracker Barrell plans to open 15 of its smaller sister chain restaurants called Maple Street Biscuit Co.


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