Simplicity and Growth: The Secret Sauce Behind Biscuit Belly's Rapid Expansion

By: Helen Bond
Published: January 9th, 2024

Biscuit Belly is on a roll. 

The winning fast-casual franchise, with a full-service feel, stands uniquely primed to soar as a rising star in the booming breakfast and brunch scene. 

With a chef-driven menu and innovative operational approach, Biscuit Belly feeds everything an entrepreneur is hungry for in a restaurant franchise primed for growth. 

Biscuit Belly remains on the fast track to expansion, with 10 locations currently open in five southeastern states. The concept plans to double in size over the next 12 months and have 40 more locations in development. 

“We've taken a scratch-made kitchen and streamlined it with great training, great service, and incredible food to make franchisees successful,” says CEO Chad Coulter, who co-founded Biscuit Belly with his wife, Lauren, in 2019, launching franchising in 2020. 

Biscuit Belly’s franchise blueprint has been thoughtfully crafted behind the best-in-class leadership of the Coulters, veteran QSR trailblazer Chuck Schnatter, who helped grow Papa John’s into a national chain, and an impressive executive team with years of experience in brands such as Texas Roadhouse, Torchy’s Tacos, and Bubbakoo’s Burritos. 

The Coulter’s strategy in building their leadership team has focused on bringing people into the brand who have helped build brands from the ground up before. “We've struck out on people that have been in big brands when they were already mature. To build a brand, you need individuals who have been there from the start and help create the culture and systems from the ground up. That’s exactly who we have with the brand today,” Coulter says. 

Franchisees can count on the following:

• A concept that’s easy to own and operate: Biscuit Belly has mastered the art of simplicity with systemized processes to execute a scratch kitchen and chef-driven menu. While unique, craveable, and diverse, many recipes use common ingredients for easy ordering, prep, and food production. 
  One daily shift covers breakfast, brunch, and lunch, making attracting staffing talent a breeze with a franchise concept that's easy to manage and maximized for growth. The team members and management are typically out of the building by 3 to 4 p.m. every day, and there is never a need for a night shift. Low labor costs and multiple revenue streams with a curbside pickup, delivery, and a newly launched catering menu help franchise owners boost the bottom line.
• Craveable culinary creations: Breakfast at Biscuit Belly is never boring. The mouthwatering menu features a perfect blend of a traditional Southern brunch with modern culinary inspirations, including Instagram-ready masterpieces like hand-breaded fried green tomatoes, “bonuts” (biscuit donut holes), and Chick ‘N Ditch the Waffle, a biscuit-style French toast with a buttermilk fried chicken breast and Mike's Hot Honey.
  The true stars of the menu are the freshly baked gourmet biscuit sandwiches piled high with popular breakfast meats and toppings. With biscuits and gravy, build-your-own breakfast bowls, signature omelets, brunch cocktails, espresso drinks, and lighter fare, there’s something timeless for everyone with an array of creative chef-inspired offerings foodies won’t find anywhere else.
• A hot destination spot: Biscuit Belly’s down-home hospitality and brightly colored open spaces make each restaurant the place to be for dine-in eating, delivered with fast casual speed—and no servers to train. Typical table turnover is 25 minutes or less, resulting in happy guests and higher ticket counts.

“We are fast casual, but the only thing that is fast casual about us is that our guests order at the counter,” Coulter says. “We sometimes refer to ourselves as “craft casual” because of our scratch kitchen, cooked-to-order food, and enhanced hospitality. Once the customer sits down, we’re busing the tables, running the food, and offering refills. The whole dining experience is much quicker than a traditional full-service restaurant where you’re waiting on a table and a server to take your order and bring you your check.”

As Biscuit Belly looks to a bright future with an opportunistic yet thoughtful approach to development, the quirky brand plans to continue having skin in the game, opening both company and joint venture locations alongside franchisees to enhance its owners’ operations. 

“We’re not here to do a bunch of deals and sell a bunch of territories; we are looking for a long-term fit with franchise partners to build an enduring brand. With that comes high levels of consistency and service, which we believe are crucial to build the sales and profitability within the four walls that franchisees are looking for,” Coulter says.

Ready to rise and shine with a high-demand concept redefining the breakfast and brunch business? Get started with Biscuit Belly today when you head to biscuitbellyfranchise.com.