Aug 25, 2022 4 min read

Want a mimosa with your bacon and eggs? Don’t expect to get it anytime soon at the Cracker Barrel in South Strabane Township.

Over the past few years, the restaurant chain has been adding a limited alcohol menu including beer, wine and mimosas. They started testing the change pre-pandemic at restaurants in Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida. The additions proved popular, and the Lebanon, Tenn.-based company has been bringing the expanded menu to more of its locations, including restaurants in Ohio and Michigan.

In Washington County, however, the barrel will remain dry for now after South Strabane’s board of supervisors voted 2-3 to deny the restaurant’s request for a liquor license transfer. At Tuesday’s meeting, Chairman Bob Weber, Russell Grego and Richard Luketich voted against granting the transfer request. Bracken Burns and Mark Murphy voted in favor.

The local Cracker Barrel is located at 1008 Trinity Circle. During a public hearing Tuesday, manager Toby Metzger and Kenneth McDermott, an attorney with Harrisburg law firm Saxton and Stump, asked to have a license transferred from Victory Hill Gun Club in Carroll Township.

McDermott referred questions on whether the company plans to appeal the board’s decision to Cracker Barrel’s general counsel, who did not respond prior to the newspaper’s deadline Wednesday.

“If you’re like me, you’re probably a little surprised to hear that Cracker Barrel is seeking a liquor license, but it was a direct result of feedback that Cracker Barrel received from its customers,” McDermott said.

According to McDermott, Pennsylvania restaurants have lagged behind other states in offering alcohol due to more restrictive liquor laws.

“Cracker Barrel is now focused on Pennsylvania, and we’re starting a process of trying to get at least a handful of stores licensed. This would be one of the first in the state to get a license if we’re approved,” McDermott said.

He stressed to the supervisors that Cracker Barrel would not be building a bar or significantly changing their operation, other than adding a limited selection of alcoholic beverages.

Weber questioned Metzger over whether the restaurant had surveyed South Strabane residents. Metzger replied that the company had surveyed Pennsylvania customers broadly, but he was not privy to any local data.

The sticking point for the supervisors who voted against the license was the perception of Cracker Barrel as a family restaurant.

“We have three: Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans and Eat n’ Park. We consider those family restaurants, and a lot of the older people in the community go to these restaurants. So they come in after church, and you’re going to be serving beer first thing in the morning,” Luketich said. “And you believe people want that?”

Russell Grego, who participated in the meeting via telephone, agreed with Luketich.

“After church with the family and grandkids, you don’t have much to choose from. Cracker Barrel has always been one of our favorites, but if they’re going to be serving beer there I would find another place to go to after church with my family,” Grego said.

McDermott acknowledged that Cracker Barrel has a reputation as a family restaurant, but argued that offering alcohol would not diminish that.

“It wants to offer this as a supplement to its menu, but also be cognizant of the fact that there are people who visit the store who do not appreciate alcohol. Like I said, it’s not going to be a sports bar,” McDermott said.

Luketich responded that he does not see Cracker Barrel as a place to stop and get a beer.

“And you’re probably part of the majority, but there is a demand for it, and Cracker Barrel is just responding to that demand in a sort of minimal way,” McDermott said.