I wouldn’t call myself a Cracker Barrel “regular.” We don’t even have one in Beaufort. I think there’s one in Okatie, but that’s a bit of a haul for some mediocre biscuits and gravy.

Nevertheless, the Cracker Barrel has a semi-special place in my heart thanks to its longstanding role in Evans Family Tradition.

Every Christmas season for as long as I can remember, Jeff and I – and later, Amelia –  have begun our day-long drive from Beaufort to my mom’s in Decatur, Ala, with a stop at the Cracker Barrel in Pooler, Ga.

In the early days, it was all about gathering listening materials for the road. Before there was Audible – or podcasts – there were Books on Tape, and Cracker Barrel had a decent selection. You could buy a “book” at one Cracker Barrel, listen to it on the road, then return it to another Cracker Barrel – any Cracker Barrel, anywhere! – and get all but a dollar of your money back. What a deal.

For road-reading, we were particularly fond of Sue Grafton’s alphabet series – A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, C is for Corpse, etc. etc. The chapters were short, the mysteries were twisty, and the writing was snappy. Nothing too philosophical or literary. (Best not to try “deep listening” on long road trips with family members who are likely to mock your lofty aspirations while demanding multiple pit stops, thus taking you out the “zone.”)

At some point, we stopped getting audio books, but we didn’t stop stopping at the Cracker Barrel. Because stopping at the Cracker Barrel was, by now, our Christmas Tradition. Sometimes we’d pick up last-minute gifts for my nieces or brothers-in-law. Often, Jeff would buy a stash of pralines. (My husband has purchased pralines in at least 23 states and several foreign countries. He’s a connoisseur.) But even if there was nothing we needed, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for its Christmasy vibe.

The cheesy ornaments. The cheap figurines. The sappy music. The festive sweaters. The sheer, unadulterated holiday hokiness!

And the clean bathrooms, even on the busiest travel days of the year? Talk about your Christmas miracle!  I’m welling up a little just thinking about it…

I’m referring to the “Old Country Store,” of course. I’m less sentimental about the Restaurant side of the Cracker Barrel. We’ve had dinner there a few times, on the way back from Alabama – road-weary and forlorn, with Christmas now behind us. Maybe it was my exhaustion or general bedraggled-ness, but the “magic” just wasn’t there for me on the flip side of Christmas. And while the food was fine, it wasn’t more than fine. I do remember having a tasty breakfast at a Cracker Barrel near Columbia once, but again, it’s the Old Country Store that wormed its way into my heart.

So I have followed with interest the drama unfolding around Cracker Barrel ever since the company announced that some of its stores would be getting a new look.

According to Southern Living, “the Tennessee-based restaurant chain beloved for its Southern-style cooking and charmingly cluttered interiors started implementing a rebrand last year. Cracker Barrel executives told The Wall Street Journal in May that they believe giving a physical makeover to certain locations will help boost sales, attract new customers, and hopefully keep the 56-year-old business afloat through economic fluctuations.”

Now look, I know what it’s like to be 56 years old and in need of a makeover, but much like my dear family love me “just the way I am” – or so they tell me – it seems some Cracker Barrel enthusiasts were not eager for change nor thrilled when it happened.

“As Cracker Barrel locations across the country begin unveiling their simpler aesthetics, diners have been sharing their new looks on social media,” says Southern Living. “The response has been mixed, with fans of the kitschy, old-fashioned decor mourning the loss of Cracker Barrel’s charming sense of nostalgia.”

And just last week, the company lost almost $100 million in value when its stock plunged after it introduced a new logo. Still gold and brown, like the old logo, the new version is cleaner, less fussy, and – most significantly – has dropped the image of a man leaning on a barrel.

According to the Cracker Barrel website, the man and barrel in the old logo represented “the old country store experience where folks would gather around and share stories.”

In a statement to CBS News, Cracker Barrel said that the man portrayed in the logo, known as “Uncle Herschel,” will remain “front and center in our restaurants and on our menu.”

“Our values haven’t changed, and the heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t changed,” the company assured CBS.

But this is the year 2025, so the conversation didn’t stop there. Of course it didn’t. The new logo – while shaped like a barrel – became a political football.

Popular right-wing X accounts ganged up against Cracker Barrel, including End Wokeness, an account with nearly 4 million followers, which posted, “Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino should face charges for this crime against humanity.” The post had garnered over 50,000 likes as of this writing.

Country singer John Rich, an outspoken Trump supporter, posted, “Will you go to Cracker Barrel now that it’s going woke? This could be a ‘Bud Light’ moment in the making,” referencing the 2023 conservative-led boycott against beer company Bud Light after it briefly collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson, who has 5.5 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a video claiming Cracker Barrel had gone “woke,” slamming CEO Masino as an “insufferable left-wing elitist” and calling the company’s makeover the “destruction of a great American brand.”

A friend of mine on Facebook asked: “Can someone explain how removing an old geezer from a logo makes it ‘woke’”?

Good question. And it occurred to me that in a truly “woke” nation, “old geezer” would not be acceptable language. I also had this VERY un-woke thought, which I added to the comment section: “I guess it feels like they’re removing the cracker from Cracker Barrel.”

(Hey, as a white woman from the Deep South, I imagine I’m considered a “cracker” in certain circles, so I think I’m allowed to “reclaim” the word, right? Isn’t that how it works?)

As for me, I like the pictures I’ve seen of the refreshed, refurbished Cracker Barrel, and the clean new logo pleases my aesthetic sensibilities. But I’ll have to wait ‘til Christmas to form a truly educated opinion. I’m fond of this company – it’s been good to my family – so I hope it hasn’t changed too much.

And I really hope they still sell pralines.