18 March, 2010
Southern Fast Food Series #4: Biscuitville—Restaurant Review
Posted in : Dining in Durham - NC, Restaurants on by : The Gourmez
Southern Fast Food Series #4: Biscuitville
Locations throughout Virginia and North Carolina
This location: 2822 Chapel Hill Street, Durham
Website
Meal deals w/one side and a drink: $3.69–$5.19
Sandwiches only: $1.89–$3.79
Biscuitville was next on my southern fast food tour.
This is mainly a breakfast spot with hours from 5:30 AM to 2:00 PM most days. The vast majority of the options are variations of the biscuit, egg, meat, and cheese sandwich, though fried bologna sandwiches, French toast sticks, pancakes, oatmeal, and cranberry-orange muffins are among the other menu options. You can also order a platter, which is the same as a sandwich, except that all the ingredients are separated out on your plate. If you get a meal deal, your side choices are grits, hash browns, fries, or gravy. Biscuits are made fresh daily.
The first thing that struck me about Biscuitville was the quaint, folksy pictures throughout the dining area (simple booths and tables) that tell the story of the restaurant’s creation-except they don’t. The story on the wall spoke of Grandma Jennings bequeathing her secret biscuit recipe and farm to her grandchildren. The story on the website is of one of those grandchildren first opening a bread store, then a pizza restaurant, then a biscuit sandwich franchise. It specifically says that Maurice Jennings perfected the biscuit recipe over time with no mention of Grandma’s recipe being passed down at all. Interesting.
More interesting than the actual sandwich, however.
I ordered country ham as the meat in the sandwich on the recommendation of one of my tweeps, which made sense, of course, since country ham is a southern food staple (note, it just might be on every southern fast food menu-don’t quote me on that). There was a LOT of ham on this sandwich and it was everything country ham should be: fairly thick and appreciably salty. Luckily, it wasn’t overwhelmingly salty, which is good for someone like me who uses that flavor enhancer sparingly. It was also delightfully crisp. The egg and American cheese both had that plastic texture that reminds me of frozen egg and sausage sandwiches that have been microwaved. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it depends on my mood and present level of nostalgia to appreciate it. The biscuit was thinner than I expected.
On another tweep’s recommendation, I ordered orange juice to wash down the sandwich and she was definitely right-Biscuitville’s orange juice washes down the grease perfectly. It might have been the best part of the meal.
I also ordered their peach turnover.
This had a lot of potential but, other than the cinnamon and sugar sprinkles on top, it was mostly disappointing. The peach filling was at a great, extra warm temperature, but was too creamy and had a strong presence of vanilla. They tasted like fruit in a cup. The crust was far too chewy.
While the sandwich was okay, and the turnover unappealing, I have to say that Biscuitville has a lot of devotees. Even near the end of the day, there were a number of regular customers in the joint, who had a nice rapport with the employees. Loyal customers are always a bonus, even when I’m not convinced the place deserves them. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again, but if I was nearby and craving a biscuit sandwich, I’d stop by.
Anything I should have tried but didn’t? Let me know in the comments!
1 star
Reviewed 3.10.10.