Cracker Barrel turns to AI for staffing, traffic forecasting and guest insights

Cracker Barrel is putting artificial intelligence to work in the part of the business that matters most to hourly staff: who gets scheduled, how many people are on the floor, and whether a rush turns into a scramble. The company said it is using AI for traffic forecasting, labor planning, guest relations and feedback analytics, a bet that could either smooth out the weekly schedule or give managers a sharper tool for cutting labor to the bone.

The disclosure came during the chain’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call on June 9, when President and CEO Julie Felss Masino and Chief Financial Officer Craig Pommells laid out a broader technology push. Cracker Barrel also said it plans a website upgrade aimed at improving digital ordering and personalization, part of an effort to make the brand feel more current while still leaning on its old-country-store identity across roughly 660-plus locations.

Masino said AI-powered traffic forecasting had improved accuracy and labor management, and that AI personalization lifted average revenue per member by a mid-single-digit amount. For restaurant workers, the question is less about the software itself than about the fallout in the dining room and kitchen: whether better forecasting means fewer understaffed lunch shifts, or whether it becomes another lever for squeezing labor targets when sales soften.

The stakes are real because labor remains one of the largest costs in restaurant operations. Cracker Barrel said labor costs were 37.9% of revenue in the quarter, up 80 basis points, while wage inflation was running at about 2%. The company posted revenue of $797.4 million for the quarter ended May 1, with comparable store restaurant sales down 2.6% and comparable store retail sales down 1.8%. Even so, management raised full-year revenue guidance to $3.27 billion to $3.3 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $120 million to $125 million.

Cracker Barrel also reported a $47.4 million benefit from an interchange fee litigation settlement and said quarterly GAAP net income was $42.8 million. Its stock jumped sharply after the earnings report, but the bigger story for line cooks, servers and shift leaders is what happens when AI meets the daily pressure of labor scheduling. In a business still trying to recover traffic after last year’s logo and branding backlash, the company is selling technology as a turnaround tool. On the floor, it will be judged by a simpler test: whether the next schedule is steadier, or just tighter.