Cracker Barrel Opens Holiday Season Oct. 20 With Country Fried Turkey Sandwich

Cracker Barrel's holiday menu lands Oct. 20, led by a new country fried turkey sandwich and cinnamon swirl pancakes. The chain runs the lineup through the holiday season across its family-dining restaurants, leaning on the November-December traffic surge that executives have called their Super Bowl.

The Lebanon, Tennessee-based operator, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, treats the holidays as its highest-stakes trading window, particularly for Thanksgiving catering. This year's release follows the pattern of recent seasons: extend proven seasonal items into new formats and price the catering tiers for family gatherings.

What is new on the menu?

The new items are format extensions of existing performers, not new platforms:

• Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes (new): buttermilk pancakes with cinnamon filling, sweet cream cheese icing, two eggs and a choice of bacon or sausage. It converts the popular Cinnamon Swirl French Toast into a pancake build.
• Country Fried Turkey Sandwich (new): crispy turkey tenderloin, gravy and cranberry relish on a toasted bun. It is a sandwich version of the seasonal Country Fried Turkey plate.
• Cinnamon Swirl Latte (new): hot or iced, topped with whipped cream, icing drizzle and cinnamon.

The returning roster includes the Country Fried Turkey plate, Cinnamon Swirl French Toast Breakfast and the Rich DIY Hot Chocolate with mix-and-match toppings. The strategy is straightforward menu engineering: a limited set of seasonal ingredients — cinnamon, turkey, cranberry — reused across dayparts and price points to protect margins during a period when the chain expects peak traffic.

What does catering cost this year?

Pre-orders for Thanksgiving Heat & Serve meals are open now through the website and app, with pickup Nov. 21-29. Two tiers anchor the offer:

• Turkey Family Dinner, about $119.99: one oven-roasted turkey breast, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, sweet rolls; feeds 4-6.
• Turkey Family Feast, about $189.99: two turkey breasts plus mashed potatoes and both pumpkin and pecan pies; feeds 8-10.

Holiday pies — pumpkin, pecan, chocolate pecan and cinnamon roll — sell for add-on or individual purchase at about $14.49. The pie add-on is a straightforward check-builder on a catering base that already exceeds $100 per order.

Who is the campaign aimed at?

The lineup arrives under the "Get Your Season's Worth" campaign, which markets the chain for everyday family occasions across the season rather than only the major holidays. CMO Sarah Moore framed the pitch in a statement: "A breakfast that turns into a tradition. A family dinner where everyone can finally get together. A holiday meal where you get to enjoy the company instead of spending the day in the kitchen."

Moore added: "We're bringing the food, traditions and country hospitality that make those moments special to the table all season long."

The messaging targets the off-peak days between holidays, where family-dining chains fight for traffic in a year when consumers have broadly pulled back on restaurant spending. Cracker Barrel is betting that seasonal menu equity and a $120-plus catering basket can carry the quarter.