A Tennessee-based project consultant has submitted preliminary plans to the city of Spokane for a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Restaurant, proposed at 9034 N. Newport Highway.

According to the Spokane County Assessor’s Office records, the project site is owned by Spokane real estate magnate Harlan Douglass.

Cracker Barrel is a Tennessee-based chain of Southern-themed restaurants that serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restaurant’s menu is based on traditional Southern cuisine, with appearance and decor designed to resemble an old-fashioned general store. The restaurants also are known to have stone fireplaces, and decorative artifacts from their respective communities.

Also, Cracker Barrel eateries typically have a retail space that sells country-themed merchandise. 

Preliminary plans on file with the city list the project’s estimated construction cost at $1.5 million. Documents show the new restaurant is planned to be built on the northeast corner of Newport Highway and Hoerner Avenue, about two blocks southwest of the Northpointe Plaza shopping center.

Plans show the project would include a 9,170-square-foot restaurant and store building with a 1,316-square-foot covered front porch, and a 130-stall surface parking lot.

Interior plans show the new Cracker Barrel would include seating for about 180, in addition to the country store area.

Planning documents show the restaurant would occupy slightly less than 2 acres of the site, with rest of the being subdivided to create a new lot at the northwest corner of Hoerner and Colton Street.

A 4,400-square-foot, barn-shaped retail building would be demolished to make room for the project.

Cracker Barrel declined to comment on the project, and attempts to contact Douglass Properties were unsuccessful.

Cracker Barrel is listed as having about 640 outlets and over 73,000 employees nationwide.

The new North Spokane Cracker Barrel is expected to look similar to the company’s Coeur d’ Alene restaurant at 1675 W. Lee Court, which opened for business last year.