The Original Cracker Barrel Drinks Menu Was A Fraction Of What It Is Today

When a restaurant has been around as long as Cracker Barrel has, it's natural for the menu to change over the years. Cracker Barrel, while not known for radically altering its lineup, has changed its menu somewhat since 1969, when it began operations. It should come as no surprise, then, that the chain's drinks have changed as part of that.

When Cracker Barrel first opened, its drinks menu seems to have been somewhat less expansive than it is today. As seen on the original menu: Orange, grapefruit, "'mator" (presumably a countrified way of saying "tomato"), and "outhouse prune" juices were offered at 25 cents a glass (roughly $2.07 a glass today). For sodas, customers had the choice of cola, Tab, Sprite, and orange pop for either 15 or 25 cents. Coffee and tea were also offered for 15 cents alongside "cow juice" (slang for milk) and buttermilk, both for 25 cents. Shakes were available at 30 or 50 cents (the handwriting is hard to decipher), though no flavors were listed. Although not exactly a wide variety, it still was an impressive selection for customers at the time to choose from. 

How does Cracker Barrel's original drinks menu hold up today? What exactly do we mean when we say it was a fraction of what the offerings are now? And are there any beverages Cracker Barrel no longer offers — or are there some drinks that remain an integral part of the old country store's modern lineup?

It wouldn't be fair to say Cracker Barrel's original menu was bad just because it was small. Cracker Barrel was still in its infancy at the time and simply didn't have the same amount of resources and market it enjoys today. But one cannot deny the modern menu has come a long way from its humble beginnings all the way back in the '60s.

While Cracker Barrel still offers staples like cola, it now offers a selection of various other flavored sodas like Mello Yello and root beer. The coffee selection has also greatly expanded, giving customers not just a choice of java or tea but also a variety of lattes, espresso, and hot chocolate. Customers can additionally pick their choice of lemonade, which comes in varieties like original, watermelon, peach, iced tea, or Southern Half N' Half (a combination of iced tea and lemonade). In some places, Cracker Barrel offers a small selection of beer and wine available for purchase, too.

With all of these new additions, however, Cracker Barrel has discontinued certain items, as well. For example, prune juice and buttermilk are no longer options, having been retired likely to make room for modern drinks. Milkshakes are also technically not on the menu but — should you ask your server – you may be able to get your hands on an authentic Cracker Barrel shake (the secret menu item you'll want to try this summer).

Of course, Cracker Barrel's drinks menu isn't the only thing that's changed over the course of the chain's long life. Cracker Barrel's original menu does contain many food staples that remain popular today. Griddle cakes (now just called pancakes), biscuits, burgers, and country ham, for example, are all menu items still available today — albeit at a higher price than what you would've paid back in '69. But there are some menu items that, unfortunately, are no longer available.

Some of the things you can no longer find at your local Cracker Barrel include "lonies and crackers" (or bologna and crackers), a bowl of beans in a ham hock, and red-eye gravy – the discontinued Cracker Barrel gravy we aren't getting back any time soon. There are many more items that have been discontinued in Cracker Barrel's history, but such a list would be far too exhaustive to include here. Still, these items represent how far the chain has come over the years, changing to better meet consumer demand while still maintaining its theme of being an old country restaurant.

Cracker Barrel's menu, always changing, is sure to introduce and discontinue more items in the future. Who knows? Maybe one item it'll bring back will be an old classic like lonies and crackers with a big, cold glass of buttermilk.