The founder of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store chain, Dan Evins, has died at age 76.
The company said Monday that Evins, known to friends and family as “Danny”, died Saturday in Lebanon, Tenn. No cause of death was given.
Evins opened his first restaurant in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee. The restaurant catered to highway travelers and focused on offering Southern hospitality, country-style cooking and a famous gift shop that caused the chain of restaurants to become extremely popular, often with long wait times.
Evins patterns the restaurant theme after the country stores of his youth in rural Tennessee and used a number of family recipes. The restaurant was named after the practice of customers gathering at country stores to share news and play checkers on top of an empty barrel that had been used to deliver crackers to the store.
Evins helped build the chain into a national brand as CEO from 1969 to 2001 and chairman until he retired in 2004. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. now operates more than 600 restaurants in 42 states.
Survivors include his five children. A private funeral service was being planned.
