Cracker Barrel axes New Year’s tradition leaving customers fuming

Backlash from the company’s disastrous 2025 rebrand attempt continues to reverberate

It may be a new calendar year, but Cracker Barrel’s issues continue to mount.

After a 2025 filled with backlash over a logo change, restaurant redesign and menu overhaul, the chain has also reportedly ditched one of its famous Southern comfort foods traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day: black-eyed peas.

In the South, black-eyed peas have typically been served on the first day of the year to bring good luck in the months ahead. They can usually be found on a plate beside greens, cornbread, and pork.

But now, Cracker Barrel has quietly axed the offering, according to a Fox News report. It’s unclear exactly when the offering was discontinued, but the outlet reported that the restaurant chain has stopped publicizing a previous New Year’s Day promotion of free black-eyed peas for customers.

The Independent has contacted Cracker Barrel for comment.

Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino has explained why the southern-themed restaurant chain tried and failed to successfully redesign its signature logo (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Customers have not taken kindly to the news, with many chalking the change up to Cracker Barrel’s recent onslaught of missteps.

“One of many reasons Cracker Barrel is failing,” someone wrote on X, while another said, “Never going to CB again. You are literally at war with your own customer base. Stop your woke BS.”

“Oh, come on Cracker Barrel-stop killing ur company. Everyone wants good luck and u can’t serve the peas for a tradition?” a third chimed in.

“Now I find out Cracker Barrel no longer serves Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day. The woman at the head of this thing needs to be fired. She’s done nothing but causes problems since she took over by the way lady if you’re reading this your insights don’t work,” someone else wrote.

The anger at the brand continues after Cracker Barrel’s disastrous rebrand attempt in August.

The company’s new logo has been seen on menus (Getty Images)

Influencers and MAGA Republicans branded the firm’s decision to ditch Uncle Herschel on the Cracker Barrel logo as “woke,” with thousands of online memes tearing into the company’s new look being posted after the news of the change broke.

The changes would also have included a simpler font in the logo, as well as stripped-back, minimalist decor in Cracker Barrel restaurants. Typically, the company’s locations are decorated in a rustic Southern style that alludes to its Tennessean heritage.

The backlash to the change was so extreme that the company’s CEO Julie Felss Masino admitted that she felt as though she had been “fired by America.”

Cracker Barrel’s redesign caused it to lose $94 million in a single day, with the company’s stock price plunging to $54.50. That meant the company’s stock price had plummeted by 7.15 percent, although it had rebounded from a 15 percent drop earlier in the day.