EXHIBIT 99.1

                             (CRACKER BARREL LOGO)

      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 CONTACT: JULIE DAVIS AT 615-443-9266
                                                               CELL 615-308-0271


            CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC. REACHES AGREEMENT
            WITH U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON PROCEDURES TO ADDRESS
                            CLAIMS OF DISCRIMINATION


         LEBANON, Tenn., May 3, 2004 - Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.
("Cracker Barrel") today announced that it has reached an agreement with the
U.S. Department of Justice to implement procedures designed to address and
prevent claims of customer discrimination. The agreement is set forth in a
consent order that does not involve any payment of money by the company and
details plans that build upon existing Cracker Barrel initiatives designed to
strengthen the company's ability to prevent, detect and, when necessary,
effectively address any perceived racial discrimination.

         The agreement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the company, and
wrongdoing is expressly denied by Cracker Barrel. Its policies clearly forbid
such behavior. The agreement includes provisions prohibiting customer
discrimination in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It
outlines plans for expanded diversity training programs for managers and
employees, a third-party testing program at restaurants, an independent auditor
to monitor activities implementing the plan, expanded procedures to investigate
guest complaints, and public posting of the company's equal treatment policies.
A copy of the consent order has been filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

         "We do not tolerate any form of discrimination. It is, and always has
been, a violation of our policies and procedures and is neither condoned nor
allowed," said Donald M. Turner, President and Chief Operating Officer of
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. "This agreement builds upon many of the
programs and activities Cracker Barrel already has initiated and is currently
implementing system-wide. We are pleased that after extensive discussions with
the Department of Justice, we were able to reach agreement based on our shared
goals of fair treatment and equitable service for all guests."

         The agreement concludes the Department's review of the company's
anti-discrimination policies and procedures, and allows both sides to avoid
time-consuming and costly litigation, Turner said. Although this agreement does
not resolve certain pending lawsuits by individuals, last year a federal judge
refused to grant class action status to those claims and there is no appeal
pending. Turner added, "We deny that any discrimination occurred against those
customers, and the company will continue to defend itself vigorously against
those claims."

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         Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. operates 497 company-owned
restaurants and retail stores in 41 states. The company is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the publicly held CBRL Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRL).

         Except for specific historical information, many of the matters
discussed in this press release may express or imply projections of revenues or
expenditures, statements of plans and objectives or future operations or
statements of future economic performance. These, and similar statements are
forward-looking statements concerning matters that involve risks, uncertainties
and other factors which may cause the actual performance of CBRL Group, Inc. and
its subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by this
discussion. All forward-looking information is provided by the Company pursuant
to the safe harbor established under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and should be evaluated in the context of these factors.
Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "assumptions", "target", "guidance",
"outlook", "plans", "projection", "may", "will", "would", "expect", "intend",
"estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "potential" or "continue" (or the negative
or other derivatives of each of these terms) or similar terminology. Factors
which could materially affect actual results include, but are not limited to:
commodity, workers' compensation, group health and utility cost changes; the
ability of the Company to identify, acquire and sell successful new lines of
retail merchandise; the effects of plans intended to improve operational
execution and performance; competitive marketing and operational initiatives;
the actual results and costs of pending or threatened litigation or governmental
investigations and the costs and effects of negative publicity associated with
these activities; the effects of uncertain consumer confidence or general or
regional economic weakness or other external factors on sales and customer
travel activity; practical or psychological effects of terrorist acts or war and
military or government responses; consumer behavior based on concerns over
nutritional or safety aspects of the Company's products or restaurant food in
general; potential disruptions to the Company's restaurant or retail supply
chain; changes in foreign exchange rates affecting the Company's future retail
inventory purchases; the availability and cost of acceptable sites for
development and the Company's ability to identify such sites; changes in or
implementation of additional governmental or regulatory rules, regulations and
interpretations affecting accounting, tax, wage and hour matters, health and
safety, pensions, insurance or other undeterminable areas; changes in accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America or changes in
capital market conditions that could affect valuations of restaurant companies
in general or the Company's goodwill in particular; increases in construction
costs; the effects of increased competition at Company locations on sales and on
labor recruiting, cost, and retention; the ability of and cost to the Company to
recruit, train, and retain qualified restaurant hourly and management employees;
changes in interest rates affecting the Company's financing costs; and other
factors described from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC, press
releases, and other communications.

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