Los Compadres to open at original Cracker Barrel location in Lebanon, will include gift store

Andy Humbles, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
Los Compadres to open at original Cracker Barrel location in Lebanon
Los Compadres to open at original Cracker Barrel location in Lebanon

A staple Wilson County restaurant will open a fourth location on the same property the original Cracker Barrel Old Country Store opened in Lebanon.

Los Compadres Mexican Grill will use about half of an approximate 7,000-square-foot building as a restaurant. The other half will be used as a gift shop named Tequila Barrel Imports Gallery as an ode to the Cracker Barrel’s country store concept.

“There is a history to that area and we want to follow that tradition,” Los Compadres co-owner Jose Gutierrez said.

Tequila Barrel Imports Gallery will sell merchandise made in Mexico, according to Gutierrez. Furniture, an assortment of handcraft art, mirrors, chandeliers and an assortment of smaller items will be sold, Gutierrez said.

“We have a lot of this in our restaurants as decorations that people ask to buy,” Gutierrez said.

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Los Compadres restaurants already open in Wilson County are at South Cumberland and West Main streets in Lebanon and Lebanon Pike in Mt. Juliet.

Those restaurants will remain open.

The fourth restaurant to open at the original Cracker Barrel site will be in a new building that has been constructed and is now being renovated. Los Compadres will take the entire building with the restaurant and gift shop.

Husband and wife Sami and Lina Arnouk bought the property at auction in 2011.

The original Cracker Barrel opened in 1969 and company officials have estimated it closed in early 1984, just before another location opened in Lebanon.

The original Cracker Barrel building was moved from State Route 109 in Lebanon to the Wilson County fairgrounds.
The original Cracker Barrel building was moved from State Route 109 in Lebanon to the Wilson County fairgrounds.

The Arnouks couldn’t make plans to redevelop the first Cracker Barrel store into a retail business cost-effective.

The Arnouks donated the structure and Wilson County Commissioner Sue Vanatta led an effort to try and save the original building.

However, a plan to restore the building for display at the Wilson County Fairgrounds couldn’t be done because of deterioration to the structure. Cracker Barrel used wood from the original building as part of a downsized display store the company unveiled in 2019.

Gutierrez, 48, hopes to open Los Compadres restaurant on 109 around March and the gallery in May or June.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Los Compadres to open at original Cracker Barrel location in Lebanon