The cozy front-porch chairs aren't the only thing rocking at Cracker Barrel today. Shares of parent company CBRL Group (NASDAQ:CBRL) opened 12% higher -- and kept inching upward -- after the company announced that it was interviewing financial advisors in a move that may be a prelude to a bidding block.

CBRL has tried to grow shareholder value over the years through dividend hikes and aggressive stock buybacks, but slow top- and bottom-line growth has kept the shares in check. Earnings grew by 12% in fiscal 2005 after moving just 6% higher a year earlier. Sales haven't risen by more than 8% during any of the last four years.

The move doesn't mean that CBRL will cash out, though the message is now clear to any rival casual dining chain or private equity firm that may have an interest in owning the colorful chain serving up country vittles alongside its rustic gift shops.

Absent a buyout, CBRL may be tempted to spin off Logan's Roadhouse. The similarly themed Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) was a successful IPO in late 2004, and it's fetching a price-to-sales multiple three times higher than CBRL's at the moment.

Before CBRL acquired Logan's, it was a growth-stock darling, sporting healthier unit economics than larger casual steakhouse chains like Outback (NYSE:OSI) and Lone Star (NASDAQ:STAR). Now that even McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) is spinning off some of its faster-growing concepts, it may be time for Logan's Roadhouse to go it alone, assuming CBRL doesn't find an offer too good to refuse.

I think a buyout is likely, though. Like a tempting fruit cobbler or a crafty roadside trinket, CRBL Group on sale may be too good a deal for someone else to pass up.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a fan of both Cracker Barrel and Logan's Roadhouse, and one of the many who find it hard to a Cracker Barrel billboard advertising country eats at the next interstate exit. He owns seven, count 'em, seven shares in CBRL Group. T he Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.