Vicious Biscuit brings twist to southern comfort food

by Emily Canning-Dean

It’s 2 p.m. on a Monday and Vicious Biscuit is bustling. Customers are inside the restaurant, enjoying the sun on the patio or helping themselves at the “Jam Bar,” which offers a spread of custom signature jams and flavored butters.

“We have actually slowed down a little bit compared to earlier today,” said Carl Albright who owns and operates this Vicious Biscuit franchise along with Ken Troutman, Dave Ost and Curtis Fox.

Albright said there are seven corporate Vicious Biscuit locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, but this new location at 3900 Medina Rd. is the first franchise location and the first location in Ohio.

Albright, a former CEO at InfoCision, said his only previous restaurant experience was bussing tables when he was 20. While he and his partners had casually discussed opening a restaurant, Albright said he never seriously thought about the endeavor until a little over a year ago when talking to his sister, Carol.

“I found out my sister had been eating at this restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina, every single day,” he said. “She had made some major life changes and started teaching yoga and she would go to this restaurant every day and order their keto bowl.”

Carol insisted her brother visit her in Charleston and check out the restaurant for himself and he finally relented.

“I saw that the line was out the door,” he said. “I ended up talking to the vice president of operations and the CEO and we started preliminary talks.”

When Albright shared the information with Ost, Troutman and Fox, they were excited to get on board.

“One of the things I noticed through COVID was that a lot of restaurants were struggling, but it seemed like the breakfast places were not,” he said. “We do have Keto and healthy items, but a lot of our dishes start with our from-scratch made biscuits but with a vicious twist. It’s just a different vibe and there’s really nothing else like it in the area.”

Albright said the restaurant had a soft opening May 6 and didn’t host a grand opening until June 21, but even before the grand opening the restaurant was drawing a crowd.

Troutman credits corporate Chef Michael Greeley with the innovative dishes that grace the Vicious Biscuit menu.

“Mike really is a genius,” he said. “Every flavor accents the next flavor. It’s very intentional and builds on to itself.”

Troutman said some of his favorite dishes include The Vicious, a cheddar jalapeno biscuit with fried chicken, maple sausage gravy, cowboy candy and maple syrup drizzle, as well as The Fat Boy, a buttermilk biscuit with fried chicken, signature pimento cheese and hot honey drizzle.

“I also just tried the Holy City Cubano for the first time a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “If there is a Cubano that is better than that one, I will jump on a jet and go get it.”

Troutman added that the restaurant takes pride in fresh ingredients and a prep team makes fresh biscuits from scratch throughout the day. Other items made fresh daily include bacon jam, grits, maple sausage gravy and pimento cheese. Also made fresh are the butters on the Jam Bar, and the jams are all Greeley’s signature recipes.

After six weeks of being in business, Albright said he knows he made the right decision opening the franchise location.

“I have been enjoying this more than I thought I would,” he said. “I have been enjoying the interaction with all of the people. And I really appreciate the people working here. We have a staff of 45 and they have a tremendous work ethic and passion.”

For more information, visit viciousbiscuit.com. ∞

Vicious Biscuit Co-owner Carl Albright, employee Chelsea Crisp and Co-owner Ken Troutman were part of franchising the only location in Ohio. Photo submitted.

Photo (main/above): Vicious Biscuit offers a fresh twist on southern comfort food. Photo by Andrew Cebulka.