Cracker Barrel is selling the Maple Street Biscuit Company brand and 35 restaurants to Biscuit Berry LLC and closing 16 of the fast-casual breakfast chain.
The move comes less than a year after Cracker Barrel closed its 14 Maple Street stores in September 2025 for “simply failing to meet financial expectations,” the company told USA TODAY in a statement at the time, thanking customers for their continued patronage.
Cracker Barrel acquired Maple Street Biscuit Company in 2019 for $36 million. This breakfast chain was founded in Jacksonville, Florida in 2012 and offers a variety of biscuits and other breakfast foods. At the time of acquisition, Maple Street had 28 company-owned stores and five franchised stores in seven states.
In a separate move, Cracker Barrel also entered into a sale-leaseback agreement that includes 26 company-owned stores. In other words, Cracker Barrel sold the location to an investor and immediately leased it back. Cracker Barrel said the transactions will result in approximately $77 million in net proceeds.
Biscuit Belly plans to expand to over 60 stores by the end of 2028
Biscuit Berry said in a news release that the acquisition of Maple Street Biscuit Company’s 35 stores will “accelerate the company’s expansion throughout the Southeast, bringing the number of Biscuit Berry stores to more than 60 by the end of 2028.”
Biscuit Berry will convert Maple Street Biscuit Company stores to the Berry Biscuit brand over the next 18 to 24 months, according to a news release. The conversion will begin immediately in the Greater Cincinnati and Richmond, Virginia areas.
“Acquiring an iconic brand like Maple Street, one of the original gourmet biscuit sandwich concepts, was not on my 2026 bingo card,” Biscuit Berry co-founder and CEO Chad Coulter said in a news release. “Two of the biggest headwinds that growing brands face are the time required to find and build a location and the difficulty of finding a good team. When we looked at Maple Street’s geography, footprint, and established team, a light bulb went off.”
Biscuit Berry opened its first store in 2019 and has grown to 15 stores in the Southeast, according to the company.
Gabe Hauari is USA TODAY’s national trends news reporter. You can follow him at X @gabehauari Or email Gdhauari@usatoday.com.
