I saw a comment on Facebook earlier today that Cracker Barrel was coming to California. Of course, I had to do a bit of investigation since Cracker Barrel is one of my favorite restaurants.

I did find that in September the Sacramento Business Journal along with several other news sources announced that Sacramento County had a pre-application meeting with Cracker Barrel about a location. I did a search of the Sacramento County business development websites and could not find any further documentation, but maybe posting is just delayed. It could also be that it never made it past the pre-application stage.

The location that was discussed was on Howe Ave in the Arden-Arcade area of Sacramento.

Of course, a Cracker Barrel in Sacramento would be wonderful. I am sure that I could find some reason to go to Sacramento and also a first location in California would open up the possibility of more.

I have talked to Cracker Barrel managers in the past and they always said that the possibility of locations in California are near zero, but perhaps change is in the air.

There are plans for three Cracker Barrel locations in the Portland, Oregon area with the first one opening in Tualatin in spring of 2017. Still more than 600 miles away.

For the last 15 years the closest Cracker Barrel to me has been the one in Kingman, Arizona. However, just this year two locations have opened in Las Vegas. They are just a little but closer, but still more than 500 miles away.

I am a bit skeptical of the news, especially as there has not been any follow-up articles since September. However, I will keep my eye on the news and other sources and if I find out anything more you can be sure that a post will be forthcoming 🙂

Steven