Cracker Barrel is replacing CEO Julie Masino with Dave Deno. | Photo: Shutterstock
Before Cracker Barrel brought in Taco Bell alum Julie Felss Masino to modernize the brand in July 2023, the company had not been viewed as an innovator in the family-dining segment for years. Ironically, after a long period of declining relevance coupled with gradually weakening sales, it took an attempt to revamp the brand’s identity for Cracker Barrel customers and non-customers alike to rally around the company’s familiar logo and nostalgic store experience.
One year later, Cracker Barrel is slowly recovering from the swift social media backlash to Masino’s modernization plan, which the company reversed shortly after it was implemented last summer.
While removing the Uncle Herschel silhouette from the Cracker Barrel logo and cleaning up some of the dated country store clutter was not the answer the company was looking for, the underlying challenge remains: Cracker Barrel still needs to address brand relevance and declining traffic trends.
The company’s appointment this week of former Bloomin’ Brands CEO David Deno, who came out of retirement to lead Cracker Barrel, signals a new playbook for the brand, one focused less on broad-scale transformation and more on course correction and stabilization.
“At this stage, Cracker Barrel doesn’t need a visionary reinventing the brand, it needs a seasoned operator who can restore consistency, rebuild guest trust, and improve execution while respecting the company’s heritage,” John Deal, managing director of capital markets at Post Oak Group, told Restaurant Business.
Before joining Cracker Barrel, Masino helped to build on Taco Bell’s reputation as one of the industry’s boldest innovators. As president of Taco Bell U.S. and later Taco Bell International, she oversaw international expansion while championing menu innovation, including the continued expansion of Nacho Fries. She took this energy to Cracker Barrel, where a 2024 “strategic transformation plan” called for menu simplification and smaller store prototypes to modernize the guest experience.
Deno, meanwhile, built much of his career at the more operationally focused Bloomin’ Brands. As CEO, he led a portfolio anchored by Outback Steakhouse, another legacy full-service restaurant brand. Bloomin’ Brands flagship brand, Outback Steakhouse is, like Cracker Barrel, an old-school full-service dining establishment. He earned praise for steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, though Bloomin’ was grappling with softer traffic and weakening consumer demand by the time he retired in 2024.
“From the board’s perspective, Deno offers operational credibility, experience managing large multi-brand restaurant businesses, and a reputation for disciplined execution,” Deal said.
One year after the logo backlash, Cracker Barrel has begun to stabilize. Comparable restaurant sales remain negative, but the declines have narrowed, and executives say the company’s rebound is progressing more quickly than expected.
Deno’s challenge will be to build on Cracker Barrel’s early recovery period, while addressing the brand’s persistent issues without provoking more consumer backlash. His background and expertise suggests that the executive board believes operational discipline — not sweeping transformation — is the key to a more stable future for the Old Country Store.
