Belch.Com

So sad. He was a wonderful restaurateur and a good businessman who had great success with a good product. Dan Evins has died.

From WTOP here:

The founder of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store chain, Dan Evins, has died at 76.

He fashioned the restaurant after the country stores of his youth in rural Tennessee and used a number of family recipes. The restaurant was named after the practice of customers gathering at country stores to share news and play checkers on top of an empty barrel that had been used to deliver crackers to the store.

Evins helped build the chain into a national brand as CEO from 1969 to 2001 and chairman until he retired in 2004. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., headquartered in Lebanon, Tenn., now operates more than 600 restaurants in 42 states.

So long, Danny and thanks for all the gravy.