Red-eye gravy, a favorite on Cracker Barrel's menu, was removed in 2017, with no indication from the restaurant that it will ever return.

Red-eye gravy preparations include the remnants left behind after frying a piece of country ham in a pan, combined with black coffee.

While it is a standard accompaniment for fried ham, red-eye gravy can also be served with many other foods, like potatoes, biscuits, cornbread, or grits.

Cracker Barrel still offers other options, such as sawmill gravy (a southern-style béchamel sauce) and traditional brown gravy, but the loss of red-eye gravy remains a mystery.

The restaurant never provided clarification, but removing red-eye gravy could have been part of the plan to welcome "a new, simplified dinner menu" in 2020.