Flying Biscuits Everywhere

Restaurant with biscuits and breakfast all day lands first Dallas location

At Flying Biscuit Cafe, it's biscuits all day.

Photo courtesy of Sara Hanna Photography

Homey Atlanta restaurant chain The Flying Biscuit Cafe has settled on a location for its entry into the Dallas area: the ultra-hopping Richardson center at 746 South Central Expy. at Spring Valley Road, which is also home to hot concepts Halal Guys and Hot Dog Haus.

Flying Biscuit debuted in Atlanta in 1993. Famous for its biscuits and grits, the chain now has 14 locations throughout Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida, yet it has maintained its quintessential neighborhood spirit, with a focus on Southern-inspired comfort food.

It does the utmost act of civilization by serving breakfast all day, with options that go beyond bacon and eggs. There are biscuits with eggs and gravy, but also penne pasta with chicken sausage, spinach, mushrooms, and grits; wrap sandwiches; and even a vegan barbecue burrito.

Other tempting breakfast fare includes turkey hash, and flatiron steak with eggs. A breakfast bowl has eggs and fried green tomatoes. There are oatmeal pancakes; omelets; a biscuit Benedict; and a tofu scramble, with red and green peppers, onions, spinach, and mushrooms.

It also offers brunch, lunch, and dinner, with salads, shrimp and grits, biscuit pot pie, turkey pot roast, meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes, and oven-fried chicken.

Sandwiches include one with pimiento cheese; a fried-green tomato BLT; fish tacos; wraps; and the above-mentioned vegan barbecue burrito with barbecue tofu, collard greens, and mushrooms, folded into a sun-dried tomato tortilla.

Drinks include coffee, chai latte, and a "sledgehammer" combining four shots of espresso with half-and-half. What is not to like about this place?

Part of the appeal of the concept is the wide variety of dishes it offers and its extensive, customer-friendly hours from breakfast to dinner, says Flying Biscuit brand leader Brent Fuller, who calls the Dallas area a great market for Flying Biscuit.

Local franchisees are Armando Moreno and Michael Esquibel, who have their eyes on Dallas and Addison, as well. A company spokesperson confirms that Richardson is the first, but that more locations are in the works. Meanwhile, Richardson opens in the fall.

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RIP Al

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat dies at 69 after ALS battle

Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, RIP

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, founder of the acclaimed local steakhouse Al Biernat's, passed away on November 13, following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease; he was 69.

Biernat was one of Dallas' all-time great hospitality figures, dating back to his days at The Palm steakhouse, for whom he worked in Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas.

Biernat founded his namesake restaurant in 1998 on Oak Lawn Avenue, where his standard of excellence and doting charm made it a destination for special occasions, Park Cities swells, and celebrities in town.

His sense of hospitality had little competition in Dallas. He was a charming and personable host who genuinely liked people, and it didn't matter whether you were Conan O'Brien, David Crosby, or one of the other high-profile diners that visited his restaurants — or else just a regular schlub: He had a knack for making everyone feel special and remembered.

Biernat was born on August 20, 1955 and grew up in Michigan, then lived in Colorado, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, before moving to Dallas to work at The Palm in the West End, where his dynamic presence gave the restaurant an incomparable vitality; it closed in 2017.

He opened Al Biernat's at 4217 Oak Lawn Ave. in 1998, followed by a second location in North Dallas at 5251 Spring Valley Rd. in 2017.

He began to experience ALS symptoms in May 2023, was diagnosed in December, and revealed his condition in February 2024. The revelation was met with an outpouring of sympathy and well wishes from the hospitality industry — a sign of the high regard in which he was held.

The average life expectancy for people with ALS is two to five years after diagnosis. Symptoms can begin in the muscles that control speech and swallowing, or in the hands, arms, legs, or feet. He began to have difficulty communicating in September, and spent his last days in a hospice.

On September 18, he broached the topic of dying, before ending on a note of gratitude to friends and family.

"Having Bulbar ALS I am realistic about my future," he said. "Friends and family have asked me if I’m afraid of dying, and this is what I say to them. Because of the salvation of Jesus, I will be rejoicing in my spirit to see him in all of his glory. Since we are all flesh, soul, and spirit, only my flesh is being left behind. But don’t get me wrong, I have a blessed life in this world, with a loving wife, and a beautiful family and many wonderful and caring friends. I am grateful!"

Both Al Biernat's locations will continue to remain open under the management of Biernat's nephew Brad Fuller, as they have for nearly the past two years.

Biernat is survived by Fuller, as well as his wife Jeannie and three daughters: Angelica Saylor, Kaitlin Biernat Connell, and Jess Biernat, plus five grandsons and two granddaughters. . According to family members, details regarding a celebration of his life will be announced soon.

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