The Underrated Southern Chain Serving Breakfast That'll Remind You Of Grandma's

Many folks hold fond memories of Grandma's cooking, and in the Deep South, that almost always includes homemade biscuits. They're a given for any meal, but especially breakfast — piled high in a basket, draped lightly with flour-sack cloth for warmth. Making southern biscuits is a true art, an instinctual balance of crunchy golden tops, fluffy insides, and side splits for butter. That puts a lot of pressure on a restaurant named Biscuitville. 

But that didn't stop an enterprising baker named Maurice Jennings from proudly placing that moniker on his very first Biscuitville restaurant in Danville, Virginia. Since 1966, the entrepreneur had been cultivating a collection of "bread-and-milk" stores in Burlington, North Carolina, then progressing to pizza stores, and eventually veering toward a different kind of dough altogether. In 1975, he gifted the world (or at least the American South) with Biscuitville Fresh Southern, a new place to recapture the glory of grandma's biscuits.

Though underrated compared to biscuit-heavy chains like Popeye's and Cracker Barrel, plenty of devotees flock to the 85 Biscuitville locations across Virginia and the Carolinas. Biscuitville locations are only open until 2 p.m.  — and that's just plenty. This is, after all, a breakfast place, with some wiggle room for late-risers and brunch-ers. The food is made fresh, from scratch, throughout the day, and sourced locally whenever possible.

The local touch of Biscuitville food speaks loudly across the entire menu. Though it's grown to accommodate countless biscuit lovers in dozens of venues, it keeps a regional footprint that's important to the concept. Unlike many national mega-chains, this brand supports local and family-owned farms and mills within their own circle of customers. For example, North Carolina-sourced supplies include eggs from a farm in Monroe and locally sourced red winter wheat, processed at a fifth-generation flour mill in Newton. 

Customers watch fresh biscuits being made on location, every 15 minutes. There are no mystery ingredients, just these three: locally milled flour, fresh buttermilk, and shortening. Fried chicken is featured in items such as the Spicy Chicken & Honey Biscuit. In keeping with the overall company approach, chickens are naturally raised with no antibiotics from a collective of 300 family farms in South Carolina and Georgia. Other biscuit-based offerings include a Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, the Ultimate Country Ham Biscuit, and the Sausage Gravy Biscuit (served in true southern fashion: Open-faced and smothered in white sausage gravy).

Platters are a big draw, with or without the biscuits (though most likely "with"). They're grouped by proteins, such as bacon, sausage, country ham, turkey sausage, and chicken platters. Sides align with southern gotta-haves like loaded country fries and creamy, cheesy grits. Cherry-cola Cheerwine drinks round out the local vibe, widely known as the "Nectar of North Carolina."