Being an avid outdoorsman and traveling salesman means I spend a lot of time on the road throughout a lot of the country. One thing we all search for is a good breakfast spot. Depending on where you are from that means different things. For instance, for me that means a GOOD biscuit. Now I’m not talking about a pre-made, frozen biscuit. Those have their place I am sure, but I am referring to a homemade, thick, fluffy, made with manna sent directly from heaven biscuit. One my great-grandmother would have approved of. 

Good biscuits are few and far between these days. It used to be every small town had a diner or breakfast spot for all the blue-collar workers and outdoorsmen to gather. Nowadays this is as rare as an honest politician. I got the idea of discussing this dire situation in our nation while driving through Florida last week. Two of my daughters (Emma and Annie) were with me and we were taking hurricane relief supplies, donated by several local churches, to a small town just outside of Ft. Myers. The route there and back would take two days and allow us to detour to a restaurant for breakfast that I had heard of and always wanted to eat at. The Florida Cracker Kitchen in Brooksville, FL. OH my!!! What a place! It’s a small establishment in a small town off Hwy 98 on the gulf coast. The owner is a super friendly, younger guy named Blair. He’s the epitome of a restaurateur. Honestly this was a treat!

In any case, early on Thursday morning we entered the café and sat down. My daughters each ordered pancakes (that frankly were so big and so luscious as to take your breath away) and I ordered biscuits and gravy. Now understand this, where I am from biscuits and gravy is a religion. You will get cut, excommunicated, and disinvited from family reunions for screwing this up. So, my standards were high when my order hit the table in front of me, they cleared that high bar in street shoes and didn’t even falter on the landing. These biscuits were layered so thick I thought honestly an airliner might collide with them. The gravy was filled with sausage and milk that seemed like it was straight out of heaven itself. This was how biscuits and gravy should be. There was no parsley to be seen, no fancy decorations of gravy in trails on the plate. Just big piles of food. It was perfect. 

Now the problem is Brookville, Florida is 6 hours from my house. So, this is a rare treat. Where can I recommend you get these types of biscuits locally? Well… Good luck. My recommended places are few and far between. But here goes. My number one spot in our area is Mamies Kitchen in Covington and Lithonia. They have a chicken biscuit that is so crispy and so tasty that you will honestly forget about the chicken sandwich wars and wonder where your adjustable britches are. There’s Mama’s Boy in Athens, GA that is good but like most things in Athens it’s fru-fru… Notice I didn’t mention a fast-food joint. Don’t, just don’t.

I’d be interested to hear of your favorite biscuit place. Who knows, I might go and try them and if I like it, I’ll write about them! Until then though… Blair! You hold the crown!