The 9 Best Classic Sodas You Can Find At Cracker Barrel

While there are many carbonated drinks that have vanished from store shelves over the years, Cracker Barrel's Country Store is one place where you can always find a remarkable assortment of traditional sodas. Stocked in glass bottles and outfitted with vintage labels, each of these fizz-filled beverages holds a story. Once you twist off the cap and take a sip, many find themselves transported to a simpler time. While some of these beloved pops conjure up images of classic soda fountain treats, others whisk you back to summer days as a child, evoking a carefree nostalgia as you savor their carbonated flavors.

Next time you drive by this welcoming eatery, be sure to take a peek inside the quaint country store. After you've perused the other edible offerings at Cracker Barrel's Country Store, head over to the soda section to take your pick from this specialty shop's wide selection of sensational soft drinks. From decades-old drink companies to regional beverages hard to find outside of their home state, this charming restaurant and store continues to stock an array of classic sodas — each with their own unique taste and tale.

Those with a love of Americana will likely find themselves drawn to Sioux City's old-timey soda line when shopping at Cracker Barrel's country store. Sioux City Sarsaparilla is beloved by many vintage soda fans, with some stating that drinking it will ruin all other root beers for you. Still, this classic concoction isn't your standard root beer.

Its smell is sweet, with notes of botanical elements nestled in this lightly carbonated liquid. Once tasted, traces of wintergreen, clove, vanilla, and sarsaparilla mingle together, creating a sweet, slightly creamy beverage. Deeper into your sip, you may sense middle notes of anise or licorice, with one reviewer noting how the clove can have a slightly numbing affect on the tongue, but in a pleasant way. Overall, Sioux City Sarsaparilla is a well-balanced beverage, full of flavor, and delightfully unique.

Made with pure cane sugar and adorned with a saloon-door swinging cowboy on its label, many agree that sampling this old-timey beverage is like taking a sip of the past — a feeling echoed by this soda's Old West style branding. Inviting you to relive the flavors of a long lost age of rugged individuals and old-fashioned frontiersmen, this nostalgic soda company describes its beverages as bold and untamed, just like the Old West itself.

Cracker Barrel enthusiasts heartily recommend picking up a bottle of Boylan if you see one in stock, with Boylan's Birch Beer leading the charge in favoritism. A sensational soda, this birch-based beverage comes in a number of different flavors, with fans of the old-school beverage often comparing the taste to wintergreen candies.

A brand with a strong heritage, Boylan's origin story begins in an apothecary in Paterson, New Jersey. It was here that pharmacist William Boylan first created his birch elixir in 1891, selling what he called Boylan's Birch in single servings from a barrel. Eventually, he began bottling Boylan's Birch Beer in 1900, distributing his eponymous drink to the masses.

Made from pure birch oils and cane sugar, soda buffs praise both the Original Birch Beer and Creamy Red Birch, which includes a dash of vanilla flavoring. Fans often find the Original Birch Beer to have more bite, with a strong birch and wintergreen flavor. Meanwhile, the Creamy Red Birch comes off smoother, with more subdued birch and herbal flavors.

Others lean towards Boylan Black Cherry soda with its distinctive mixture of cherries, wild cherry bark, and bourbon vanilla extract. A drink with a deep cherry flavor akin to fresh cherry juice, beverage connoisseurs find this refreshing soda to be the perfect blend of sweet, smooth, and tart.

Big Red may be a soda unfamiliar to those outside of the Lone Star State, but Texans know it as a drink bearing a truly unique flavor. Often compared to bubble gum and cream soda or liquid cotton candy, the taste is distinctly different from Big Red gum, which is cinnamon based. Frequently included among Cracker Barrel's soda offerings, this retro beverage continues to be a classic soft drink that holds a special place in many Southerners' hearts.

Part of this drink's uniqueness is how you expect it to taste versus how it actually tastes. Although the color is bright red, you'll find no cherry or berry flavors. Instead the drink contains much more of a vanilla profile emboldened with lemon and orange oils. As it turns out, the red coloring is largely due to dye.

Invented in 1937, in a Waco laboratory, it initially went by the name Sun Tang Red Cream Soda before being changed to Sun Tang Big Red Cream Soda, and finally settling on the shortened Big Red in 1969. A soda that continues to be owned and operated by Texans, this enduring drink can often be found in the South, where it is often drunk alongside Texas barbecue. Several fans use the drink in cocktails, as well, mixing the creamy red liquid with everything from cinnamon whisky to vodka and cherry liqueur.

If you happen to see a selection of Stewart's donning the shelves of your favorite country store, you should consider taking a bottle or two home. While Stewart's offers a good 10 varieties of soda, fans are particularly fond of Stewart's Orange 'n Cream flavor, declaring it tastes exactly like an orange cream ice cream bar.

The key lime flavor is another go-to for many vintage soda enthusiasts, with fans admiring the smoothness of this creamy lime soda. Soda buffs herald this old-fashioned flavor for its balance of sweetness and tartness. Other aficionados of fizz prefer the Stewart's root beer, describing a caramel or molasses flavor that helps it stand apart. Supporters of the classic root beer flavor describe it as not too sweet, making it perfect for making root beer floats. It's also sensational served in a frosted mug, as some commenters mentioned Cracker Barrel has done in the past.

Stewart's Root Beer happens to be the old-fashioned soda company's very first flavor, dating back to 1924. Crafted by school teacher Frank Stewart to supplement his income in Mansfield, Ohio, he soon began offering the eponymous drink at Stewart's Drive-In. The beverage has become so beloved in the century since that it's even earned its own holiday; National Stewart's Root Beer Day is celebrated annually on June 17.

Ale-8-One continues to be a favorite soda choice among Cracker Barrel Country Store's offerings. Packaged in its signature green glass, the exact recipe for the original Ale-8-One soda pioneered in 1926 remains a mystery, with the secret recipe having since been passed down for four generations.

We do know that ginger and citrus are key ingredients, with fans describing this bottled beverage as tasting like a fruity ginger ale. One enthusiastic Redditor even called it "a delicious cross between ginger-ale and Juicy Fruit chewing gum," with other commenters mentioning they like Ale-8-One, even though they don't like ginger ale.

The creation of George Lee Wainscott, Ale-8-One wasn't the first drink pioneered by this entrepreneurial business man. Roxa-Kola was in fact the first soda invented by this fizzy pioneer. But after facing threats of a lawsuit by Coca Cola, he decided to diversify his offerings by manufacturing his own take on another beverage: ginger beer (which is different from ginger ale). After some tinkering, Wainscott came up with a drink less spice-forward and perfectly pleasing to the palate.

For nearly a century, Ale-8-One carried only one flavor. Newer variations have only since been added in the past decade, including cherry, orange, and a limited edition blackberry variety. Considered a staple drink in East Kentucky, it's a classic soda cherished by those in its birth city of Winchester, Kentucky. Hard to find outside of the Bluegrass State, it's a great vintage soft drink to pick up.

Super fans of fruit-forward sodas seem particularly drawn towards Nehi, with Cracker Barrel shoppers favoring the Nehi Peach and Nehi Grape. Soda connoisseurs describe the peach flavor as being similar to a liquified peach dumdum pop, with several fans calling it their favorite peach soda.

One supporter notes how this peachy drink smells and tastes exactly like a fresh peach, comparing the flavor of this carbonated classic to the act of biting into the fresh fruit itself. Others recommend using this vintage pop to make your own peach frosty, tossing it in an ice cream maker with Cool Whip and sweetened condensed milk.

A caffeine-free brand that dates back to 1924, many closely associate the Nehi Grape flavor with the television show "M*A*S*H," it being a favorite beverage of character Radar O'Reilly. Some fans of Grape Nehi consider it to be the best of all grape sodas, having a flavor that's strongly fruity and not too candy-like. Many find this retro beverage nostalgic enough as to transport them back to childhood, praising the old-fashioned flavor.

Curious about the name? Introduced to the world by a grocer named Claud Hatcher, this Columbus, Georgia, soda originally came packaged in 12-inch glass bottles to distinguish it from its shorter competitors. The unusual height led to the name Nehi as a phonetic tip-of-the-hat to the bottles being knee-high.

Established in 1937, Dad's Root Beer is a brand with humble origins. Created in a Chicago basement by two men, it was named to honor not just the father of cofounder Ely Klapman, but to all dads who crafted homemade root beer for their families.

Today, Cracker Barrel customers continue to swear by Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer, which is made from an enticing blend of wintergreen, licorice, and vanilla. Unlike other root beers that might be described as bland, Dad's Root Beer has a heavier taste, yet is still described as surprisingly smooth. Fans describe this traditional pop as having an deeper flavor profile uncommon in other root beers, similar to notes of clove or nutmeg.

Dad's Blue Cream Soda is another crowd pleaser, with soda pop fans praising this beverage for its light vanilla flavor. Dad's Orange Cream is another front-runner, with fans calling this retro flavor smooth and sweet, teeming with that nostalgic creamy orange flavor. Others tend towards Dad's Red Cream Soda. A soda described as smelling like tropical punch, cherry Koolaid, and Juicy Fruit gum, one buyer further detailed the taste as a combination of Double Bubble chewing gum and vanilla birthday cake, with an extreme sweetness.

If you're looking for a soda that's great from the glass, Cheerwine is an often recommended soft drink. Found in Cracker Barrels, this vintage pop is heralded as one of the best cherry sodas by many, having a one-of-a-kind flavor.

Unlike the versions of Cheerwine sold in cans, which are sweetened with corn syrup, those in glass containers are sweetened instead with cane syrup. A drink often compared to a maraschino cherry, its intense sweetness is offset by its powerful fizziness. Drinking from the glass is said to be the preferred method, with the narrow neck keeping the beverage properly chilled and carbonated.

Cheerwine dates back to 1917, when a North Carolina general store owner pioneered this cherry-flavored cola during a sugar shortage. Called Cheerwine because the cheerful beverage resembled red wine, fans are still enjoying this aptly named "Nectar of North Carolina" a century later, with the traditional beverage holding a treasured place in the hearts of many North Carolina natives.

In the town of Salisbury where the drink originated, you'll find numerous stores filled with Cheerwine memorabilia, with the drink stocked in many vending machines, store shelves, and local eateries. The beloved beverage has even inspired its very own Salisbury festival held every year in May.

Cracker Barrel regulars recommend picking up some Vernors Ginger Ale when stopping in. Many describe the ginger flavor of this Detroit-based beverage as intense with distinct vanilla notes, calling the drink the strongest and best ginger ale there is.

Once you've tried Vernors, all other ginger ales are likely to pale in comparison. Redditors state Vernors is how ginger ale used to taste, with a flavor that "slaps your taste buds." If that description steers you away from this extraordinary beverage, you can always tone it down. Try pouring this time-tested beverage over ice cream for a Boston Cooler to create a summer treat that conjures fond childhood memories.

Considered one of the oldest soft drinks in all the United States, we can thank pharmacist James Vernor for this powerful soda pop. As the popular origin story for this soft drink goes, Vernor was developing a tonic using ginger, vanilla, and spices, when he was called away to serve in the Civil War circa 1862. Apparently, he left a barrel of his latest brew behind, and upon his return, found the mixture had aged wonderfully in the oak cask.

Despite whether or not this remarkable story is the truth behind the beverage, Vernors Ginger Ale made its public debut in 1866, once the Civil War veteran opened his pharmacy. Sold solely here, Vernor eventually expanded his product to other soda fountains before opening a plant in Detroit. About 140 years later, it's still a mainstay beverage of Detroit, Michigan.

To determine the best classic sodas offered by Cracker Barrel, I surveyed online discussions, recommendations, and reviews from Cracker Barrel customers and vintage pop enthusiasts. From these, I selected the most popular soda brands, highlighting the fizzy varieties customers chose most.

Only old-fashioned soft drink brands were considered in this assessment. Discontinued varieties or soft drinks not carried by Cracker Barrel Country Store were not included in methodology.