Biscuit Belly acquires Maple Street Biscuit Company
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The Louisville, Kentucky-based chain will convert all 34 locations to the Biscuit Belly brand throughout the next 18 to 24 months.
July 20, 2026
Louisville, Kentucky-based bunch concept Biscuit Belly has acquired Maple Street Biscuit Company, a subsidiary of Cracker Barrel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition adds 34 Maple Street locations to Biscuit Belly’s footprint, more than tripling its growth. Those locations will be converted to the Biscuit Belly brand throughout the next 18 to 24 months, with conversions starting in the Cincinnati and Richmond, Virginia, markets.
Biscuit Belly, which currently has 15 locations, is targeting over 60 restaurants by the end of 2028.
“Acquiring an iconic brand like Maple Street, one of the original gourmet biscuit sandwich concepts, was not on my 2026 bingo card,” Biscuit Belly Founder and CEO Chad Coulter said in a statement. “Two of the biggest headwinds that growing brands encounter are the time required to find and build locations, and the difficulty of finding great teams. When we looked at Maple Street’s geography, footprints, and established teams, a light bulb went off.”
Chad and Lauren Coulter opened the first Biscuit Belly in 2019. The concept finished 2025 with $21.4 million in sales, according to Technomic data.
“When we opened our first Biscuit Belly location, we didn’t have plans for rapid growth,” Lauren Coulter said in a statement. “We knew it would be special but did not anticipate the response from our guests. Once we started seeing our growth accelerate, we set a 10-year goal to become the largest gourmet biscuit brand in the US. This acquisition is making that goal a reality, and we’re excited to invite all the team members from Maple Street to join us for this next chapter.”
The converted restaurants will feature Biscuit Belly's signature menu, which includes Bonuts (biscuit doughnut holes, cinnamon sugar with bourbon cream cheese frosting or berry jam), breakfast tots, fried green tomatoes, pancake corndogs, The Rockwell (buttermilk fried chicken breast, cheddar, sausage gravy), Biscuit Bennie (smoked brisket, poached eggs, smoked gouda mornay, roasted tomatoes, poblano-tomato sauce), a lineup of biscuits and gravy dishes, signature coffee and beverages, boozy beverages, and more.
Nashville-based Maple Street Biscuit Company, which specializes in scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken, specialty coffee, and Southern comfort food, first opened in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2012. In 2019, it was acquired by Cracker Barrel for $36 million. Following that acquisition, Maple Street expanded to nearly 60 locations by 2023.
More recently, Cracker Barrel has slowed expansion and closed underperforming restaurants as it focuses on improving profitability. In late 2025, the company announced the closure of 14 locations.
This marks the latest deal of a restaurant chain acquiring a similar concept to expand versus opening new restaurants. In 2018, Cava acquired Zoe’s Mediterranean Kitchen, for instance. Last year, Dutch Bros acquired the much smaller Clutch Coffee to bolster its footprint.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso
About the Author
Alicia Kelso
Executive Editor, Nation's Restaurant News
Alicia Kelso is the executive editor of Nation's Restaurant News. She began covering the restaurant industry in 2010 for QSRweb.com, FastCasual.com, and PizzaMarketplace.com. When her son was born, she left the industry to pursue a role in higher education, but swiftly returned after realizing how much she missed the space. In filling that void, Alicia added a contributor role at Restaurant Dive and a senior contributor role at Forbes.
Her work has appeared in publications around the world, including Forbes Asia, NPR, Bloomberg, The Seattle Times, Crain's Chicago, Good Morning America, and Franchise Asia Magazine.
Alicia holds a degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University, where she competed on the women's swim team. In addition to cheering for the BGSU Falcons, Alicia is a rabid Michigan fan and will talk about college football with anyone willing to engage. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her wife and son.
Follow her on TikTok @aliciakelso
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