best biscuits in chicago>

Does any one care to offer an opinion? I am open to suggestions.

God help me. OK, I had some decent biscuits this morning at Cozy Corner at California and Milwaukee, and they do OK at 2-Way Diner on Elston. But generally, abandon hope all ye who seek good biscuits in Chicago. You may luck out now and then, but basically, folks here view biscuits as starch substrates for other goods, not as a food in themselves, and are perfectly OK with eating a dried out, tasteless hockey puck made six hours earlier and held for six hours then stuck in a microwave, then covered with thin, flavorless milk gravy. Without regard to the value of fresh-baked biscuits, served properly. It is funny to me how precocious many Chicagoans can be about the precise perfection of their Chicago-based foods, their ethnic imports from throughout the world, and yet be absolutely blind to the fact that they have NEVER had a decent biscuit in their lives, don't appreciate what they are missing, yet do not consider they might (just possibly) actually be missing anything. As was confirmed again to me at Cozy Corner, biscuits and gravy is considered hangover food in Chicago (our server wouldn't f'ing lay off the idea of "oh, she kept you out late, huh?" and "Guess you're not feeling so well, huh?" throughout our entire meal). Guess if you've only had fish sticks, you wouldn't understand a real seafood dinner, either. (That said, Cozy Corner's biscuits were not half bad; the gravy, however, was too thin and not very flavorful)

Jim is, of course, also an expert at biscuits at The Depot, but is likely too modest to note he has spawned an eponymous menu item:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... light=jils

A couple of weekends ago, I ordered B&G at a local diner, Stella's, that makes otherwise decent well prepared breakfast items. I swear to you that I was served canned biscuits. Why even go to the trouble to serve them on your menu?

the best biscuits i've had in a chicago restaurant are found at CJ's Eatery. i believe there are pictures in the cj's thread. they are split, lightly buttered and then grilled (or possibly toasted). this makes them slightly crisp and delicately crunchy on the surface, but still light and fluffy inside. and the sausage gravy which one can have served over them is equally delicious and also one of the finer versions around. this is an exceptional biscuit, IMO.

cj's eatery, 3839 w. grand
773-292-0990

justjoan wrote:they are split, lightly buttered and then grilled (or possibly toasted). this makes them slightly crisp and delicately crunchy on the surface, but still light and fluffy inside.

All well and good, I suppose, but a biscuit should not require, or be improved by, being split open and grilled. I am a cooking imbecile, but I am more than capable of baking a tray of baking powder biscuits that don't require any special care, other than the fact that you have to eat them shortly after they are made, or else throw them out. We're talking maybe 50 cents/dozen in ingredients, here, so what's the big deal? Do NOT reheat biscuits. Do NOT split them open and grill them. Would you split open and grill a souffle? Probably not. Biscuits are like a souffle. They have to be baked and eaten in a relatively short window of opportunity.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:

justjoan wrote:they are split, lightly buttered and then grilled (or possibly toasted). this makes them slightly crisp and delicately crunchy on the surface, but still light and fluffy inside.

All well and good, I suppose, but a biscuit should not require, or be improved by, being split open and grilled. I am a cooking imbecile, but I am more than capable of baking a tray of baking powder biscuits that don't require any special care, other than the fact that you have to eat them shortly after they are made, or else throw them out. We're talking maybe 50 cents/dozen in ingredients, here, so what's the big deal? Do NOT reheat biscuits. Do NOT split them open and grill them. Would you split open and grill a souffle? Probably not. Biscuits are like a souffle. They have to be baked and eaten in a relatively short window of opportunity.

I prefer the souffle-like biscuits that JiLS describes, but I think a biscuit that is not "hot from the oven" is simply a different animal, kind of like a tortilla that is two days old. This "aged" tortilla is not bad, it's just different, and so it's cut up and fried and made into migas or otherwise deployed. Similarly, I think, a griddled biscuit is simply one way to use a biscuit that has maybe been baked a little while ago.

Best biscuits in Chicago, at least yesterday, were at a friends house. She made three types, one better than the next. Of the three types, one all French butter, one even parts American butter and Crisco and the third type all lard, I preferred, by a slim margin the buttery rich flavored French butter biscuit.

Best of all I was introduced to Farmer's Biscuit Lasses a treacly flavored mix of dark corn syrup and molasses. Heaven on a warm biscuit. Not bad on reheated biscuits for breakfast either, as I was gifted the remainder of the jar. Cathy2 had brought the Biscuit Lasses back from a Southern Foodways gathering, but you can order online here

Enjoy,
Gary

i know it's wrong to say this, but; popeye's chicken.

i'm sorry, but.....yes. popeye's chicken.

I'd agree with you, except they're soaked in "butter." The texture isn't bad, certainly better than out of a can or stale, but I don't think a biscuit should be greasy (at least, not until after you've slathered it in butter and molasses or honey)

I'm still looking, myself...

A valid inclusion! For the last time, there is nothing wrong with liking the occasional fast food meal, and I wish the guilt associated therewith would dissipate. KFC can do a decent biscuit as well (consistency is a problem, though).

By the way: I was hosting a friend from Spain, whose comment on the marquee of the restaurant you named was:

"What is a poh-PAY-yays?" (he read it like it was a Spanish word)

elakin wrote:i know it's wrong to say this, but; popeye's chicken.

i'm sorry, but.....yes. popeye's chicken.

The biscuits at Popeye's are indeed very good.

Also excellent at Popeye's are the onion rings. They don't usually have them ready-made, so you can pretty much count on getting them fresh and hot, right out of the fryer. Sorry for the tangent though.

Can we count the biscuits at Sweet Maple Cafe on Taylor Street? I know they have some corn meal in them (JiLS, I think we debated this point before...), but to me these are the most delectable biscuits in Chicago. It's not like being transported to the Flying Biscuit Cafe in Atlanta or anything, but Sweet Maple Cafe's version bring a big smile to my face every time.

I agree with Susan.

I'm no biscuit expert, but the ones at Sweet Maple Cafe are worth waiting in line for.

Actually, when all is said and done, I think the fast food biscuits that I have had in Chicago are better, and greasier (not the good part), on average, than the non-fast food ones. Except for my former frequent travels to Nashville where it seems hard to find a bad one (slight exageration), but biscuits there are a most days food so I guess should be expected. Also where I learned to love biscuits and gravy (at the Copper Kettle...often!), only to have to come back here and languish mostly unsatisfied.