During this pledge week, GPB has been asking our listeners, “Who has the best biscuits in Georgia?” Hundreds of you have put your answers on social media, but we haven’t seen anything close to a general agreement on the answer. That fact does not surprise Salvation South editor Chuck Reece. 

 

 

Salvation South

The folks at Georgia Public Broadcasting, with whom Salvation South co-produces these commentaries and podcasts, have been asking listeners a question on social media: Who has the best biscuit in Georgia? 

People have posted hundreds of answers, but no consensus has emerged. 

This does not surprise me. Because Salvation South spreads across the entire American South, not just Georgia, where we live, I wanted to learn if there was a biscuit consensus in other states. Because I had a strong hunch I already knew the answer, I decided rigorous research was not worth the time it would take. So I didn’t sink hours into cross-tabulating recommendations from Southern food critics with local social-media threads, then comparing my findings to feature stories on biscuits. 

So I just asked a chatbot.

“Is there,” I asked, “consensus on the top biscuit places in the American South? Please list your answers by state: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia.” 

The answer began with this: “There is no single consensus.”

Just as I suspected. 

The chatbot did offer a few suggestions in each state. What I learned from that is there are more  biscuit-restaurant chains than I could have guessed: Biscuit Love, Biscuitville, Biscuit Head, Tudor’s Biscuit World, Vicious Biscuit. The list goes on. 

But as I scrolled through the answers to GPB’s question on social media, I kept an eye out for an answer that I knew I would find: “My mama’s.”

Didn’t take me long.

That’s in our DNA. 

The first time I moved off up North, I could find no biscuits, so I tried to make my own. Despite help by phone from some aunties of mine, every biscuit that came out of my oven was a hockey puck. When my wife Stacy and I began dating, I told her about this, and she told me she was pretty good at making biscuits. She was right. So my answer for who makes the best biscuits is…Stacy does. 

Here’s the bottom line: Asking Southerners which establishment has the best biscuits is like asking them, “Which one of you has the best mama?” 

If you’re looking for consensus, just don’t ask the question.

But if you’re only looking to start a discussion, then go ahead. You won’t reach an agreement. But you will have some fun.

You can come read the South’s best writing, anytime you’re hungry for it, at SalvationSouth.com.