 Cracker Barrel was founded in 1969 by Dan Evins, a sales representative for Shell Oil, who developed the restaurant and gift store concept initially as a plan to improve gasoline sales. Designed to resemble the traditional country store that he remembered from his childhood, with a name chosen to give it a Southern country theme, Cracker Barrel was intended to attract the interest of highway travelers. The first restaurant was built close to Interstate 40, in Lebanon, Tennessee. It opened in September 1969, serving Southern cuisine including biscuits, grits, country ham, and turnip greens.
