A satirical petition online that claims Cracker Barrel restaurant's use of the word "cracker" is offensive has stirred quite a bit of controversy.
The petition, posted on Change.org last week, has gained more than 13,000 signatures.
Here are five things to know about the chain restaurant best know for its Southern comfort food and rocking chairs:
1. The first Cracker Barrel opened in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee, a town with about 26,000 residents in the 2010 Census. Those first stores also were gas stations.
2. The history behind the restaurant's name starts in old country stores in the early 1900s. People would gather around cracker barrels to share information; you could say the cracker barrel was the predecessor of the water cooler. Cracker Barrel founder Dan Evins chose the name to reflect the Southern country stores he grew up with.
3. The company's Cracker Barrel Foundation supports community programs, including those related to education and the environment.
4. There are more than 600 Cracker Barrels in the U.S. and the company has no plans to franchise. According to the Cracker Barrel website, this is "so that we can maintain the consistency that our guests rely upon."
5. The joke petition isn't the first time Cracker Barrel has found itself at the center of very real controversy. In the 1990s, the restaurant came under fire for firing employees for being gay. For years, the company had a policy that banned homosexual employees. According to a New York Times obituary for Evins, the founder rescinded the policy, and in 2002 shareholders rallied to force the board to ban antigay discrimination.
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