Nashville Eats : Biscuit Love Review

Recent family events forced us to make a quick weekend trip to Nashville. And as any good foodie does, we did our due diligence on where to eat while we were in town. Our hometown of Knoxville has been host to the International Biscuit Festival for the past 6 years and Biscuit Love makes the short journey over the plateau to be an annual participant. So we were excited to try some of their actual food in their actual restaurant.They have a great location in Nashville’s hip downtown area – The Gulch. Inside you’ll find the decor to be old school urbanism meets southern charm. Soaring ceilings with exposed ductwork and rustic style furniture. I like the vibe.

It’s an “order at the counter-food is brought out to you” establishment. Given their popularity, this helps move diners through at a faster pace. It was actually perfect for us since we didn’t really have time for a sit-down, hour long breakfast. You’ll be handed a menu when you walk in the door so make up your mind while you’re in line. If you’re anything like me and you need a good, strong cup o’ joe first thing in the morning, then I have good news. They brew their coffee strong and bold. It’ll perk you up.Tip: Get there early. Overhearing the staff talk about having lines out the door by 9am made us feel good about being early risers. Other perks of being there early? Getting a table. Oh…hai. That’s just a rare appearance by me. I’m waiting for some delectable bonuts. What are bonuts you ask? Well…let me show you.  Once upon a time, there was this biscuit (we’ll call him Earl). He grew up in the humid south with all his biscuit family. One day, a beautiful donut caught his eye (we’ll call her Ellie). But you have to understand that back in the day in the south, biscuits were meant to be with other biscuits and that was that. Theirs was a forbidden, torrid love affair and no one approved. But Earl & Ellie chose love over social constructs and started a new family of their own. And that my friends, is how we got the bonut. Biscuit dough fried like a donut, and then coated with a sprinkling of sugar. But the fun doesn’t stop there….they are stuffed with a lemon mascarpone cream and served over a blueberry compote. Our advice? DO NOT PASS THESE UP. A wonderful combination of sweet & tangy to pair with a strong cup of coffee. These things alone could fill you up, but this is us we’re talking about….so…..yeah. I ordered the S.E.C. The lure of “smoked sausage” is too good to pass up at any southern restaurant. A biscuit topped with smoked sausage, aged cheddar, and a fried egg. If I’m being totally honest, I had a couple of minor issues. One, I would have preferred more smoke in the smoked sausage. I regularly smoke my own meat, so I know good smoke flavor when I taste it. Two, as you can see from the picture above, that egg was over-easy when I had asked for over medium. I ordered over medium because I wanted a slightly thicker texture. What I didn’t want to happen was the yolk to quickly spill out all over the plate leaving me to “mop” it up with the biscuit. Those two minor issues aside, it was still a rockin’ solid breakfast biscuit.Kara ordered the Southern Benny. One of their big signature biscuits topped with ham, country sausage gravy, and two eggs. Turns out, she isn’t as big a fan of “country” style sausage gravy. I think she was expecting more of a classic milk gravy (like I make at home). I tasted their sausage gravy and thought the flavor was spot-on though. It’s all a matter of preference folks. Oh, and her egg was over-easy as well despite ordering over-medium. Of course, one man’s over-medium is another’s over-easy. So, we’re really not too worked up about it.

But let me take a minute to talk about something that any self-respecting southerner knows from birth. Biscuits. I am happy to report that the flavor and texture of their biscuits are just as they should be. Golden brown exterior, piping hot, flaky insides. Soft & buttery. They call themselves Biscuit Love and it’s clearly b/c they know their way around a biscuit. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

The other great thing about this place? The service. The staff were all super friendly. The gentleman who brought us our coffee went above and beyond in my opinion. Even happily obliging us as we asked for to-go cups for our coffee and containers for our leftover bonuts. Shocking we couldn’t finish all of that in one sitting, I know. 😉

Our advice? I’d put this on your “can’t miss” list if you’re headed to Nashville. But don’t leave without some bonuts. I’m serious. If you do, then you can’t sit with us.

Til next time Biscuit Love!