1909 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
It was our first full day in Seattle, and we were planning on going big. We needed some fuel for our long day of eating, walking around Pike Place Market, checking out the gum wall, and riding the Seattle Great Wheel. I figured this would be as good a time as any to cross Biscuit Bitch off of my restaurant wishlist.
Biscuit Bitch is the eighth-most reviewed restaurant on Yelp in Seattle. They have over 4,200 reviews written about them and own a solid four-star rating. The woman behind this restaurant is Kimberly Spice, a home-taught cook who lived in a trailer park in Florida in the 90s. She learned cooking from watching TV cooking shows, and her favorite was Cookin Cajun with Justin Wilson. This show taught her that cooking can be fun. It's what she thrives for even now, a little southern trailer park hospitality, with a little fun thrown in.
It must have resonated with the people of Seattle. She once had three locations, but only this one near Pike Place Market and the Belltown shop remains open. When we visited here in March, there was no indoor dining, as you had to order at the front door. Also, from what I can gather, they had to pare down their menu to make it easier for their employees to work in their small kitchen, and streamline the process of getting breakfast in the hands of their rabid fans that wait in long lines, especially on weekends.
We were here on a Thursday morning, just after 11, and were met with a pretty small line. The Biscuit Bitch menu features five breakfast sandwiches that come with gravy. They also have seven other biscuit sandwiches, which can be made into a combo meal. They seem to be a little uppity about substitutions, but that might be part of their shtick. Much like Dick's Last Resort in San Diego, or the Weiner's Circle in Chicago, we observed a spirited back and forth between a customer and the staff, which at first seemed a little unnerving, but I believe it was done intentionally to enhance the experience. We were not going to get into it with anyone, but we were here to see if all the hype for this place was worth it. Let's check out the food.
After approximately 15 minutes our name was called out and we picked up our breakfast. Katie got the Bitchwich Comb Meal ($11.58) which included the Bacon Bitchwith, Garlic Grits, and a drink. The split biscuit comes with bacon, egg, cheddar cheese, and bitchy sauce. Katie felt the biscuit was a little on the dry side, but ended up loving this as a whole. She liked the smoky bacon and bitchy sauce. She called this a good breakfast sandwich. She reserved all of her praise for the garlic grits. She was a big fan. She really enjoyed the buttery smooth texture and the garlic that permeated each forkful. I was not as enamored with these grits though. I did not really get a lot of garlic in the bites that I had, and I kind of felt that these were a little on the boring side. Maybe if we would have gotten these with cheese, it would have helped these level up.
I knew we would eat quite a lot at Pike Place Market, so I just got one sandwich at Biscuit Bitch. For the sake of variety, I should have gone with one of their gravy bitches, but I opted for the Sausage Bitchwich ($6.95 plus $2 for an extra sausage patty). Just like Katie, I felt the biscuit was a little dry, but I did like the structural integrity of it. The sausage was also really good, but with the added patty it kind of overpowered the rest of this sandwich. I could not really detect much in the way of the egg, cheese, and the bitchy sauce. This breakfast sandwich was well made but could have been more balanced.
Biscuit Bitch was good, but I really do regret not getting their items with gravy. A big misstep from me. Based on what I did experience though, I get a sense of why this spot is so popular. One reason is the vibe they give off. People are looking for something a little different, something that is a little brash and daring. This spot fills that aspect as their name is a little cheeky for some, and the gruff attitude of their employees is part of the experience. It's also food for the masses, unapologetically simple and something we can all relate to, but made way better than your normal fast-food breakfast sandwiches. Is this the best breakfast sandwich I have ever had? No, but it was worth a visit and started my big day of eating off on the right foot.
Out of five washing machines, (because Pike Place Market, where this location is situated, was opened in 1907, the same year as the first electric washing machine was brought into homes), five being best to zero being worst, Biscuit Bitch gets 3 washing machines.
No comments:
Post a Comment