Lavonia Cracker Barrel Opens Monday Morning to the Public

After months of waiting, the public welcomes the opening of the new Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Lavonia.

“Loved it. We really enjoyed the food and everybody was very nice to us. A good fit for the community; conversations, dialogue and time together,” Said patron Chris Maxwell of Royston who was there with his wife, son and daughter-in-law.

Maxwell and his family were just a few of the many who were anxious to eat at the new restaurant.

The Lavonia Cracker Barrel on Ross Place off SR17 opened to the public at 6a Monday morning.

Becky Taylor is the General Manager and has been with the company for the last five years.

Taylor said Monday’s opening went extremely well with lots of people there early waiting for the doors to open.

“We had somebody on the porch at 5a,” she said. “Everybody is just really excited that we’re finally here and we’re open and it’s just going to be a great place for family.”

Built on property where a topless bar once stood, Lavonia Mayor Ralph Owens called Monday’s opening the fulfillment of years of planning and hard work.

“Well you know the story about this property. So, this is a great time for Lavonia. We’re proud to have Cracker Barrel here. I think we’ve had this property for ten years and we’ve been holding it for them. So, they’re finally here. Everybody’s been wanting one so we hope they’ll come out and patronize them,” Owens said.

Owens celebrated the first day of the new Cracker Barrel by taking his staff to lunch, including City Manager Charles Cawthon.

Cawthon said now that the Cracker Barrel is open, his office is receiving a lot more inquiries from other food and retail chains.

“There’s a lot of people looking and this just opens more doors for us. I think we’ll have more of the sit-down type folks looking now and probably more fast food type places looking as well. It’s been a long time waiting but it’s been worth the wait.”

The Lavonia Cracker Barrel expects to employ about 175 people and is still hiring.

They are currently looking to hire chefs.

Anyone interested in applying for a job at the restaurant can go online to the Cracker Barrel Web site at: www.crackerbarrel.com.