Cracker Barrel recently announced the sale of popular breakfast and brunch chain Maple Street Biscuit Company to Kentucky-based Biscuit Belly. This marks the end of its ownership of the Florida-founded brand.
The deal includes the Maple Street Biscuit Company trademark and assets associated with 35 restaurant locations. Those restaurants will gradually be converted into Biscuit Belly locations over the next 18 to 24 months, while the remaining 16 Maple Street restaurants that were not included in the sale will permanently close.
Founded in Jacksonville in 2012, Maple Street Biscuit Company quickly built a loyal following with its Southern-inspired breakfast and brunch menu featuring made-from-scratch biscuits, chicken biscuit sandwiches, waffles, breakfast bowls, and locally inspired community-focused dining. The company expanded across the Southeast before being acquired by Cracker Barrel for $36 million in 2019.
Biscuit Belly, which launched in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2019, said the acquisition significantly accelerates its growth plans. The company will expand from approximately 15 restaurants to around 50 locations across 10 states once the transition is complete.
“Acquiring an iconic brand like Maple Street, one of the original gourmet biscuit sandwich concepts, was not on my 2026 bingo card,” Biscuit Belly co-founder and CEO Chad Coulter said in a statement. He added that the existing restaurant locations and experienced teams will allow the company to grow more quickly than building new restaurants from the ground up.
Cracker Barrel said the sale is part of a broader strategy to focus on its core restaurant business while improving profitability and reducing debt. Alongside the divestiture, the company completed a sale-leaseback transaction involving 26 Cracker Barrel restaurant properties, generating approximately $77 million in proceeds that will be used to reduce debt. Executives said Maple Street accounted for less than 2% of the company’s annual revenue, and the sale is expected to strengthen financial performance beginning in fiscal 2027.
For customers, the transition is expected to happen gradually. Biscuit Belly plans to continue operating the acquired restaurants while converting them to its own brand over the next two years. The company said it intends to retain many existing employees and introduce its own menu and hospitality style as each location is rebranded.
The sale marks the latest evolution for a brand that began as a single neighborhood restaurant in Jacksonville before becoming a regional breakfast favorite. While the Maple Street name will eventually disappear from the acquired locations, Biscuit Belly says it hopes to build on the chain’s legacy as it expands throughout the Southeast.
