Cracker Barrel’s board has turned to David Deno, a longtime restaurant-industry executive, to take over as chief executive, ending Julie Masino’s roughly three-year run atop the company. The transition, set to take effect in mid-August 2026, caps a stretch in which the chain’s brand and balance sheet both came under unusual public scrutiny.
Masino’s departure follows the fallout from a logo redesign the company rolled out in the summer of 2025. The simplified mark, which dropped the familiar illustration long associated with the brand, triggered an immediate wave of criticism from customers and commentators, some of it amplified by political figures who framed the change as an attack on the chain’s homespun identity. Cracker Barrel’s stock shed a meaningful chunk of its market value within days, and within roughly a week the company abandoned the new design and reinstated the original logo. Even after shareholders backed Masino in an early-2026 vote rather than force her out immediately, pressure on the board did not fully subside, and she is now exiting with a severance package reported at more than four and a half million dollars, along with continued security coverage.
Deno brings a résumé built around turnarounds and financial discipline rather than marketing overhauls. He previously served as chief executive of Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, and held senior finance leadership roles earlier in his career at Yum Brands, giving him deep familiarity with multi-brand restaurant operations, franchise systems, and cost management. That background positions him as a steadier, operations-first counterpart to Masino, whose tenure had leaned more heavily on brand refresh initiatives.
The new chief executive inherits a company still working through the aftershocks of the rebrand episode, even as its shares have shown signs of recovery in recent months, at times trading near highs for the year. Analysts note that the logo dispute, while the most visible flashpoint, sat alongside more fundamental questions about customer traffic and same-store sales that predate the redesign entirely. How Deno balances the chain’s nostalgic appeal with the need to modernize its business will likely shape investor sentiment well beyond his first few quarters in the role.