Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
New Jersey is, of course, known for having the best pizza and bagels … but biscuits? That’s a doughy territory we’re still warming up to.
Thanks to Blair Mountain Biscuit Co. in Blackwood, we may be a step closer.
Ted Miller opened his breakfast and lunch spot in July 2021, serving “modern Southern fast-casual” (per Blair Mountain’s website), and bringing along his signature biscuit recipe from his home state of Virginia, where he worked in restaurants.
“We were playing around just trying to recreate Red Lobster’s bread,” Miller told NJ Advance Media, referencing the seafood chain’s beloved cheddar bay biscuits, which are becoming harder to find as locations close nationwide.
The menu at this Camden County biscuit shop is small, offering breakfast comfort food like the berries and cream French toast, bacon, fried eggs and mushroom scrapple.
Almost every other item is carefully crafted to honor Miller’s humble drop biscuit recipe.
READ MORE: Is N.J. cornbread better than Southern cornbread? An honest taste test.
To be clear, a drop biscuit isn’t like your typical Southern biscuit. Though it differs regionally, biscuits down South usually feature layers with a fluffy and flaky texture, requiring a process of mixing and folding. But for drop biscuits, the dough is scooped into a ball and “dropped” onto a sheet tray before being baked.
Customers can enjoy the biscuits by themselves, either in their regular cheddar biscuit or in a vegan versions, with the option of their several biscuit sandwiches. They offer the “Lawdhamurcy” sandwich, stacking fried chicken, mac and cheese, honey mustard and barbecue sauce along with “The Herbivore,” sandwiching vegan mushroom scrapple, tomato, avocado, pickled onion and vegan queso.
I lived in Alabama for four months and enjoyed the shops that had a similar concept to Blair Mountain Biscuit Co., so I was excited to finally see something like it in the Garden State.
I tried out the shop’s most popular item, “The Early Bird Biscuit” ($13.99). The biscuit sandwich featured fried chicken, herb gravy, cheddar and a fried egg. Everything on the sandwich was great — except the actual biscuit, which is supposed to be main attraction. The biscuit was a bit hard; not fluffy at all.
I made sure to order the biscuits alone ($2.29 each) as well, to see if I was missing something. While those were much better – fluffy, warm and rich – I wouldn’t consider these Southern biscuits. Like Miller said, these reminded me of the biscuits at Red Lobster, just not as fluffy and flavorful. Adding a smear of their pimento cheese ($3.99) or their blossom butter ($3.49) helped.
My favorites dishes were the warm, comforting berries & cream French toast ($13.99) and surprisingly, the mushroom scrapple (2 for $3.99), which was nicely spicy with a robust, smoky taste.
But shouldn’t my favorite things at the biscuit shop have been the biscuits? Although they weren’t bad biscuits by any means, I wouldn’t make the drive for them again.
However, they might scratch an itch for some craving those old cheddar bays.
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Lauren Musni may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @Laurengmusni and on Instagram. Find NJ.com on Facebook.