Why doesn't Long Island have a Cracker Barrel restaurant?

While some Long Islanders may have been yearning for a Cracker Barrel for decades, a local franchise of the homestyle restaurant remains elusive.

Long before a recent rebranding controversy involving the restaurant's logo — which resulted in the company quickly reversing its plans this week — the Tennessee-based restaurant and Old Country Store had not ventured onto Long Island, and plans for local expansion had stalled.

The family homestyle restaurant, specializing in fried chicken and biscuits and gravy, operates nearly 660 locations in 44 states. For Long Islanders, it remains out of reach along with other long-sought restaurants such as Waffle House and In-N-Out Burger.

What were past plans to bring Cracker Barrel to Long Island?

Plans to lure a franchise of the restaurant to places that included Commack and Islandia fizzled in 2018, despite online speculation in recent years for a Long Island expansion.

Rumors swirled at the time that construction companies known for building the famed roadside eateries were eyeing a location on Crooked Hill Road, among other big box stores and fast-casual eateries between the Northern State Parkway and the Long Island Expressway, Newsday previously reported.

The company that had been used to build more than 300 of the restaurants was soliciting bids for electrical and plumbing work for a possible site.

At the time, Cracker Barrel officials demurred, saying they were "always considering opportunities for new locations," but had no plans about opening a new store in Commack.

Virginia developers said months later in 2018 that Cracker Barrel was among prospective bidders in a proposed development near Jake’s 58 Casino in Islandia north of the Long Island Expressway. The restaurant never materialized in an area dotted with a Starbucks and BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Where are the closest Cracker Barrels?

For now, Long Islanders have to venture north and points west to find the closest restaurant.

The closest to Long Island is at least 80 miles away in Milford, Connecticut. Another restaurant is up the Hudson Valley in Fishkill. There are also three locations in New Jersey, including off Interstate 78 and Interstate 80.

The restaurant has been a roadside staple on highways with rest stops, which may make Long Island a difficult site for expansion.

What does Cracker Barrel say?

The possibility of expanding to Long Island or elsewhere in New York is not likely, the restaurant group said.

"At this time, we do not have plans for a new location in New York," Cracker Barrel officials said.

What was Cracker Barrel's sign controversy?

Cracker Barrel has been in the news this week for a recently scrapped rebranding effort that sparked outrage from MAGA conservatives, including President Donald Trump. The restaurant had announced reverting to a 1969 logo that removed its mascot figure, known as Uncle Herschel, depicted leaning against a cracker barrel.

"This fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a callback to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969," the company had said of the new logo.

But the restaurant reversed course Tuesday amid pressure by the president and customers.

"We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our 'Old Timer' will remain," the company said in a statement.

Are there viable locations on Long Island for a Cracker Barrel?

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico, in an email to Newsday, said the town had unsuccessfully tried to "bring Cracker Barrel into the S/E corner of Hawkins and the Long Island Expressway service road as well as the long-vacant former Papa Joseph’s site in Manorville — which is along the most traveled route to the Hamptons."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.