The performance of bonded concrete overlays can be reduced by early age surface cracking and/or debonding at the interface between old and new concrete. These early age failures are mainly due to volume changes of the overlay concrete by shrinkage, thermal changes, and substrate restraints. In the analysis and design of bonded concrete overlays, the substrate restraint is often disregarded. This study illustrates how the substrate restraint affects the surface stress and contributes to early age surface cracking of bonded concrete overlays by comparing three restraint conditions. Practical insights on how to minimize cracking due to shrinkage, thermal changes, and substrate restraints are provided. One conclusion from this study is that an improved analysis can be achieved if the Westergaard-Bradbury solution is modified to include internal stress from horizontal restriction in bonded concrete overlays.